Plastic hatch cover supports save maintenance
Principle of operation – Cargo Care Solutions plastic hatch cover pad
Dutch company Cargo Care Solutions claims that its newly-launched plastic hatch cover support pads can save up to 40% of the costs associated with traditional hatch cover supports.
The company says that keeping control of maintenance costs onboard a vessel can be likened to death by a thousand cuts. Often the ‘big-money’ items hurt less than smaller, more frequently replaced parts that slip beneath the radar but actually permit significant total savings be cause of the large quantities involved. Cargo Care Solutions, which claims a long history in cargo access equipment, believes its new plastic support pads, designed to fit a cross section of vessel types, to be the answer to at least one maintenance headache.
Traditionally hatch cover support was achieved by steel to steel contact. With vessels getting bigger the company says it recognised a growing demand for hatch cover supports that could support higher loads and at the same time offer low friction capabilities to accommodate hogging and sagging of the hull, list and trim of the vessel and deflections in the coaming and hatch cover itself. This is achieved by low-friction sliding bearing pads made from different wear-resistant materials, with lubricating bronze as the best known type.
The new plastic pads are made of a self-lubricating polymer and are designed to retrofit/replace these different types and sizes of traditional support pads. By sliding against a stainless steel mating plate the pads will have good sliding capabilities and smooth low noise operation. As much of the original support pad system as possible is left in place when installing the plastic pads, in order to minimise costs.
“We are delighted to have been able to use technology to offer the solution that the market has been demanding,” said Peter Peltenburg, group director of Cargo Care Solutions. “Uniquely, our new plastic hatch cover support pads will be produced in a range of sizes that can replace support pads fitted on different makes of hatch covers. This means we will soon be able to offer a one-stop-shop for fleets operating different sizes and types of vessels and with different makes of hatch covers. Our plastic hatch cover support pads offer a lower cost product of exceptional quality, and we are aiming to meet a ship operator’s entire product replacement needs with just one call.
“Support pads are a critical area which can lead to high ship maintenance costs during service life and these new plastic support pads are designed to have a minimal and predictable wear-down, further lowering the ship’s maintenance costs,” adds Peltenburg. “Of course they make up only part of a range of products and services we offer that are compatible with many different makers. We also deal with many types of other hatch cover equipment like rubber packing, fittings, hydraulics, etc. In addition we meet our clients’ service requirements by offering fully equipped service stations for the maintenance of cargo access equipment like hatch covers and ro-ro equipment across a range of manufacturers.”
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