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Heavy-Lift Ship Contract Awarded to Harland & Wolff's Belfast Shipyard

11th August 2023
Heavy-lift ship, MV Sun Rise, the first of its type to be dry-docked at Harland & Wolff, Belfast. Afloat adds the 17,825 gross tonnage vessel is currently in H&W's main dry-dock facility having this week sailed from Dutch port of Rotterdam.
Heavy-lift ship, MV Sun Rise, the first of its type to be dry-docked at Harland & Wolff, Belfast. Afloat adds the 17,825 gross tonnage vessel is currently in H&W's main dry-dock facility having this week sailed from Dutch port of Rotterdam. Credit: HarlandWolffplc/facebook

Harland & Wolff Group's Belfast shipyard has been awarded a contract to undertake repairs on a semi-submersible heavy-lift vessel, the MV Sun Shine.

The vessel built in 2009, is owned by the South Korean-based Pan Ocean Group and this is the first of its kind to be drydocked in the company’s main Building Dock in Belfast.

Among the project cargoes that the ship can undertake, Afloat highlights is the transportation of offshore wind components, machinery, modules, to tugboats, drillships, barges and ocean platforms.

The contract value according to Harland & Wolff from the Seoul based client, is estimated to be £0.80 million, and the MV Sun Shine will enter the drydock on 7 August 2023 for a period of approximately 21 days.

The heavy-lift ship will undergo a series of repairs including seal changes, steelworks and painting.

Commenting on the contract, John Wood, Group CEO of Harland & Wolff said: “We are delighted to have signed this contract with Pan Ocean and we look forward to working on the Sun Shine and redelivering it to the client, on time and on budget.

“Our reputation and recognition for handling large complex vessels in Belfast is growing globally and this bodes well for a number of similar outstanding bids that we have made.

“We expect the Belfast yard to be busy over the course of the summer and it is pleasing to see the momentum that is developing in the yard.”

Published in Shipyards
Jehan Ashmore

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Jehan Ashmore

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Jehan Ashmore is a marine correspondent, researcher and photographer, specialising in Irish ports, shipping and the ferry sector serving the UK and directly to mainland Europe. Jehan also occasionally writes a column, 'Maritime' Dalkey for the (Dalkey Community Council Newsletter) in addition to contributing to UK marine periodicals. 

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Shipyards

Afloat will be focusing on news and developments of shipyards with newbuilds taking shape on either slipways and building halls.

The common practice of shipbuilding using modular construction, requires several yards make specific block sections that are towed to a single designated yard and joined together to complete the ship before been launched or floated out.

In addition, outfitting quays is where internal work on electrical and passenger facilities is installed (or upgraded if the ship is already in service). This work may involve newbuilds towed to another specialist yard, before the newbuild is completed as a new ship or of the same class, designed from the shipyard 'in-house' or from a naval architect consultancy. Shipyards also carry out repair and maintenance, overhaul, refit, survey, and conversion, for example, the addition or removal of cabins within a superstructure. All this requires ships to enter graving /dry-docks or floating drydocks, to enable access to the entire vessel out of the water.

Asides from shipbuilding, marine engineering projects such as offshore installations take place and others have diversified in the construction of offshore renewable projects, from wind-turbines and related tower structures. When ships are decommissioned and need to be disposed of, some yards have recycling facilities to segregate materials, though other vessels are run ashore, i.e. 'beached' and broken up there on site. The scrapped metal can be sold and made into other items.