Cascade General Starts 2000 With Challenging Cruise Ship Conversion

Cascade General began 2000 with an intensive five-month conversion project to deliver the 218Õ (66m) luxury riverboat Columbia Queen to the Delta Queen Steamboat Company by May 24. The vessel arrived at the Portland Shipyard as a bare shell at the end of December, and within days, shipyard crews were working simultaneously on all five decks. New stairways and walls were fitted and hundreds of windows cut on the four passenger decks. At the same time, all the utilities were installed overhead on racks in the ceiling void. These included not just the normal shipboard amenities, but also satellite TV, ship-to-shore telephones and data lines to all 105 cabins.

The Columbia Queen was originally built in 1994 for use as a casino with two 700 HP Cummins engines for electrical generation and two 950 HP Cummins for slow-speed propulsion. For its new role as an inland cruise ship, a complete re-configuration of the drive system was specified by naval architects Rodney Lay & Associates of Jacksonville, Fl. They called for a huge increase of propulsion power from 1900 HP to 4600 HP, to enable the ship to maneuver through the eight locks of the Columbia and Snake rivers in high winds and provide a cruising speed of twelve knots.

Cascade General's mechanical team began this challenging re-power by opening four access panels in the main deck, and building a new machinery space in the stern compartment. The existing 950 HP mains were then hoisted out of the engine room, and lowered into the stern where they became the auxiliaries, connected to upward-angled shafts turning azimuthing sternthrusters.

The new mains were to be a pair of 1350 HP Cummins. They were moved by dockside crane to the main deck level, skidded through a doorway by the rigging crew, then lowered into the two vacated spaces in the main engine room. In the Portland Shipyard's Dry Dock 1, they were connected to conventional shafts turning 58" diameter four-bladed propellers in tunnels. The 950 HP auxiliaries were mated to Schottel azimuthing drives with fore and aft propellers, fitted in new transom wells.

All external work, including bottom painting and the insertion of the passenger elevator, was also completed in the dry dock while preliminary work was completed on the interior.

With the infrastructure in place to support all the demands of modern river travel, the effort began to create 105 traditional-style cabins, three lounges and the central dining room. All the interior structures, including the superbly equipped galley and dining hall were completed and ready for finish work by April. The ship's dŽcor and all furnishings have been carefully selected to create the atmosphere of a 19th century riverboat.

In trials, the ship achieved a speed of 12 knots with all four engines, and was able to cruise under mains only at 10.5 knots. The combination of azimuthing drives and the 350 HP bowthruster produces a high degree of maneuverability. Fully equipped wing steering stations give the captain complete control during docking,

Safety features include the Swedish Nittan fire-prevention system, automatic fire doors, and extremely fire-resistant stair towers, a rear-looking remote TV camera, and main deck speakers with "talk back" microphones. The ship passed its Coast Guard trials on May 22 with flying colors.

Cruise Ship Overhauls

Cascade General drydocked two cruise ships in the Portland Shipyard this spring. The first was Holland America Line's Statendam in April for a six-day stay. The 720Õ (220 m) ship went straight onto Drydock 4, where the rudder, propeller and shaft were staged and prepared for inspection by a LloydÕs surveyor. The propellers were polished and the port shaft seal was replaced.

Work on the bottom continued with cleaning and inspection of 22 sea-valves and replacement of anodes. The stabilizers and thruster tunnels were also opened for ownerÕs inspection, while the hull below the waterline was blasted and re-painted with an International four-coat system.

The shell plating was repaired in three locations and a cracked bulkhead in the forward ballast deep tank was repaired. All welds were inspected and approved by Lloyds. Work in the shipÕs interior ranged from the renewal of piping in the deck drains to the replacement of the charge-air cooling units on three of the shipÕs five GMT Sulzer diesel engines.

Also in the engine room, a Cascade General crew installed the foundations for two 4,000 gallon wastewater treatment tanks and a pump module for a state-of-the-art blackwater treatment system. This equipment, produced in Canada by Zenon, also required the routing of 200Õ of 6" and 8" aeration piping through two double-bottom blackwater tanks. (The Statendam is the first Holland America ship to use this method, which exceeds new standards for overboard discharge.)

On the boat deck, twelve lifeboat davits were completely dis-assembled for a five-year inspection. The traveling beams and track wheels were removed and inspected, hydraulic operating systems were overhauled, and sheaves and pins replaced according to the manufacturerÕs specifications. Finally, the re-assembled units were weight tested to 22 metric tonnes and re-certified.

The 790'(240m) Crystal Harmony arrived at Cascade General in May for a ten-day stopover. The overhaul on this ten-year old ship included an overhaul of the hull below the waterline, extensive interior remodeling and steel replacement in the pool areas on Deck 11. The work actually began on the ship in Los Angeles, where Cascade General sent a mobile crew to join the ship.

The primary task was an overhaul of one of the auxiliary boilers. A second team embarked in San Francisco to clean ballast tanks prior to structural repairs and tank preservation work. "We depend on our advance teams to clear the way for the shipyard phase," explained Cascade General Executive Vice President and cruise ship specialist Suren Menon. "The more they can accomplish while the ship is at sea, the more effectively we can use the limited time in the shipyard."

On the ship's Lido Deck, the Neptune and Seahorse pools needed new surrounds, and new steel foundations were required under the two Jacuzzis. While the Crystal Harmony was still in New Orleans, a complete advance survey was made of the pool areas, and measurements taken to enable new surrounds to be pre-fabricated in Portland. The project resumed one month later in Canadian waters, after the passengers had disembarked, when a third crew arrived to begin removing the steelwork from all four pools.

Once the ship was high and dry on Portland Shipyard's 982'(299m) Dry Dock 4, work began on all the mechanical systems below the waterline which were also due for 10-year inspection. The Sperry stabilizer fins, weighing 27 tons each, were removed to a building bay where they were completely refurbished; both the 1000 Kw Lips bowthrusters were extracted for complete dis-assembly, overhaul and testing in one of the shipyard machine shops.

Multiple paint layers were blasted away to clean the entire hull down to bare metal and a five-coat Jotun paint system applied. Welding crews began replacing corroded steel in several locations. To comply with Lloyd's rules, over fifty sea valves were overhauled and inspections carried out on propellers, shafting and rudders.

"It's a pleasure for me to see a ten-year old ship that's this well maintained," Menon added. "We've done our part to make sure she maintains her six-star rating and is ready for many more years of service."

Paul Buck Gets SOLAS Upgrade

The 32,572-ton deadweight product carrier Paul Buck was in the Portland Shipyard in June for a drydocking, mechanical overhaul, and the addition of a raised, centerline walkway extending 400'from the house to the foredeck. This addition meets the 1998 SOLAS requirement for all oil tankers to have "safe access to the bow" by 2001. The Paul Buck is designated a T-5 Replacement and operates under a long-term charter to the Military Sealift Command to carry refined petroleum products.

Prior to the 615'(185m) ship's arrival, Cascade General prefabricated the structure in 15-20'(5-6m) sections, which were prepared and painted onshore and lifted into place during while the ship was on the 982'(299m) Dry Dock 4. Situated 8'above the deck, the walkway incorporates two existing refueling-at-sea platforms and includes seven firefighting monitors that were formerly at deck level. The decking is Fiber Grate non-skid.

The original fifteen-year old re-fueling platforms were stripped of all fittings and hydroblasted at 40,000 psi before re-coating. This method was also successfully used on the foredeck, windlass, bulwarks and rudder horn compartments. This allowed maintenance work on the piping to the 21 separate tanks to proceed without interruption.

On the dry dock floor, the propeller was pulled to correct a seal leak, a rudder pintle pulled and rebuilt, and the topsides above the waterline blasted to bare metal and given a five-part coating. Eighty anodes were removed and replaced. The ship's owners, Ocean Carrier, were also using this opportunity to carry out some life-cycle extension work in the double bottom, where an inspection had revealed the need for preventative maintenance.

To restore the ship's ballast tanks to top condition, a complete blast and coat of 180,000 sq. ft. of surface area was required. "They came to Portland specifically because we were prepared to complete the internal blasting in the time available," explained Cascade General project manager Dave Byers. "We had a hundred-man crew working in the tanks from the day the ship arrived," he added. "It's not an easy job down there, with minimal headroom, but we were ready to start painting within a week."

In the engine room, Cascade General machinists completed a complete overhaul of the IHI Sulzer 5RTA76 low-speed engine. All five pistons, plus one spare, were removed and trucked to a specialist shop in Long Beach CA. for refurbishing. The 11,000 Kw unit was re-built with four new cross-head bearings in a total of fifteen days. The turbo charger was removed for refurbishing by ABB in Seattle, and the Caterpillar 3516 genset was also rebuilt.

New Frames for the Sea Trident

Also in June, the 633'(190m) Greek bulk carrier Sea Trident made a three-week dockside stop in the Portland Shipyard for the replacement of most of the frames in the #1 and #5 holds. The deterioration, caused by corrosion, was detected by an ABS inspector after the ship had discharged cargo in Los Angeles. The ship's owners, Marine Managers Ltd of Piraeus, Greece, selected Cascade General to make the necessary repairs, and the ship detoured north to the Columbia River.

The project required that three levels of staging be erected to give the ship fitters safe access to the 50'-high sides of the hold. The old frames were removed in an alternating pattern to maintain hull shape. The curved frame shapes in the forward sections were lofted onto plywood templates before removal to ensure an accurate fit.

Replacement frames were cut from 5/8" plate and hoisted into place using temporary lifting eyes welded to the side-deck beams. Many port and starboard structural brackets were also replaced at the bulkheads, and covered with new shed plates. Over 100,000 lbs of steel was replaced and inspected by the ABS representative in Portland. Cascade General completed the repairs on schedule in two weeks, using approximately 120 men per day in three shifts.

AlaskanTanker Repair

Recognizing the increasing demands on west coast tanker operators, Cascade General signed a maintenance and repair alliance with Alaska Tanker Company (ATC), the largest operator of US-flagged tankers on the west coast, with eleven vessels under its banner. By mid-year, eight American-flagged crude carriers had made stops in the Portland Shipyard for general maintenance in the yard's 983'(299m) Dry Dock 4.

Cascade General also continued to lead the industry on the west coast in the field of mobile ship-repair. Since 1996, the mobile squads have become an essential part of the company's service, providing a fast response anywhere between the Gulf of Alaska and southern California. Mobile crews made 34 tanker visits in the first half of the year.

Taking this concept a stage further, Cascade General has established a voyage repair station in Port Angeles, Washington. This location is strategically situated on the route for ships supplying the refineries of Puget Sound. Five tankers had been repaired at the dockside by mid-year.

In addition, over 60 voyage repair projects were completed on all manner of vessels transiting the Columbia River, including tugs, barges and dredges. Response teams have also been sent as far as Hawaii to work on the cruise ship SS Independance and American Samoa on the Crowley tug American Salvor.

"Our record this year shows that we have made significant progress at the Portland Shipyard in diversifying our business. We also handled two complex projects simultaneously: the construction of a 124 MW Power Barge and the cruise ship conversion," stated Frank Foti, CEO and President of Cascade General.

From the start, wiring and plumbing teams had been pre-outfitting as much of the final seven miles of piping and thirty-five miles of wiring as possible. Banks of wire runs were in place on and below the main deck well before the engines arrived, and all cooling and fuel systems were established and ready for connection. The next step in this carefully-choreographed performance was the placement of the seven engine-service modules.

These 40-ton units consolidate all oil, fuel and coolant, pumping and filtering systems into a machinery tower 30'high and 25'wide. They were built on a production line, mounted on rollers, and moved out of the workshop, across the yard and within reach of the dockside cranes. With all seven units in place, the far side of the engine hall became a solid wall of machinery. This concept markedly reduces the usual engine room clutter and improves access to the engines themselves.

With all the separate elements in place on the main deck, the 50'high engine hall was lifted and lowered into position over the generators in three sections. These were united and work then began overhead to install a moving gantry system, cooling fans for the generators, and the exhaust pipes. These oversized stainless tubes are connected to the exhaust stacks, which rise an impressive 131'(40 m) above the waterline, supported by a steel framework. Testing of the individual generators began on schedule in February.

"We are fortunate enough to have a 230 Kv powerline and a sub-station serving the shipyard. This permits us to connect each engine to the power grid and run it at full capacity," Menon noted. "We were able to test each engine, correct any voltage fluctuations, and verify the entire system," he added. This ability to perform acceptance testing on-site saved the Esperanza's operators at least a month of trials in Guatemala. Mechanical completion was achieved on April 10, 2000, a total contract period of less than 11 months. The Esperanza was floated onboard a Dock Wise submersible ship on April 15 and arrived in Guatemala two weeks later.

To provide the best possible service in this tropical environment, the barge is protected throughout by a 15-year paint system. The control room is air conditioned and engine operations are fully computerized. Every engine parameter, including temperatures and pressures at numerous locations, is monitored via touch screens in the air-conditioned control room. The emissions will be regularly analyzed by instruments in the exhaust stacks to ensure compliance with environmental standards set by the World Bank. The Esperanza's owner is Puerto Quetzal Power Limited, a joint venture between Enron, one of the world's leading power providers and Centrans Energy Services, a consortium of Guatemalan and foreign investors.

Terri Deskins, director of sales and business development for Cascade General, sees great potential for the yard to leverage its success with the power barge into a wide range of modular construction--from floating industrial plants to ships in the 300-400'range. She points out that Portland is where modern shipbuilding really began, in 1942, when Henry Kaiser started turning out Liberty ships for the war effort the same way Henry Ford built cars. "It's a proud tradition," Deskins said, "and we intend to make new construction the rule, not the exception, once again in the new Portland Shipyard."

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Cascade General operates Portland Shipyard, the largest and most complete ship repair and industrial facility on the West Coast of the United States. We provide full-service repairs and conversions for tankers, cruise ships, bulk carriers, container ships, government vessels, tugs, barges and workboats. Cascade General's Portland facility includes a 60-acre (24.2 ha) yard, 550,000 square feet (51,096 square meters) of craft shops, more than 7,600 ft. (2,326 meters) of full-service repair berths, and two floating dry docks.