SKEG REPAIR

Report Title
Thursday, 25 May 2023

Globology Limited
Kisumu, Kenya

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Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 3

Inspection of the damage method .................................................................................................. 4

Inspection of the damage - results ................................................................................................. 5

Repairs of the leaks........................................................................................................................ 9

Stern tube repair......................................................................................................................... 9

Bulkhead repair........................................................................................................................ 10

Causes of the failed components ................................................................................................. 11

Crack around stern tube ........................................................................................................... 11

Leak in the bulkhead................................................................................................................ 11

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Introduction
During the docking of Captain David the skeg on PS needed repairs as water was flowing into
the engine room and the steering gear compartment. In this report the findings and repairs are
discussed.

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Inspection of the damage method
To find out the extend of the damage the steering gear compartment was flooded with water. In
the figure below the extend of the steering gear compartment is shown. Also the bulkhead is
shown below.

Figure 1: Side of the hull, extend of steering gear compartment marked yellow. The bulkhead is at the forward end of the stern
gear compartment. The stern tube is shown in red running through the stern gear compartment.

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Figure 2: View of the bulkhead where water was flowing past. The bulkhead is shown in yellow, and the stern tube is the red
pipe.

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Inspection of the damage - results
After flooding the steering gear compartment the leaks were found:

1. A crack around the stern tube caused water to flow into the steering gear compartment.
2. The water in the steering gear compartment flowed into the Engine Room, the bulkhead
between the engine room and steering gear compartment was not welded fully.

Figure 3: Crack around the stern tube.

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Figure 4: Leak in the bulkhead

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After finding the crack around the stern tube NDT testing was performed to find the extend of
the crack. The extend of the crack is shown after grinding.

Figure 5: NDT testing of the PS sterntube on SB side, crack is clearly visible.

Figure 6: NDT inspection of the PS sterntube on the PS side. No crack visible on this side.

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Repairs of the leaks
Stern tube repair
The crack on the stern tube was welded after the grinding out of the crack. The repair is shown
in the images below.

Figure 7: The extend of the crack at the stern tube after grinding preparation for welding.

Figure 8: Repaired skeg crack

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Bulkhead repair
To repair the leaking bulkhead, it was necessary to cut part of the skin of the hull. As the area
where the welding is done is in an inaccessible space.

The weld repair was done on both sides of the bulkhead, to seal the gap.

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Causes of the failed components
The causes for the crack in the stern tube and leaking bulkhead are discussed here.

Crack around stern tube

The crack around the stern tube is most likely caused by the bending of the plate during
construction of the hulls. In the images below the curvature in the plate is clearly visible on the
PS hull but not on the SB hull.

The because of the curvature, the plate has bending stresses. These bending stresses may have
caused an initial crack to form. And this crack has then grown in time, to cause the leak.

Figure 9: Curvature on the plate of the PS hull, notice the space between the ruler and hull
above the stern tube. SB hull on the right does not show this curvature.

Leak in the bulkhead

The leak in the bulkhead is caused by improper welding by the constructor. There are two errors
made:

1. The weld in the corner was not done properly, see figure 4.

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2. This plate is welded using sloth welds onto a backing bar, the backing bar has not been
fully welded on both sides to seal the bulkhead.

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