BELZONA DISTRIBUTORS AND PARTNERS COMBINE FOR DIVING SUPPORT VESSEL ROOF REPAIR PROJECT
Azerbaijan-based distributor TRAST BV in conjunction with Composite-Service Ltd., Russian Maritime Register of Shipping and Belzona completed a potentially difficult application project for the repair and protection of an accommodation module roof on board a Diving Support Vessel operating in the Caspian Sea.
Belzona received the enquiry from the Superintendent of the vessel and duly forwarded it on to the Caspian/CIS Business Development Team.
The vessel was suffering from serious pitting and corrosion to the roof resulting in persistent leaks into the accommodation module. Although the vessel was in dry dock at the Baku Shipyard, access to the damaged roof was difficult as it was directly underneath the helideck. Initial consideration by the client was to replace the whole roof, however, this would involve removing the helideck above and with such a short time frame to complete the repairs this was not a viable option.
Marine Engineers suggested Belzona products as a possible solution, although not familiar with Belzona, the vessel owners quickly convened a meeting with all parties concerned including representatives from Belzona to ascertain the effectiveness of the products in this situation. Belzona, with its in-depth knowledge of these types of repairs, advised the customer of the optimal system, products required and provided a method statement along with case studies of similar roof repair projects.
As the corrosion to the roof was so severe and the damaged area having very limited access, surface preparation by blasting was not possible and would have to be carried out manually. With this in mind, a system of surface tolerant Belzona products was proposed, consisting of Belzona 1161, 5831 and 9341 reinforcement sheets. All parties agreed that the Belzona system was the optimal one.
Belzona 1161 is a two-component, surface-tolerant, paste grade system for repairing and rebuilding machinery and equipment. The system displaces fluid from the substrate and therefore can be applied to wet and oily services and can even be used for underwater applications. Belzona 1161 is easy to mix and apply without the need for specialist equipment and can be machined using conventional tools making it the perfect choice for this type of roof repair.
To satisfy the requirements of the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping Belzona coordinated for two highly experienced application supervisors from St. Petersburg-based Belzona distributor, Composite-Service Ltd. to oversee the roof repair. As this project was time-critical the Belzona Order Management Team worked tirelessly to ensure all the required products were delivered to the Baku Shipyard in readiness for the arrival of the application team.
Before the project started, all surrounding structures and equipment were fully protected from the possible ingress of dust and other foreign objects from the cleaning and surface preparation process.
To prepare the surface for application, the team removed all the loose rust, paint and other debris with hard scrapers, chipping hammers, chisels and grinders. The entire substrate was then cleaned with Belzona 9111 Cleaner/Degreaser. Belzona 1161 was mixed and applied to the pitted areas and further applications of Belzona 1161 were made to ensure the pits were completely filled and that no bridging over holed areas had occurred.
Each of the damaged areas was smoothed out with Belzona applicators to ensure no bumps or ridges remained for the subsequent overcoating with Belzona 5831. After the Belzona 1161 application had fully cured, the application team used short bristle brushes to apply the first coat of Belzona 5831 and then applied a layer of Belzona 9341 reinforcement sheet.
Belzona 5831 is an environmental moisture tolerant barrier coating, specially formulated for the protection of metallic and non-metallic surfaces. It has been specifically formulated for application to surfaces that cannot be dry for application. This solvent-free material can be applied to virtually any surface and will cure in low-temperature environments, including underwater.
The second coat of Belzona 5831 was then applied and paint rollers were used to smooth out the surface and complete the roof repair application. For the more severely damaged areas of the roof which included cracks and through holes, prefabricated steel patch plates were bonded to the substrate with Belzona 1161 before the applications of Belzona 5831.
Arkadiy Ostrirov, Business Development Manager for Belzona said:
“This project highlights the effectiveness of the Belzona global network in providing solutions across all our regions in a timely manner, several departments and offices worked in conjunction with each other to deliver a seamless execution of the repair project, much to the delight of the vessel operator.”
TRAST BV has been providing customised repair and protection solutions in the Caspian Region for over 40 years, during these years they have gained a wealth of knowledge across a wide range of industries including civil building, infrastructure, offshore, petrochemical, power, rail, marine new-build, marine dry dock and marine sea stock.
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