August 2011 - HMNZS CANTERBURY dry docks in Brisbane
HMNZS CANTERBURY undertakes first docking period in FORGACS dry dock, Brisbane.
By LMT(L) Robertson and AMT(L) Graham
Over the last month HMNZS CANTERBURY has been undertaking our first docking period in the FORGACS dry dock in Brisbane. It has been a hectic time for the ship with the workload increasing and crew numbers dropping.
Above: HMNZS CANTERBURY in the dry dock Brisbane.
Over the last month HMNZS CANTERBURY has been undertaking our first docking period in the FORGACS dry dock in Brisbane. It has been a hectic time for the ship with the workload increasing and crew numbers dropping.
To begin with it appeared that CANTERBURY didn’t want to go into dock with a turbo failure on our STBD main engine forcing us back to Auckland for repairs and then an injector blockage when we got back to sea. But after some serious man hours on the turbo, and then some awesome work on the injectors by the Marine Engineers, in fairly tough working conditions, the issues were sorted.
Our focus then changed to prepping the ship for the arrival to the dry dock in Brisbane. This required a whole ship wash down and a lot of cleaning to be done to pass Australian customs inspections. The next day was an early start with SSD closing up in the early hours of the morning for a gruelling 6 hour trip up the Brisbane River.
Once we had berthed alongside at FORGACS it was time for us to ditch gash and have the Australian customs carry out their inspections. When we finally secured for the day we uplifted the keys for our accommodation and got settled in as another long day lay ahead for us the next day. Another early start and we were into it, from tagging out the majority of ships systems to assisting with getting a generator onboard to run the ships electricity whilst in dock, and just in general getting CANTERBURY ready to lower down onto the blocks of the dock bottom.
Now with the ship in place, it gave us all a chance to inspect and have a good look at and around the ships hull. It was a good learning experience and a chance to grasp the true size of HMNZS CANTERURY when standing underneath the ships bottom.
Over the dry docking period a number of major key jobs were carried out, not just by the Ships Company but the dockyard workers. Everything from a smooth hull and new paint job, to pulling the shafts, rudders and props, to changing the underwater valves and a lot of other valve maintenance. Also tanks and voids had to be opened and inspected and cleaned. A lot of hours were put in by the engineering department working 6 days a week and some late nights to make up on any lost time.
The Ships Company were also very lucky because it was a big sporting month in Brisbane. A lot of Ships Company attended the semi final of the Blues vs Reds and were there for the rugby final with Crusaders taking on the Reds, which was a good night despite the Crusaders going down. Also some of the senior rates and officers were lucky enough to get tickets for the 3rd and final State of Origin game. The rest of Ships Company had a great time out at the pubs just outside the stadium soaking up the atmosphere with some very excited locals.
Whilst alongside in Brisbane the ships company that remained with the ship were accommodated at the Econolodge in Kangaroo point approximately 7km from the dockyard. The standard of the accommodation was top notch and with our scran being prepared at the Pineapple Hotel and bar across the road from the accommodation its fair to say that some good times were had by all and that we were all thankful to be able to get away from the dock and the insane heat onboard from no ventilation.
As a whole the trip has been hard work but we all managed to make the most of our down time and after a successful maintenance period we are sure most of us were ready to come home and get the next maintenance period out of the way and get back to sea.