P&O Euro Ferries Puts 3 Ships With A&P

A&P Birkenhead has won a three-ship contract from P&O European Ferries for passenger/car ferries operating across the Irish Sea. The ships involved are the 14,426 grt European Pioneer, the 18,653 grt European Envoy, and the 12,879 grt European Leader. All three ferries will be drydocked over the coming weeks, the first due to arrive in Birkenhead on July 21. The principle work on all three is deck renewals using the "Sandwich Plate System", patented by UK's Intelligent Engineering. Other scheduled repair work will also be carried out, with the yard remaining very flexible over the requirements of P&O. Intelligent Engineering (IE) has designed and patented the revolutionary technology called Sandwich Plate System (SPS). SPS is a composite materials technology in which two metal plates are bonded to a compact elastomer core. The elastomer provides continuous support to the plates and stops local plate buckling and eliminates the need for stiffeners. The flexural stiffness and strength of the sandwich plate is tailored to meet particular static and dynamic structural requirements by selecting appropriate thicknesses for the sandwich elements. SPS replaces conventional stiffened metal plates in maritime, offshore and civil engineering structures providing benefits in fabrication, performance, safety and cost for both civilian and military applications. It is used for new construction and also, as SPS Overlay, for repair and conversion. SPS Overlay bonds a new top plate to the existing structure in a process that is simple, safe, non-disruptive and fast. SPS was invented by Intelligent Engineering and has been developed together with BASF, which provides the core material. Major ship Classification Societies and regulatory authorities have approved SPS and there are many applications already in service. SPS is available around the world in partnership with BASF. During the P&O ships stay at A&P Birkenhead, a total of over 2,723 m² of decks will be repaired on all three ships using the SPS Overlay technology. The breakdown includes the European Leader (a total of 1,936 m2), European Envoy (202 m2) and European Pioneer (585 m2). P&O has used SPS Overlay on eight previous projects and were the launch customer for the technology some two years ago.