Four hydraulic watertight hatches have come off the line for HX118, the heavy lift vessel under construction at Seatrium Nantong, on an order placed through Seatrium’s Tuas yard in Singapore. Each has a clear opening of about 2.5 by 2.5 metres, cleated by hydraulic cylinders working through a linkage that runs the length of the coaming, and the set is certified to ClassNK.
Every hatch leaves the shop as a finished assembly. Frame, cover, cylinders, linkage and cleats are fitted and set, the hydraulics are piped and pressure tested, and the unit is finish painted before it is crated.
HX118 will be the fifth and largest vessel in its owner’s fleet, built to install monopile foundations for 15 to 20 MW turbines in Japanese waters. It carries a fully revolving 5,000-tonne crane and an unusual U-shaped notch cut into the stern, which lets a monopile stowed lengthwise on deck be upended and set straight through the notch, with the hull itself sheltering the work from wave and current. The hatches shown here belong to that U-stern structure. Delivery of the vessel is scheduled for 2028.
Commissioning, testing and in-service repair for hatches and doors of this type are handled by our own service teams, working out of Singapore across Malaysia and Indonesia.