In an operation noted for its organization and efficient resolution, Sociber, the shipyard and dry dock located in Valparaíso, successfully completed the dry docking works in 22 days for the Globalpesca III and 27 days for the Globalpesca I.
This docking at the Sociber’s Valparaíso III floating dock was Globalpesca’s maiden voyage in the Fifth Region and their first with this company, a shipyard certified by NKK, I.S.P.S., and ISO 9001 – 2008.
Despite being a new supplier, Globalpesca’s managers praised the experience of working with Sociber, particularly for its work planning, rapid response time, and efficient solutions.
“On our first visit, we realized from the overall order and their internal organization that we were in a different setting than what we experienced in Puerto Montt the previous year,” said Mauricio Jaure, Superintendent and Head of Engineering at Globalpesca. “They were attending to a merchant vessel of 110 meters in length and 24 meters in beam, and they were just days away from completing that project. We realized with Nicolás (Ramírez, Fleet Manager) that we were on the right track in choosing the dry dock.”
After that visit, it was agreed that Globalpesca III would enter at the beginning of July, alongside a relatively small merchant ship that services Easter Island and Juan Fernandez.
The Globalpesca I was scheduled for the Blauwal dock in Puerto Montt. However, it encountered a problem which delayed its scheduled docking from June 20 to July 10, without any real certainty. “This meant that we would be finishing dry dock around August 23, very tight to complete the rest of the maintenance tasks and with no certainty of being able to return to Punta Arenas before the start of the fishing season,” Jaure explained.
Given this scenario, the Globalpesca team contacted Sociber to see if there was a possibility to also work on the Globalpesca I. Despite being geographically farther away, it offered more attractive attention times and better weather – with fewer rainy days – which meant a lower risk of delays.
Surprisingly and against all odds, the merchant ship experienced a delay in its schedule and freed up its slot, allowing Sociber to make room to work on two of Globalpesca’s factory ships at the same time.
The tasks to be performed, which included hull painting, works on the propulsion and steering systems, plating, anchoring, and many others, were carefully prepared to avoid critical surprises prior to the ships’ docking by Globalpesca’s engineering and Sociber’s project teams. This allowed for the agreed deadlines to be met.
However, after undocking, Globalpesca I had to re-enter the dry dock to resolve a cooling issue in the shaft line.
“With the case of Globalpesca I, we learned a lesson. From this, we are going to create our procedure for prior checks and during the trials,” commented Eduardo Nuñez, Sociber’s project manager, emphasizing that the subsequent shaft line work, where they removed the entire line, “was done in record time.”
Despite the inconvenience, the total time in dry dock was significantly shorter than it would have been in Puerto Montt.
“The experience was surprising,” said Jaure, “the organization they have, everyone knew what they were doing and what they needed to achieve day by day to meet the project’s target date.” Jaure also expressed gratitude to the entire Globalpesca team, who collaborated at all times with Sociber, “which helped everything go smoothly.”
On his part, Nuñez highlighted the commitment of the Globalpesca team to their company, their ability to work as a team both internally and with the dock, and how well-prepared the vessels arrived at the dock.
Nuñez expressed his desire to maintain the business relationship with Globalpesca and hopes that future repairs will also be carried out with Sociber. “Hopefully, this experience will be the first of many more to come,” he added.