The German manufacturer of davit systems, d-i davit international-hische has introduced a new type of hoisting winch that is able to handle boats up to 50 t SWL
This has become necessary due to the huge lifeboats on the world’s largest cruise vessels being built at the STX[ds_preview] France shipyard at St. Nazaire. The first of two units of the OASIS-class for Royal Caribbean International, the »Harmony of the Seas«, has already been delivered. The second vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2018.
Today the capacity of the largest and heaviest lifeboats is 370 and will exceed 440 passengers per boat in the near future. The manufacturer’s new winch is capable of handling a fully equipped boat including passengers and crew by electrical power, and is equipped with an automatic retraction system to hoist the empty boat blocks about 2 to 3m upwards. By this method it is guaranteed that the suspension blocks do not hit the boat upon reaching the water surface when the suspension hooks are being released.
Although such systems already exist, this special device is an entirely new technical development by d-i davit international-hische, the company says. The cruise ship »Harmony of the Seas« has been equipped with a total of 18 winches of this type and her sister vessel will follow affirmatively. The lifeboats are being installed in a freely hanging outboard position. The new winch has been designed according to the SOLAS/LSA-code with a capacity of 64kNm, and can be delivered for left or right hand execution. Its total weight is about 2,800kgs.
The manufacturer has not only got the order to deliver the lifesaving equipment for the cruise vessels built in France but was also honored with the STX 2016 Quality Award for the whole system. The new winch will be displayed at the company’s booth at the forthcoming SMM in September, 2016, hall B5, booth223.
In 2015 »d-i davit international-hische has been formed as a result of a merger of the medium-sized firms »Hische« (founded in 1978) and d-i davit-international (founded in 1985) in Sulingen, Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) in Germany. The main reasons for this was a logical further step of an already long existing cooperation between Hische as producer of special steels and d-i davit international as renowned manufacturer of lifesaving equipment. By extending the manufacturing area on the company’s ground with new halls the production has gradually been optimized.
This new entity with about 150 employees today comprises an almost forty years’ experience in manufacturing of high class technical systems and components for the shipbuilding industry as well as for gas turbine power plants.
In addition to using ordinary steel in plant construction also other material like stainless steel including galvanic separation (especially in yacht design) or fine grained steel and aluminium (for weight reduction) are being used. The approval and testing of the equipment by the different classification societies among others is being conducted at the company owned test facility (20”/10” inclinable) resp. on the 27m high winch test stand.
The manufacturer has its own aftersales division connected to a global service network and to service stations with trained personnel. A new test rig for internal training has been established at the d-i international-hische – headquarters with a crane capacity of max. 14t. Service engineers are not only conducting annual inspections but in case of emergency they provide flexible and swift assistance worldwide.
RD
