Seaking Maritime Crane Slip Ring Refurbishment

The Problem

After a ship crane started to fail due to an ageing slip ring, BGB was contacted by Seaking to assist the in-situ repair. Seaking are a marine engineering company specialising in ship repair, ship installations and modifications. Eric King, Lead Engineer on the project explains: “There was a problem on board the vessel which damaged the slip ring. The original slip ring manufacturer was unable to support. A complete new part and enclosure was not an option for cost and downtime reasons so we needed to come up with an in-situ repair. We limited the load carrying capacity of the crane whilst we worked with BGB to come up with a solution.”

The Solution

BGB combined its slip ring knowledge and manufacturing experience to adapt an existing modular ring design to fit the power requirements of the crane. These rings would be able to be retrofitted to the 1930s crane which boasted 2.5kA busbars and were limited to 1.5kA whilst the slip ring service was performed. If the crane was completely out of action, then the operator could not get paid on the offload, this meant that there was no loss of revenue. “We chose BGB after trying a number of places that didn’t even respond. The service has been excellent, you guys gave some good advice on standard sizes and the solution was spot on. You delivered when you said you were going to. The new rings were only 1mm over, which wasn’t bad considering we measured the old ones in situ. We were able to adapt on site after offering them up, it is always better to be a bit over rather than under!”

The Future

One of the biggest challenges facing engineering companies in the UK like BGB and Seaking are the availability of engineers that are willing to work on the physical side of engineering. Eric explains: “It’s a real challenge for the maritime industry to attract engineers, especially on the electrical side. Good experience and expertise are hard to come by. We are trying to preserve and develop these skills through our apprenticeship scheme and I am pleased that BGB share this approach.” Alex Pucacco Business Development Manager continues: “I share Eric’s passion for engineering. There is a real joy in solving practical problems and that is something I am proud to be involved in at BGB, having the opportunity to work here as a young lad and continuing my development as a professional. Here at BGB engineers are represented in all of our departments: design, quality, sales, machining and manufacturing.”

The Happy Customer

“We chose BGB after trying a number of places that didn’t even respond. The service has been excellent, you guys gave some good advice on standard sizes and the solution was spot on. You delivered when you said you were going to.”

Info

The SeaKing Group offers specialist electrical engineering services to the marine, industrial, commercial, military and offshore sectors.