A good year for GBS

But another 75 ships also visit the shipyard annually for drydocking and repairs. With three large floating drydocks in operation, the facilities are available to serve all markets for shipping during the full 12 months of the year.

Earlier this year, the LPG tanker Elversele for Exmar, the third Exmar tanker this year, was in for a general drydocking and repair job involving all trades in the shipyard. One of the larger projects in the yard was the alongside damage repairs on board the bulk carrier Angela Star, owned by the Greek company Maryville Maritime Inc. After a collision in Panama, approximately 200 tonnes of high tensile damaged shell-plating and internals needed to be renewed.

The biggest project in the shipyard was the propulsion upgrade of the seismic ship Viking Vanquish, owned by Eidesvik from Norway. The upgrade involved the installation of new power generating equipment and an additional thruster, including structural modifications and systems modifications and upgrades.

Earlier, the MSC ammunition prepositioning ship LTC John U.D.Page, from Maersk Line Limited USA, was in for repairs. Although US flagged and actually destined for docking in the USA, the MLL selected to have repairs carried out outside of the USA. The refit, which took four weeks, was successfully completed within time and within budget.

In early September the first cruise ship Carnival Imagination arrived marking the start of the usual seasonal cruise ship drydockings, followed by the Disney Magic in October, Carnival Pride and Carnival Victory early November and finally Costa Atlantica and the Carnival Fantasy in December.

During the summer season, when there are no cruise ships available for docking, the shipyard generally has a lower occupancy level than in wintertime. However, in contrast to previous years, this summer was far from quiet at GBSL as a result of increased and specific marketing activities resulting in a continuous flow of ships into the shipyard and keeping the workforce fully occupied. A total of 90 dockings in 3 floating drydocks are expected for this year.