SUMMER 2005.qxd

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n present day shipping trade, ships are
generally dry-docked every five years. The
reason for dry-docking is two-fold, to
inspect the underwater hull of a ship and
to use this opportunity to give the hull a
protective coating of paint. Shipowners use this
opportunity to give their ships a thorough round
of maintenance. On tankers this ritual is
particularly intensive, since most of
the equipment cannot be attended to during
routine vessel operations.
The “NORDMILLENNIUM” drydocking
was a major event, the second VLCC of
the fleet to go in for this ritual. Preparation for
the docking started as early as February- at the
office and on board. Meticulous planning was
done by the Superintendent, Mr. Dziebowski,
and the Technical Department. Docking tasks
were outlined, specifications drawn up and sent
to different yards for quotation; equipment to be
overhauled clarified, and spare parts for the
overhauls to be made available at the docking.
Indeed a monumental task! The ship's
Commercial Operators were requested to assist
by keeping the ship within the Asia region, to be
NORD NEWS Summer 2005
NORDMILLENN
available in time for docking at Dubai, the
chosen yard. On board, ship’s staff was busy
preparing a list of spare parts to be ordered,
preparing tools for the overhauling of
machinery, checking and repairing tank cleaning
equipment, and during the loaded passage
washing out the 10 cm of mud that was present
in the bottom of the ballast tanks. We had to
request co-operation from terminal
representatives at Singapore and in Japanese
ports, to allow the vessel to carry out 100%
crude oil washing during discharge to reduce the
sediments in the cargo tanks.
After discharging at two ports in Japan,
the vessel commenced preparation in earnest,
washing the cargo tanks and gas freeing them.
Also six garbage skips of sand and sediment were
manually lifted out of the cargo tanks. The
Personnel Department were very kind in providing
us with a 'riding squad' to assist with the cleaning of
the tanks.
The Superintendent, Mr. Dziebowski,
boarded the vessel at Khwar Fakkan, where the
overflowing skips were offloaded and recovered