Damen group subsidiaries completed a challenging repair project to replace one of the twin rudder stocks on the cross channel Pride of Canterbury - the 180-m Ro-Pax ship of P&O Ferries that operates on the UK-France route Dover-Calais.
The 29-year-old vessel is equipped with twin Van der Velden BARKE rudder systems made and engineered by DMC-Damen Marine Components. Replacing the stock on the starboard rudder is expected to extend the vessel's service life.
The project was conducted at DVR-Damen Verolme Rotterdam (ship repair yard) and coordinated by Damen Marine Components. Damen Marine also managed the service engineers from DVR and DSR-Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam. Works started with the removal of the rudder and its stock taking placing in Drydock 5 of DVR (Rotterdam Holland).
The rudder and the worn rudder stock were transported to Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam where it was disassembled and the parts were cleaned. Damen Marine Components designed and supplied the new rudder stock to Damen Shiprepair Rotterdam ahead of installation.
During the fitting, the old rudder stock was used for a trial fit, and with the new one fitted to the correct values, the blade was vertically hung and the new stock was inserted. The two parts were transported to DVR and mounted on the ship. Finally, the rudder and the steering gear were prepared for operations. A swing-test was performed to confirm the system's operability.