Underwater rope guard replacement in Limassol, Cyprus

When an inspection on a 183 metre chemical tanker revealed that the rope guard had been severely damaged by an anchor chain, the new owners asked Hydrex to remove the old rope guard and replace it with a new one while the ship was at anchorage in Limassol.

A team of Hydrex diver-technicians was immediately sent to Cyprus together with their basic equipment. In Limassol the team met up with the Hydrex local support base which had already arranged for a new rope guard to be made at a local workshop and which provided additional equipment required for this specific operation.

After arrival on site and the installation of a monitoring station, a full inspection of the rope guard was performed to take the exact measurements required to modify the new rope guard in order to allow underwater installment. These measurements were then passed on to the workshop.

Because the old rope guard was so severely damaged, it needed to be cut up before it could be removed and brought to shore. By this time the new one had arrived and could be lowered into the water where it was brought into position with the help of chain blocks. Next the divers welded it, concluding the repair.

Working together with the Hydrex local support base, the team performed the replacement in 2 days. This made sure that the new owner of the chemical tanker could soon continue the vessel’s sailing schedule and avoid any further off hire time.