Oleander

Scheldepoort Repair & Conversion Yard, located in Vlissingen and part of the Damen Group, has finished a life-extension refit of the general cargo / roro vessel Oleander. The ship was built at the Van der Giessen De Noord shipyard in 1990 and has been the lifeline for Bermuda for the past twenty years. Operated by the Bermuda Container Line Ltd.(BCL), Oleander has provided a weekly freight service between New York and Bermuda.

Oleander

The stretch of Atlantic Ocean between Bermuda and the United States is famous for its treacherous conditions. This is mainly due to the enormous temperatures differences of the various ocean currents, which can amount to 15°C within several nautical miles. The harsh ocean conditions were the main reason why the Owners specified a 10 % increase to the steel plating thickness over and above the class requirements when they ordered the Oleander. It was decided that the Oleander should be able to carry on for another ten years after an extensive refit. Given that she was originally designed specifically for her operations as a full custom project, there is probably no better vessel in the world than the Oleander herself for this trading route.

 

 

After an inspection of the ship in Bermuda, Repair yard Scheldepoort quoted and won the bid, to a great extent because it was the only yard to have a sufficiently large covered dry-dock available. As the Oleander is replaced with a charter vessel during the refit, it was very important for the owners that the refit would be carried out in the predetermined delivery time, without any delays. Scheldepoorts covered dry-dock eliminates the risk of the weather frustrating the schedule and allows safe working conditions for all trades 24 hours a day.

 

 

  
 
The refit of the Oleander is a typical job Scheldepoort likes to take on. The main reason is the extensive amount of steelwork, which is one of the specialties of the yard. With the forepeak area being the impact zone for oncoming waves, the Owners and Class had concerns about the remaining strength of the steel in this area. Therefore it was decided the best long term solution was to cut off the entire bow of the ship and replace this with new material of increased scantlings.
The rest of the ship was in a remarkably good state, given her intensive use and frequent loading and offloading. In order to provide the smoothest possible underwater hull surface going forward hydro jetting at 2500 bar was used to remove 20 years build-up of old antifouling paint from the hull which was otherwise in excellent structural condition.
 
 

 

 

In addition to the repair works, the Owners decided to install a Lips HR® propeller nozzle around the propeller to improve the fuel consumption. The addition of the propeller nozzle and its struts required strengthening of the bottom in the aft peak with 16 tons of extra steel. In addition to the environmental benefit of reduced emissions, the noise level onboard will be reduced, as the pressure pulses from the propeller will not act directly on the hull anymore. Because of the changed flow around the propeller, slow speed manoeuvring and astern sailing will also benefit from the modification. Propeller walk (the transverse force exerted by a rotating propeller) will be reduced, which can be a disadvantage when manoeuvring.