Floatel Books into Gibdock

The Norwegian-owned offshore accommodation vessel, Edda Fides, one of the most  advanced and sophisticated vessels of its type in the world,  has been dry-docked at Gibdock in Gibraltar for a week-long package of work at the yard.
The ‘floatel’, owned by Østensjø Rederi, arrived at Gibdock on April 2nd and was docked the following day. The main scope of work involved disconnecting and lowering the starboard aft Voith Thruster and renewing the main thruster seal.
Edda Fides has a unique monohull form to enable the positioning of the accommodation forward and the Voith thrusters to the stern. The design is reckoned to achieve a 20% reduction in fuel and emissions compared with previous vessels of this type. Docking required Gibdock to set up a special block arrangement to accommodate the vessel.
Gibdock Production Director, John Taylor says: “This was a project with a very tight time deadline and replacing the thruster seal involved our own fitters and Voith Schneider technicians working together round the clock and throughout the Easter break. The project also required the deployment of Gibdock welders and steel workers to fabricate and install steel support guides onto the hull to lower the thruster unit safely from the vessel.” All the required lifting equipment was supplied by the yard.
Built by the HJ Barreras shipyard in Vigo and delivered in 2011 at an estimated cost of €150 million, the 130m long, 7,500dwt Edda Fides has accommodation for 600 persons onboard and features some groundbreaking technology intended to revolutionise the offshore accommodation sector. This includes a DP3 positioning system combined with Voith Schneider propellers, and a heave compensated gangway.
The floatel offers 177 cabins with a comfort class equivalent to cruise ships and is marketed by Edda Accommodation, a division of the Østensjø group, and has been deployed in the North Sea region as well as offshore eastern Spain.
Other work required during docking included comprehensive hull washing, the removal and refitting of 69 sea chest grids for cleaning and painting and the installation of 500m of cabling in the area around the engine room, emergency generators and main engine fans.
Gibdock also carried out a load test on the ship’s crane, installed stainless steel bypass lines for the sanitation supply system, flushing lines for the food waste disposal system, and
various items of galley equipment. In addition the yard surveyed the lifeboats and davits onboard to ensure compliance with safety standards. The work was completed on schedule.
“In general we still see growth in the cruise and offshore sectors, with new opportunities for Gibdock in fabrication and rigs to add to our existing repair and conversion work,” said Richard Beards, Gibdock Commercial Director.
“Edda Fides is a high quality, top end vessel, and Østensjø elected to come to a high quality yard. This is further evidence of the confidence that offshore vessel owners have in Gibdock.”
Mr Beards highlighted the recent arrival of the semi-submersible Etesco Millennium, which underwent initial steelwork while tank cleaning for and further work is anticipated. Other recent offshore projects have included work for Heerema (barge work to support work on the semi-submersible Balder J), Bourbon (Bourbon Borgstein), Boa Offshore (Boa Galatea), and Solstad Offshore (Normand Cutter and Normand Vester).