Ship Systems: Repair and Maintenance at Sea and at Dock

The technology and equipment of maritime systems certainly isn’t limited to what is inside the ship itself. Building and maintaining these giants takes plenty of specialized equipment and machinery.

Repair Vessels

What happens when a cruise ship on the way to Antarctica gets a fuel leak? A repair vessel, the savior of the seas, sets out to help. These ships are crucial for aiding both military and civilian ships who find themselves stranded on the high seas. Repair vessels may even be used in aiding humanitarian disasters and any other situation that requires a rapid response time. Many of the services a repair ship has to offer a stranded vessel at sea—electricity, fresh water, and firefighting capabilities—can come in handy in a number of situations.

Where do these repair vessels come from? Many of them are retrofitted ships that were previously used for other military or civilian uses, but are no longer needed to serve those purposes. These ships are converted to have metal working and wood working shops, hospitals and medical clinics, and towing capabilities.

At Dock Power Systems

Lots of brainpower goes into how to have a ship run more efficiently at sea. But, what about when that ship is docked and unloading and loading its precious cargo? In the past, ships would continue to run on their own diesel power, which is not only an environmentally unfriendly waste of fuel, but it's also polluting to ports and a health hazard to workers who have to endure the accumulation of fumes.

Alternative Maritime Power (AMP) is one solution to this problem of how to deal with the mammoth ocean goers when they’re attached to the land. The basis of this technology is pretty simple in theory: ships would plug in to landside electrical power while they’re at dock. The Port of Los Angeles pioneered this technology, in 2004. All ships have been rather slow to adopt the technology, however; each individual ship has to be outfitted with the necessary equipment, as well as the port itself. Although it requires the cooperation of ports and ship manufacturers, shipping advocates are hopeful that the technology will become more widespread, as environmental issues continue to receive deserved attention in the media.

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