Overview
Special inspections for RO-RO vessel with world’s largest stern ramp. SeaQuest Marine S.A. was awarded the management of the shipbuilding contract for a series of 45,000 DWT RO-RO vessels being built in a South Korean shipyard.

Challenges 
With a huge stern ramp and a high number of ballast tanks, constructing this vessel was a challenge for all involved. At the start of the project the shipbuilder, the owners and SeaQuest each needed to obtain greater knowledge and familiarity with the design and specifications of this type of vessel, and were involved in the concept design.

This vessel had the largest stern ramp in the world for a semi-flexible RO-RO vessel and required frequent monitoring inspections to be performed at various stages of the project. The high number of ballast tanks in the vessel resulted in there being too many water tight boundaries in the cargo hold area. Another issue we found was that the vessel required a high level of automation with the CPP propeller, bow and stern thrusters, shaft generator, exhaust gas cleaning system and the BWTS.

Risk Mitigation
SeaQuest took a pro-active approach to this project from the very beginning of the contract and design stage. The best site team possible was selected. Early assessments and inspections were performed at the initial construction stage to avoid potential issues at a later stage.

The site team of the project was cohesive thanks to the owner’s expertise and the team’s hard work.