Ship Repair USA: Mitigating welding risks during ship repair projects

Matt Wichgers, PE, EBDG

As a supporter of shipyards and a representative for vessel owners and operators, Seattle-based Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) has recognized a need for complex weld engineering and inspection services. The combination of theoretical knowledge and practical experience at EBDG is a powerful resource for ship repair facilities, fabricators, and vessel owners and operators.

Because of this, EBDG’s Matthew Wichgers, PE, will present on the welding services that support shipyards and vessel operators during ship repair projects at Ship Repair USA on June 20 in New Orleans, La.

During the conference, EBDG will discuss how a CWI Licensed Engineer brings value to vessel owners and shipyards during a construction project. Additional discussion topics will include how to mitigate complex welding risks and challenges during projects and contribute to the quality of production, resulting in quality work that will exceed standards and last through operations.

For a practical example of engineering weld services, EBDG will present a recent project for the USNS SBX-1 vessel, which required a team of certified welding inspectors to develop an optimized weld procedure that eliminated the requirement for extensive post-weld heat treatment. The material in focus was American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) grade FH-36 low temperature steel, suitable for service in arctic conditions which retains higher impact toughness in very cold ambient temperatures when compared to more common shipbuilding steel. Challenges, solutions and lessons learned on this project will be shared with the audience.

The SBX-1 is a unique vessel and part of the U.S. Department of Defense Missile Defense Agency, which provides key tracking and identification of potential ballistic missile threats. The regulatory agencies in control of the approval and oversight of the procedure included ABS and the U.S. Coast Guard, in support of the ultimate owner, the Department of Defense, Military Sealift Command (MSC).

MSC will also be presenting at Ship Repair USA on June 21. A complete lineup of discussion topics can be found at the conference page.

Ship Repair USA

Ship Repair USA is the only ship repair event in North America that brings together shipyards, ship repair facilities, owner/operators, suppliers and others. It will be a sister show to Marine Log FERRIES and TTB (Tugs, Towboats & Barges). The event will include a several topics hosted by the Military Sealift Command with a special focus on smaller shipyards and repair yards for its commercial business and will go over ship repair contracting, planning projections and more.

The conference includes an expo where you can discover products and services to help you put your plans into action.

Sponsorships available

Sponsorships for the event are still available.Ship Repair USA sponsorship packages offer branded sessions, lead generation, custom email deployments, event tours and more. For more information, contact David Harkey at 212.620.7223 (office) or 973.563.0109 (cell) or dharkey@sbpub.com.

As of now, the following companies are Ship Repair USA sponsors:

• Alabama Shipyard (Cocktail Reception)
• W&O (Luncheon)
• On Site Alignment (Gold)
• Tork Systems (Silver & Lanyards)
• Conrad Shipyards (Silver)
• ABS (Silver)
• Bayonne Dry Dock (Silver)
• Jones Walker (Silver)
• Electronic Marine Systems (Silver)
• SSI (Silver)
• All American Paint (Bronze)
• Kongsberg (Bronze)
• Commerce Bank (Bronze)
• Gulf Copper (Bronze)
• Louisiana Cat (Bronze)
• Platypus Marine Inc. (Bronze)
• Separator Spares & Equipment (Bronze)
• Simplex Americas (Bronze)
• SKF Cooper (Bronze)
• Tnemec (Bronze)