CUSTOMER: Royal Navy  HMS Fearless

PROBLEM: Cracking was identified around boiler pipe work, during a scheduled maintenance check on HMS Fearless, resulting in the need for the ship to be dry docked since access to the damaged area was severely restricted.  With just 16 inches of space to access the pipe work around the boiler Fleet Support Limited  (FSL) knew that repair would be almost impossible, but dry docking to replace the damaged pipework and boiler parts would incur a considerable cost and extend the planned shutdown by weeks.

SOLUTION:  The specialty services company, Furmanite, was called to the scene and within just 24 hours bespoke machinery and equipment that would allow machining within the restricted area available had been designed, manufactured and delivered to the dockyard in Portsmouth. The equipment consisted of a cruciform mounting plate with adjustable feet that was locked into place once inside the boiler area, holding the boring tool in place and enabling accurate machining to be carried out on the area that required attention.

Getting this procedure right first time was crucial. In order to ensure that the accuracy required could be achieved, the MOD made sister ship HMS Intrepid available. Intrepid is the only ship in existence with precisely the same boiler system. The two day trial was a complete success.  The following day the same operation was carried out on HMS Fearless in order to return the damaged boiler to an operating pressure of 580 psi.

Furmanite was able to further aid the return of the ship to service use with its unique Trevitest system to check the six boiler safety valves. This system avoids the need to shut down and remove the valves for testing, and keeps outage times to a minimum since valves needing repair are identified in advance of shutdown.

OUTCOME:  Within just one week the ship’s boilers were flashed up and Fearless was back in working order, saving a great deal in terms of time and money.”