The newly designed fender from Poly Marine Service was developed following an intensive testing programme on the Kreekrak locks in Zeeland in cooperation with Koninklijke Wegenbouw Stevin and the Ministry of Waterways and Public Works. During this test setup on 2 mooring dolphins, polyurethane wear plates were mounted on existing azobe piles. The specially designed polyurethane 'Repulan SHA90' has extremely high wear resistance, compressive and tensile strength. These three material attributes were extremely decisive factors. The test has been running for more than 3 years and no wear has been measured to date.
In view of this huge success, it was decided to develop a polyurethane fender with a fixed fastening to the hull of inland vessels. In cooperation with the Tinnemans shipyard in Maasbracht, the MS Silver was equipped with 4 newly developed polyurethane fenders. This vessel has achieved excellent results using these newly developed fenders and has confirmed that they are many times more durable than traditional rubber fenders. The MS Silver has been sailing very satisfactorily between the Netherlands and Romania (roundtrip approx. 100 locks) for about one and a half years with the new Poly Marine Service fenders. Two fenders were replaced during this period, while in the past, traditional fenders had to be replaced every month.
Another positive aspect is safety. The newly developed fenders with fixed mounting mean that manoeuvring in and out of locks involves less direct work. Traditional fenders were held with a rope along the side of the vessel, which is now no longer necessary.
A steel box has also been specially designed for this fender, which has to be welded to the ship's hull. This box has heavy-duty 25-mm thick steel chamfered collision plates. The fender is secured into position with 4 x M20 bolts and can be easily and quickly replaced, if necessary.
|