In December 2020, the RV Celtic Explorer entered the Dry Dock at Harland and Wolff ship repair to commence a dry dock and refit program to keep the vessel in class and overhaul essential equipment.
Despite the size of the Explorer it was dwarfed by the huge dry dock run by Harland and Wolff.
The team on-board and from the yard worked to complete all underwater works before the vessel was floated once again after Christmas.
The works undertaken included full renewal of the vessel’s antifouling, painting of the vessels superstructure and decks, frame and cranes, removal and inspection of the ships propeller and shaft, a full overhaul of the vessels main crane (which required removal of the crane), replacement of hydraulic pipes and shipside valves and Installation of a new water ballast treatment system to ensure the vessel meets the latest pollution regulations.
The ships port engine also completed an 80,000 hour overhaul after 18 hard years of use. Many other unseen ships equipment was overhauled and replaced as required to ensure the vessel was in good order for the busy years ahead before its next docking as well as overhaul and installation of specialised science equipment.
From a health and safety perspective all work had to completed whilst maintaining the highest precautions to minimise the risk presented by Covid 19.
The works were all completed to a very high standard just prior to the vessel departing on passage for its first survey of 2021 on the 16th of January, with credit to the P&O Maritime Logistics vessel crews and shore side technical team and the team from Harland and Wolff and their contractors.
