A&P Tees, part of A&P North East, recently won an exclusive contract from UK dredge contractor CEMEX UK Marine, part of the CEMEX UK Group, for the drydocking of the company’s three trailing suction hopper dredgers over a five-year period.
Due to the severity of the work undertaken by dredgers, it is expected that each vessel will be drydocked on a regular basis. One of the main factors in winning this contract was the high standard of health and safety systems operating in the shipyard.
The first vessel, the 5,022 m3 Sand Falcon has already visited the shipyard during March/April this year, and the 2,700 m3 Sand Heron and the 4,000 m3 Sand Fulmar due in the yard during July and August respectively. Apart from the normal drydocking operations, each vessel will also have work carried out on all the dredge equipment such as pipes, hoppers, pumps etc.
The dredging industry is one of the main markets for A&P Tees – the yard also carries out work on such vessels owned by other dredge contractors, including UK Dredging, Britannia Aggregates and PD Ports. Currently in the yard, undergoing general repairs is PD Ports’ 1,530 m3 trailing suction hopper dredger Cleveland County. Also currently in the yard is the Svitzer tug Svitzer Redbridge, which is the fifth tug from this owner this year – with another three/four to come.
This year has also seen Fisher’s 4,973 dwt coastal tanker Milford Fisher, two offshore anchor handlers from Atlantic Offshore – the 1,100 dwt Ocean Prince and the 3,200 dwt Ocean King, Union Transport’s 1,762 dwt general cargo vessel Union Pluto, the Scottish Government’s research vessel MRV Scotia, and two barges from Briggs Marine – the Piper Hapless and the Forth Hapless.
A&P Tees operates in a number of shipping markets including offshore and platform supply vessels. The 22.20 m width of the largest of the two graving docks is ideal for such vessels, with contracts completed this year involving ships from Gulf Offshore and Atlantic Offshore. Although there is an azimuth pit already in the smaller of the two graving docks, these offshore ships are more suitable to the larger graving dock. So A&P Tees is currently undertaking a feasibility study to construct such a pit in the larger graving dock.
A&P North East operates two graving docks at the Tees facility – 175.30 m x 22.20 m and 120.00 m x 17.30 m, and one main graving dock at Hebburn on Tyneside – 259.00 m x 44.00 m.
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Press Release, July 9, 2013