Mersey marine engineering specialist SeaKing has completed extensive upgrade work on three shortsea ferries operated by Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways.
The four-week project took place at Damen Dunkerque Shipyard in France involving MS Dunkerque Seaways, MS Dover Seaways and MS Delft Seaways.
The three passenger and car ferries operate in the English Channel running between Dover and Dunkerque.
SeaKing Electrical managing director Dave Gillam said a ten-man team of engineering specialists were sent to complete the job.
“Work consisted of electrical upgrades to improve entertainment reception to 80 cabins and fitting of VDSs (Variable Speed Drives) to car deck vent fans,” he said. “A total of 16 VDSs were fitted on decks 3, 5 and 10 on each ship. The existing drives had degraded due to age and exposure to warm conditions. These drives play a vital role to help reduce fuel consumption, energy use and CO2 emissions.
“The project was made more complex due to the time scales and working across multiple vessels requiring careful planning and project management. It demonstrates SeaKing’s ability to provide a quick response project turnaround and flexibility to travel anywhere in the world whilst tackling an electrical engineering challenge. We take pride in delivering on time and on budget.”
DFDS Fleet Manager Nigel Cureton said: “This was a highly demanding project due to the tight timescales. We commend SeaKing’s work ethic, performance and quality of workmanship which were exceptional from start to finish. Our Technical Office in Dover and ships’ staff are thankful for the engineers’ support and we look forward to working with SeaKing again in the future.”
The news comes shortly after SeaKing announced a tender win from Cumbria County Council to repair The Mallard car ferry, operating in England’s Lake District.
Mr Gillam said SeaKing benefits from a strong reputation in the ferry, cruise, naval and superyacht sectors with a global track record including projects in Portugal, Germany, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Bahrain, Dubai, Australia, Malaysia and the United States.
“Our role frequently involves upgrades or new installations being taken from concept, surveying, manufacturing, modifying installation and refurbishing of marine electrical control equipment,” said Mr Gillam. “We further offer fault finding and repair services, on-key components which include electric motors, electronic variable speed drives, generator switchgear, PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) and accommodation services. All of our marine installations are carried out to meet Class and SOLAS requirements.”
For further details on SeaKing Electrical’s services contact its business development Manager Neil Mellenchip: T: +44 (0)151 652 4821 E: enq@seakinggroup.co.uk
SeaKing Electrical background
SeaKing Electrical caters for the marine, industrial, commercial, military and offshore markets, specialising in electrical and electronics engineering. It delivers offshore wind market support, marine installations to Class and SOLAS requirements, vessel survey and upgrades system engineering, complete mechanical & electrical packages and software development. It further delivers construction, modification and refurbishment of electrical marine, commercial and industrial control. The firm can offer fault finding and repair automated process control systems, as well as repair or source and supply replacement electric motors, electronic variable speed drives, generators switchgear and PLCs. It has achieved ISO 9001 Quality and 14001 Environmental management and is currently upgrading this to ISO 2015Standards