The almost 19m-long propeller shaft had a deflection of 7.7°, almost 250mm out of centreline at the worst area.
A sceptic person would for sure write off this bent propeller shaft of its duty. Most people would probably think that this piece is unrepairable and surely never approved again by a classification society.
Well, please read on, because this shaft has been fully repaired with class approval, and it has recently been put back in place. Its lady Paglia Orba is soon ready for service again.
the ferry Paglia Orba from the Corsica Linea SAS had an unfortunate incident in January 2021 while entering Bastia port. The damages forced the ferry to be taken off service and into drydocking at CMR Tunisia Ship Repairs.
The damage to the propeller shaft was evident and severe. The intermediate shaft was also bent.
Corsica Linea SAS contacted us, and we offered a complete repair of the propeller shaft and intermediate shaft. They trusted our repair history and sent both shafts to our workshop in Denmark by truck.
Extensive none destructive tests were carried out by third-party and supervised by BV surveyor. The tests confirmed that the material was intact, and we could carry on with our repair procedure for class approval.
We do a thorough calculation before any straightening job. Our purpose-built hydraulic presses are our ‘horsepower’. We have several hydraulic presses, and our most extensive press can press with 6,000t and put shafts/rudder stocks up to Ø1,500mm in diameter back in shape. For our engineers, it takes years of training to manoeuvre this task.
Our job for Paglia Orba:
- Cold straightening and repair of intermediate shaft 1 pc of Ø390 x 7,450mm
- Cold straightening and repair of propeller shaft 1 pc Ø1058/421 x 18,875mm, including twin tube
The propeller shaft bearing journals were repaired by laser cladding.
After the cold straightening, repair, and assembling, we carried out a pressure test of the twin-tube, which was witnessed by the maker Kongsberg.
Bruno Rogier, superintendent from Corsica Linea SAS, wrote the following to us: “The job done by the MARINESHAFT team is amazing. I was really impressed by your knowledge, technicity, and trust to restore the shaft. A lot of sceptic persons told me you are wrong by attempting to repair instead of manufacturing a new one. I am now happy to prove them different.”
MarineShaft wants to thank Corsica Lines SAS for trusting us with this repair and working with you and your superintendent Bruno Rogier has been a great pleasure.
We thank CMR Tunisia Ship Repairs for a perfect collaboration putting Paglia Orba back in service and we thank Bureau Veritas Denmark for another excellent co-operation and your skilled surveyors involved in this case.
We are proud to have repaired these two shafts that are proof of the viability of our unique cold straightening method.