Australia planned Dockings on schedule despite COVID-19

With over 20 planned dockings scheduled, 2020 was set to be a busy year even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Seven months in and the national docking team, led by Regional Manager Dockings and Projects – Australia, Warren Angland, hasn’t slowed to continue with the ambitious schedule – completing or starting seventeen dockings including four emergency dockings – all despite the challenges of COVID-19.

State border restrictions continue to cause uncertainty to the docking program and have impacted on scheduling and availability of Svitzer docking superintendents, Svitzer engineers, and specialist contractors required to attend various dockings around Australia.

In the face of the challenges, Warren says the team is still on track to complete the 2020 docking program.

“This is only possible due to the commitment of our docking superintendents and engineers, and the strong relationships we hold with our shipyards and key suppliers enabling us to collectively respond quickly to challenges and the changing environment,” he says.

Svitzer Australia’s docking team and specialist contractors have spent extended time away from home, as state border restrictions have prevented travel home for short periods or family travelling to the shipyard locations due to mandatory quarantine periods.

The team continue to work proactively with service partners such as The Yard in Brisbane, to overcome technical challenges identified during dockings such as steel and thruster repairs, while ensuring each vessel undocked meets a consistent standard for reliable operations.

The contribution and dedication of our port teams, our docking superintendents and our attending Svitzer engineers has ensured our 2020 docking program continues.

The dockings of our Barrow Island vessels in Singapore for Chevron required an incredible effort and commitment from our team as local COVID-19 restrictions escalated.

In addition to our Singapore schedule, for the dockings of Svitzer Kiama, Tingari, Riverwijs Grace, Svitzer Myall, and Riverwijs Isabelle, a big thanks to the docking superintendents and attending engineers that travelled across state borders and away from their families and loved ones for extended periods during the uncertainty of COVID-19 to enable these dockings to proceed.

For the docking of Bullara in Brisbane, our Brisbane engineer put his hand up to assist after COVID-19 border restrictions prevented an engineer from the vessel’s home port in Sydney, NSW attending.

Special thanks and recognition go to Warren Angland, Steve Woolway, Wade Nagel, and dedicated Svitzer engineers who have contributed their skills and expertise to keep this schedule on track.

The dedication of the team ensures Svitzer can continue to provide a safe and reliable service to our customers during and post COVID-19.

And good luck to the team for the rest of the dockings this year – Keep up the great work!