Hydrex Reports More Repairs to Scrubbers Pipework

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Friday April 9, 2021

Scrubbers are still causing damage to overboard pipes on ships where inappropriate materials have been used, according to engineering company Hydrex, with six pipes needing to be replaced on a single vessel in a recent case.

Last year the company told Ship & Bunker that repairs to overboard pipes were needed just six months after scrubber installation in some cases. Corrosive washwater from scrubbers can damage the pipes if inappropriate materials are used for them, risking water ingress.

"Recently our diver/technicians carried out scrubber overboard pipe repairs in ports in France, the Netherlands and Spain," Hydrex said in a statement on its website last week.

"On a 400-meter container ship six pipes were replaced while one pipe was replaced on another container vessel and on a crude oil tanker.

"In all cases the pipes were protected with a highly chemically resistant coating produced by Subsea Industries."

No reports have yet emerged on how widespread this problem is. The general impression in the shipping industry is that it has been models bought from some of the smaller, newer entrants to scrubber manufacturing, rather than more established brands, that have caused problems.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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