Jan Kees Pilaar talks about the work being carried out at the Blohm+Voss shipyard
By
Sean Dudley |
This article was first published in the Autumn/Winter 2015 issue of International Cruise & Ferry Review.
Founded in 1877, Blohm + Voss Repair is one of the most established names in European ship repair.
From its base at the Blohm + Voss premises in Hamburg, Germany, the company has enjoyed a busy start to 2015, carrying out repair and refit projects on five cruise ships so far.
The work has been well received by the ships’ respective owners, much to the delight of Jan Kees Pilaar, the repair yard’s managing director.
“We have completed intensive programmes on P&O’s Aurora and Cunard’s Queen Victoria,” he says. “Both of these projects involved extensive paint works, and interior works up to the installation of scrubbers and the overhaul of pods.”
Blohm + Voss Repair also carried out general maintenance work on three Fred. Olsen vessels – Balmoral, Braemar and Black Watch – ahead of the 2015-16 season.
A team from Blohm + Voss worked alongside staff from Fred. Olsen to inspect, plan and carry out the work on all three vessels, which Pilaar says was carried out quickly and effectively.
“Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is a long-standing and returning client of ours, and one we really want to have in our yard,” says Pilaar. “Returning clients mean they have been satisfied with what we have delivered previously, and that it has been delivered on time and within the budget we have agreed.”
A major point of focus within the cruise industry at the moment is energy efficiency, and Pilaar believes that Blohm + Voss is in a great position to counter the challenges faced in this area.
“Due to the fact that our sister organisation, Blohm + Voss Shipyards, is a newbuilding yard, we have ample engineering capacity to tackle trends around energy efficiency,” he explains. “Our clients tend to have ideas around where savings can be made on their ships, and we then work with them and with Blohm + Voss Shipyards to engineer and explore these ideas.
“Using this information, we can create actual work packages so that we can do the detail engineering, the prefabs and installations. In this way, Blohm + Voss Repairs guarantees owners well thought out installations and solutions. This is all based on knowledge, experience and engineering capacity.”
A number of new maritime regulations came into effect at the beginning of 2015, many of which centred around fuel use. As a consequence, Blohm + Voss Repair has noticed an increased number of requests for retrofit projects.
“These can involve installing scrubbers to things like more expensive fuel line changes, so that engines can run on either heavy fuel or marine gas oil,” Pilaar explains. “Typically, in this area of work, we will visit the ship, measure and inspect, and then come back to the owner with advice on how best to execute things like the scrubbers, for example.
“In the case of fuel line additions, we’ll come back to the owner with piping diagrams and isometrics, advising them on the best system routing and size,” Pilaar adds. “Again, we would then prefab piping in our shops and install while the vessel is at sea.”
One major highlight in 2014 for Blohm + Voss was the news it had signed a Favoured Customer Agreement with Carnival Corporation.
Pilaar says: “We are the only yard in north-west Europe that has signed such an agreement and it shows the confidence both partners have in each other. Let’s make it clear – we want to be the best partner on the market.”
The return of Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines to the yard was another recent highlight for the yard. Pilaar is pleased with the work Blohm + Voss has carried out, and is sure the cruise lines are too.
“I am proud that both companies entrusted their ships to us,” he concludes. “All ships repairs were done on time and within budget. Again and again I am astonished at what this yard can deliver within the short repair and refit time we have available. I am sure – and also very proud – that we are one step ahead of other yards in the field of cruise ship repair. With a team like we have in Blohm + Voss Repair, anything is possible. We have a phrase here – ‘geht night, gibt es nicht’. In English it means ‘all is possible if you really want it’. And we want it!”