Transport Ship’s Hatch Cover Maintenance and Watertight Integrity Testing

It is not a surprise to know that the shipping industry is one of the biggest industries on this planet. Carrying tones of weight from one continent to another, these huge ships are no longer a set of planks joined together, but they are the most advanced machinery present on this planet. The unfortunate fate that this industry faces is the only reason why it is being termed as risky and this factor is none other than the deadly rust. The unwelcome rust appears on the ship’s hatch covers and the different parts of its body due to the high level of humidity and the constant contact with water.

Rust eats away the ship’s body leaving behind a clear hole that allows the water to find its way inside the ship. Once water gets inside the ship’s body there is no limit to the damage it can inflict on the goods it is carrying. These holes are unavoidable, but they are repairable through a process and the first step in this process is the hatch cover maintenance and watertight integrity testing. The importance of these tests is undeniable and without running these tests the process of making the ship leak free cannot commence. Unless the location of the leaks is known there is no way anyone can start repairing them or refilling them.

Even in the older days the ships either transport or any other kind suffered from the leaks appearing in them without any notice. At that time the method to test the integrity and to find the holes in the ship’s body was a slow and expensive process. A large team was required which would keep dousing the ship’s deck and the hatch covers with pails of water and then stand back and monitor where the small whirlpools would appear. No doubt, this process caused even more harm to the ship because more water entered it and caused additional damage. After some time the process became mechanical by using the motors and pumps for water, but still the painful process was not satisfactory.

Today by using the ultrasonic hatch cover tester the holes and leaks are easily found out and the ship does not have to suffer any more pain by taking more water inside it. With the help of the ultrasonic device even the cable transit areas watertight testing has become possible and the ship can remain safe from the short circuit which is another problem faced by the ship owners due to the leaks. Clearly a transport ship does not have enough time to spend on the laborious tests and then the cleaning process afterwards. It is important to keep the processes as short and trustworthy as possible to keep the ship maintained and leak free.

It Is Important For a Ship to Be Leak Free

The shipping industry is one of the biggest and the most profitable industries spread all over the world. But unfortunately a lot of its profits are being wasted in handing out money against the claims filed by customers who have lost their precious goods due to the damage inflicted on them by water. The leaks in the hatch covers cause the water to ingress and the goods inside the cargo holds are heavily damaged by the water. Many goods such as clothes, electronic and electric products and food items can be reduced to rubbish if water touches them and this is why the shipping industry loses a lot of its profits because the water which comes inside the cargo holds inflicts damages. To ensure that these kinds of troubles are not faced by the ship owners, the hatch cover maintenance and watertight integrity testing is very useful because it can notify the crew about the chances of water damage to the goods.

Water damage in a leaking ship is not just restricted to the goods being carried on the transport ship. The ship itself receives a lot of damage due to the water that seeps inside. A lot of ships experience sparking or short circuit in their cable system when the water manages to get inside the cables and inflict damage. Since a ship moves with the help of engines that are both massive and powerful but also produce electricity to run the different machines and gauges in the ship, the ship has a net of electric cables running all around it. If the water comes in contact with any one of the wires and causes a short circuit, the entire ship would be a failed metal unless it has power to move itself again.

When the hatch covers are leaking, there is no doubt that the water has caused rust to many other components of the ship’s body. The different compartments of the ship also get the increased level of humidity and any naked metal spot present inside catches rust easily. The most prominent areas to catch rust are the compartment doors which are in constant use and mostly have their paint shipped off or worn off. They catch rust and develop holes in them which are the biggest cause of leakages. Hence, with the help of watertight compartment doors testing these leaks in the doors can be found and the corrective action may be taken.

Never Compromise On Ultrasonic Tightness Testing

Providing a quality shipment is what revolves around the shipping industry today. As the entire world screams for quality in products and services, the shipping industry is asked to reduce its damage rate to as near as zero. Because there are more incidents of damaging goods during the transportation, hatch cover maintenance and watertight integrity testing is being pressed upon. While this is not the complete solution to get free from leaks in the hatch covers and the other parts of the ship’s body, it is the first step towards treatment and betterment. Without it we cannot be sure to have a ship which is completely leak free.

Due to the leaking hatch covers not only goods have been affected but there have been a lot of reports about damage to the ship itself. Many times water has entered in sensitive areas of the ship such as the wire and cables. In one incident the leaking ship had to suffer a loss of power and it was left stranded in the middle of the ocean for days until another ship spotted it. The water had caused a short circuit in the electricity board and the ship became powerless due to which its engines ceased to work. It is important to keep the electric cables safe from any kind of water to enter its ducts. Although the wires already are insulated, but who knows where a joint was created and it is now exposed and vulnerable. This increases the need to check cable transit areas watertight testing every now and then.

Another freaky thing about the transport ship is the water which enters inside from the compartment doors. These doors are made water proof by a thick layer of rubber which acts as insulator. At times the rubber length which is stretched across the door’s edges may appear to be in good shape, but there is some spot which has lost its integrity and can be a good point for the water to ingress. This can be a serious issue especially when the ship is caught in a thunderstorm or when the tide is high. The water can force its way inside the compartments and wet everything inside.

If the water manages to enter compartments and even though it does not cause considerable harm, the ship would become heavy because of the added load. This extra load can easily become the reason of the ship to capsize. Hence this clearly raises the need for watertight compartment doors testing because the transport ship is already carrying more weight than mentioned by the manufacturer which is a common practice noticed among transport ship owners. They add the extra weight to carry a maximum number of goods in a single go.

Complete Test of Your Ship’s Health with Ultrasonic Testing

Water is meant to let the ship sail on it and not get inside it because if it does, then the results are never desirable but ghastly. Hence there is no denying the importance of hatch cover maintenance and watertight integrity testing of a ship sized small, medium, big or huge. The testing provides you the information about health of the hatch covers and the ship also. It lets you know if there is any need for the ship to go for repairs or the ship can carry on its work for a month or longer. Ships running around with these tests end up in the worst situation unexpectedly and then there is no other option but to see the goods getting destroyed or the ship getting destroyed itself.

In the past there have been incidents where the hatch covers were well protected, but the other areas around it had sprung a leak and the crew was unaware of it. Usually the ship’s deck gets a lot of rough treatment which results in the deck to get heavily damaged. Sometimes it shows on the surface and at times it does not especially when it’s around corners or somewhere hidden. Humidity and water gets easy access to the ship’s interiors and this is even more dangerous than water entering from the hatch covers. Usually the ship’s cable wiring is just below these joints and corners which create the threat of a short circuit. If you want to prevent your ship from a short circuit, then there is no need to take second thoughts but to have the cable transit areas watertight testing done by a professional or by yourself.

There are tools such as the ultrasonic hatch cover which allows even a non professional to conduct the tests. The tutorials are easy enough to understand and a person can perform the perfect test in a number of attempts if not the first one. But if the person has used the device or any ultrasonic testing device before, then understanding the results on the ultrasonic hatch cover tester wouldn’t be an issue at all. There is no limit to what this device can do, if you are in the mood to do watertight compartment doors testing, no problem. The device is designed to detect leaks in any possible place. If you are testing the ship’s doors, hatch covers or even the cable ducts, the ultrasonic device can manage to give you the best results. We all know that the ultrasonic waves are harmless, so if there is a leakage or the surface is wet, the ultrasonic waves will cause no harm but only deliver the results it is intended to.

Ultrasonic Testing Of Hatch Covers for the Modern Ships

How would you feel if you go out and forget to close the main door of your home? Obviously you would feel horrible about and would cancel your purpose of going out just to return and make sure your home is safe. What is it exactly that made you feel uneasy and urged you to return? Surely it’s the precious things that you have inside your home and your fear that a burglar would be happy to get invited. The thought about losing your precious things and the fear of them getting damaged is what made you turn back mid way or to ask a friendly neighbor to pay a visit and lock the door if you cannot return.

Now face it, how would you feel about a package containing precious gifts for your loved ones being sent through the cargo and learning that it got damaged on the way. It is a fact that you will lose your temper over the cargo company, file a suit against them (if you are able to), or at least file a claim for the damages and ask for the price back. This is exactly what every shipping company faces a hundred times each year when they get the goods they are carrying damaged. The leaking hatch covers are the culprits because many of the ship’s sailing out there have never had a testing of tightness of hatch with ultrasound done till now.

As these ships have never run an ultrasonic tightness test, they are filled with holes and the crew has no idea where the holes are. The ultrasonic test is designed to search for holes which are the obvious leaks. Considering the huge body of the ship, it is impossible for a human being to find out the holes in it with his eyes or senses. Hence a tool is required to find out the location of the leaks and then determine their refilling procedure. Some ship owners are still using the worn out water hose testing methods. It costs a lot of money, time and energy hence the delays caused by it are also a huge setback and the reason why most ships go unchecked for a very long time.

The hatch cover ultrasonic tightness testing on the other hand saves time, money and energy. It is rapid and precise so the person using this method to find leaks in a transport ship can complete the testing within a single day (for the standard sized ships). In case the ship is extremely huge, the time ratio can vary. As this testing method requires a single person to complete the testing, it costs a lot cheaper than the water hose test which requires a huge team of people to complete the test and do the same, mark out the holes and leave it to the ship owners to take the decision what to do next.

Keeping the Best Reputation in the Shipping Industry

Running a shipping transport business is not an easy task at all because apart from fighting the pressing deadlines and all the other stuff, one has to fight the leaks that keep emerging on the ship and keep damaging the goods in the cargo holds. Fighting the leaks is one of the oldest fights going on between a ship owner and Mother Nature. When leaks appear on a ship’s hatch covers and other parts of the ship’s body, the damages are incalculable and the ship owner ends up paying for the damages that have been done to the goods while transporting.

Leaks can never be repaired successfully unless they are found precisely and checking the tightness of hatch with ultrasound is the best method to find where the leaks are actually hidden. Leaks can appear in the wildest places and once they appear, they become the source of the water to get inside the cargo holds where it should never get in. As there are all sorts of goods inside the cargo holds they can get water damage which makes them useless. As it is the policy of all shipping companies that the goods that it carries are insured, hence the damage that happens onboard is payable to the customer by the ship owner.

It is an undeniable fact that leaks are bound to appear on the ship and they can be repaired. But they can only be repaired once they are found in their exact location. We all know that a transport ship is a huge one and searching for the leaks by a human being can be impossible. Unless he uses helping tool such as the hatch cover ultrasonic leak tester, there is no way he can find all the leaks without wasting an eternity and too much energy. If you think taking apart the hatch covers and then inspecting them inch by inch is a solution, then you are totally wrong because it will not only increase your efforts, but it will restrict your ship to the workshop for a long time and will cost you a fortune to do it.

Using the hatch cover ultrasonic tightness testing is the only possible way to keep down costs and run the test effectively in the shortest possible time. Once the leaks have been found, marking them is the best way to not forget the exact location of the leaks and to point out to the repairman where he needs to concentrate. The ship owners who are reluctant to use this heavenly gifted device on their leak finding mission are only wasting their time, energy and money by using the other techniques and they can never guarantee to have a ship completely free from holes and leaks. Thus they are not only paying a lot of money in damages and claims, but they are also losing their reputation in the industry fast.

The Simple Way to Run a Hatch Cover Ultrasonic Tightness Testing

Leaks can be the most dangerous thing in any commercial or non commercial place and if we consider the shipping industry, then it will be the deadliest thing for a ship. It does not matter if a leak is a small one or a big one, the catastrophe caused by it will always leave a bad mark on your memory. The shipping industry is one of the worst affected industries which is in a constant battle with leaks. Due to its nature of work, which obviously requires being in contact with water throughout the time, the ship’s hatch covers start leaking.

It is impossible to let a leak to form especially on a transport ship which goes through a very rough use almost daily. But leaks are curable and they can be refilled though various processes and to cure the ship from leaks it is important to know the exact location of a leak first. Finding a leak can be the most arduous task if you are trying to do it manually. But with the checking tightness of hatch with ultrasound it can become one of the easiest tasks done in the process of applying repairs to a ship. The process is simple and easily doable by any person as long as he can hear.

The process involves an ultrasonic hatch cover tester and the will to find to the leaks in the shortest time possible. The hatch cover tester comes as a kit consisting of a device, a generator, a receiver and a headphone set. You might have to purchase batteries on your own as some of the devices come without them. Now take everything out of the box and (after you place the batteries in the generator and the device), attach the receiver and the headphone to the device. Now turn on the generator which is another device like thing you will have in the kit and place it inside the cargo hold and close the hatch covers firmly.

Now you begin the hatch cover ultrasonic tightness testing by scanning the entire hatch covers with the receiver and the headphones placed on your ears. It should be silent as you place it over your ears. Wherever you hear the slightest beep or a pulse of the ultrasonic sound waves, mark that area because this is where the hole is and the ultrasonic wave is leaking from that point. Scan the entire area and some more around it with the hatch cover tester and mark every area you get to hear the sound. Once you have marked all the leaks it’s time to put back the tester and its accessories in the kit and call in the repairmen.