Hull Inspection and Maintenance (UWILD)

GENERAL INFORMATION

Large vessels are required to be inspected thoroughly every year, as well as have a secondary inspection every three years and a half decade in order to remain certified and to stay operational. The goal of having a certified vessels is to provide credibility and to protect owners, employees, insurers and the companies who depend on the these ships for transportation. The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), a classification society, requires a full thorough 5 year inspection in order to get ABS certified.

Being an ABS approved company, Northern Diving helps assist with the inspection needed for the vessel to meet ABS compliance.  Our responsibility is to ensure visuals of the vessel’s hull, propulsion system, ballast tanks and maintenance equipment are in operating condition. Once certified by an ABS inspector, the vessel will be enrolled in the Hull Inspection and Maintenance Program (HIMP) to make it easier for the vessels to stay certified. 

ANNUAL INSPECTIONS

The areas of a vessel that must be examined and reported for the surveyor annually are:

• Any suspect or critical structural locations identified
• Deck area
• Structural/Coating Condition of all Ballast Tanks (Including Cargo Tanks, Peak Tanks, etc.)
• Hatch Covers and Access Hatches with Closing Appliances
• Deck Equipment, Fittings, Helicopter Landing Pads
• Piping and Supports
• Superstructures and deckhouses
• Shell plating above the waterline
• Cargo holds, tanks and spaces
• Voids and cofferdams
• Pipe ducts and tunnels
• Longitudinal box girders and cross deck box beams
• Sea connections and overboard discharges

INTERMEDIATE INSPECTIONS

The areas of a vessel that must be examined and inspected for the surveyor every 3 years are:

• All Areas included in the Annual Survey List
• External Shell Plating below the waterline
• Internal condition of boundary plating, internal bulkheads, framing, girders
• Internal condition of all tanks containing bilge or oily water

5 YEAR INSPECTIONS

The areas of a vessel that must be examined and inspected for the surveyor every 5 years are:

• All Areas included in the Annual and Intermediate Survey List
• All Tanks including Fresh Water Tanks, Fuel Tanks, Diesel Tanks, Lube Oil Tanks, etc.

UWILD INSPECTIONS

Under Water Inspection in Lieu of Dry-docking (UWILD) is an accepted alternative to dry-docking inspection surveys that ensures the structural and operational integrity of a marine asset throughout its operational life span. We are approved by ABS to conduct these surveys with our dive team, saving you both time and money by reducing downtime, and eliminating the need for expensive dry-docking. Our UWILD specializes with all ship types and mobile offshore drilling units (MODU) such as jack ups, semi-submersibles, floaters, and drill ships. We have bases in the Great Lake (Kenosha, WI) and Gulf Coast (New Orleans, LA) regions, allowing us to mobilize to your location quickly and efficiently. 

• Sea Valve /Chest Inspections
• Extension to dry docking
• In-Water surveys in lieu of dry docking
• Underwater paint thickness inspections
• Plate thickness readings
• MPI Inspection Services
• CSWIP 3.1U Inspections
• CSWIP 3.2U Inspections
• Underwater Security Inspections
• Impact damage inspection
• Specialist propeller crack detection
• Hull potential surveys
• Hydrographic surveys
• Underwater asset structural Inspections
• Eddy current Inspections
• ROV Inspection