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Repair and maintenance – at a moment's notice
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Comprehensive maintenance work of modern-day vessels exacts lots of know-how and experience, plus the right kind of attitude. In southwestern Finland, Mill & Marine Service Ltd. meets the requirements. Established in 1988, the company’s main office has been situated in the city of Pori since 2014.
Wtake care of industrial and
marine maintenance operations
around the world, including ship repairs
and newbuilds,” CEO & Sales Manager
Pasi Kerola from Mill & Marine Service Ltd.
sums up.
Cruise and cargo ships are also frequently
serviced by the company. Marine
service work picked up after the acquisition
of half of Turun Kovakromi Oy’s
shares, eight years ago.
”Before that, chrome platings were
outsourced, but it was challenging to get
the platings for hydraulic or other cylinders
finished on time. Now that we handle
platings ourselves, we can make sure
that both the timetables and the quality
of work will match our high standards. For
maritime repair work, timely deliveries are
often crucial,” notes Kerola.
One of Mill & Marine’s recent assignments
was to install the world’s first
onboard rollercoaster onto a large cruise
ship.
VERSATILE OPERATIONS
Along standard repair and maintenance
work, Mill & Marine Service Ltd. handles
classification inspections for various types
of vessels.
”These may include, for instance,
hatch and crane inspections for ro-ro vessels.
Such inspections are our speciality.
Furthermore, we service propulsion
devices and stabiliser equipment of vessels,”
Kerola
mentions.
”We also inspect and repair steel
structures, hydraulics, and electrical system
installations, in addition to general troubleshooting
and fault localisation. These days,
collecting big data can help in pinpointing
system errors, but quite often the problems
can be in the hardware so they need
to be hunted down by other methods.”
The company’s special abilities further
include installation and removing of
actuators, renewal and changing of components,
pipe installations and renewals,
repairs for gasket arrangements, overhauls
of various structures, deliveries and adjustments
of hydraulic cylinders and pumps,
deliveries of electric motors and electrical
installations, plus yearly inspections of vessels
and equipment, with reports to public
authorities as necessary.
Today, Mill & Marine’s personnel consists
of some 20 professionals, with experts
in various fields of service work. A wide
network of subcontractors also comes in
handy, e.g. in supplying spare parts.
picutre by Pixabay
Spare parts are often delivered
for steel hardware, for hydraulic works
onboard vessels – pumps, cylinders, valves,
gaskets, pipes, and hoses –, for gaskets
utilised in ramp, door and hatch assemblies,
or for electric and automation system
repairs.
”In our line of work, you need to
be ready to travel to service locations at
a moment’s notice, even to distant countries
to carry out permanent or temporary
repairs. Quite often, cruise ships need troubleshooting
in the Caribbean,” Mr. Kerola
recounts.
PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE
Many of Mill & Marine’s assignments
require plenty of technical knowledge
and expertise.
”You need to be constantly aware of
the latest developments in ship technologies,
in order to know what kind of faults
you can expect to find onboard ships,”
Kerola emphasises.
”As onboard automatisation keeps
increasing, service personnel will need to
learn the details of all the latest hi-tech
devices. The job requires life-long learning.
It is demanding but also highly interesting
work for people who love challenges and
who have a lot of maritime experience. In
fact. we’d very much like to hire some new
professionals of this type!”
picutre by Pixabay
Typically, ships are inspected in the
course of their regular service periods at
shipyards – but often vessels need repairs
even at other times.
”Inspections for newbuilds may call
for ascertaining that certain parts of ships are watertight, gas-tight or weather-proof.
This data is needed for ship classification.”
One of Mill & Marine’s recent repair
jobs was to renew the bow cargo-hatches
for M/S Gabriella after the ship had collided
with the pier at Helsinki harbour. Certain
steel structures needed to be replaced
and hatch mechanisms re-adjusted. This
was occasionally challenging work, particularly
as the hatches weighed some 35 tons.
”Even so, the ship has already
returned to her shipping route, sailing happily
on the seas. In the maritime repair and
maintenance business, successful repairs
are the only option,” Kerola points out.
by Ari Monenen
