An Cosantóir

35 LÉ ROISÍN REFIT on the LÉ Niamh, he eventually found himself back down in the Mediterranean - this time on a Navy ship as opposed to a super yacht and doing a much different job. In 2018 while still on board the LÉ Niamh he completed a Certificate in Naval Architecture to further his education. In fact, he also became a member of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects. After finishing two-and-a-half years on board the LÉ Niamh, Gary found himself in his current role, as Project Manager on the mid-life extension for the LÉ Roisín. Built in the UK and commissioned in service in 1999, the 78 metres offshore patrol vessel would normally have a crew of 44. Explaining what would prompt a refit, Gary said such a ship would have a normal life expectancy of 30 years. "We've gone a little over the 15 years here. We also have major electrical upgrades that need to take place; there are technological advances constantly going on in the maritime industry as well, so we have to make sure we are up to modern speed with those systems. Mainly the objective then is to advance and upgrade the ship." Dealing with his specific role as Project Manager, Gary said he wasn't actually involved in the planning stages for the programme itself. This was done by a separate team and Gary was still on board the LÉ Niamh at that time. "They would have touched base with me at the beginning to get some advice on what was required on the vessel. There was a separate project team based ashore, it took about two years for the planning of it. There was a lot of OEMs – original equipment manufacturers – and there were a lot of interviews with them. We would have engaged with a lot of stakeholders, we would have feasibility studies done, and surveys carried out and there would have been further investigations into the best equipment required to get on board," he stated. There were three people in the Project Management Office and once the planning process was finished, it was into the execution phase. From there, said Gary, it was a case of continuously monitoring and controlling the project itself, making sure the schedule of work is kept, the budget is maintained adding: "Obviously it is a significant budget for a project and programme like this – and there was constant engagement with the main contractor, including OEMs and service engineers coming over. The crew was also on board at the time, so there was constant engagement with them as well." The actual work on the refit of the LÉ Roisin was done in three phases. Phase 1 – Dry Dock Phase 2 – Wet Berth Phase 3 – Outfitting and Refitting Phase 1 involved bringing the ship into dry dock. "The ship is out of water on blocks and held in that dry dock. Underneath the ship is fully inspected, there is the removal of propellers, drive shafts, stabilisers etc. It is a full survey of the under hull of the ship," said Gary. What also happened in the dry dock, for this project in particular, was full grit blasting of the ship from front to back. "Which is basically high pressure grit blasted at the ship to remove the paint which brings it back to red sealings. That gives us an opportunity to do ultrasonic testing on the full hull, to see if there is degradation on it. There is a minimum thickness required on the hull on ships and it is to see if that has gone down to its minimum and is there a requirement for steel to be replaced," he said. Speaking about one of the major replacement jobs undertaken, Gary said sewage and fresh water equipment is normally located below the water line. These had to be removed and replaced in dry dock which required cutting out of the steel in that area of the ship. There was reconfiguration required there too, to conform to best practice and regulations. There was also a need to increase the size of the plant required. v Every part of a LÉ Róisín main engine is machined to fine tolerances, and requires skilled rigging to lift safely. v The servicing of main engine turbochargers is highly specialised work. They spin at thousands of RPM, and experience hundreds of degrees of heat from exhaust gases. v A row of engine cylinder heads awaiting individual overhaul in a marine engineering workshop. v Stabilization hydraulics are complicated systems which combine cutting edge electronic input with precision engineering to operate massive stabilization fins under the hull.

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