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Wilhelmsen makes landmark supply of 3D printed parts to Berge Bulk vesselWilhelmsen makes landmark supply of 3D printed parts to Berge Bulk vessel

Wilhelmsen announced that it has made a landmark commercial delivery of 3D printed scupper plugs to Berge Bulk vessel Berge Mafadi.

Lee Hong Liang, Asia Correspondent

February 12, 2020

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There are numerous scupper plugs on a vessel and each drainage hole on the open deck has its own scupper plug. Scupper plugs are used for closing drainage holes to prevent oil spills or other contaminant spills on a ship.

“Spare parts are currently a pain point, and we have trouble with for instance scupper plugs as they are easily stolen for their brass components. They are expensive, and we are constantly needing to replace them. By replacing them with plastic, we are eliminating any possibility of theft, and best of all, we get them on-demand within a short period of time,” said Captain Tarun K Gupta, master of Berge Mafadi.

Sim Teck Siang, procurement manager at Berge Bulk, explained: “Scupper plugs are expensive, and there are no universal dimensions, which means that when you have a broken element, you have to buy a new scupper plug. With additive manufacturing, we are able to procure scupper plugs faster, cheaper and locally. If any part breaks, we can replace that one part instead of the whole unit.”

Wilhelmsen, as part of their ongoing cooperation with Ivaldi Group, has delivered several 3D printed parts to the Berge Bulk vessel, and scupper plugs were one of the part categories.

“Humble as the scupper plug may be, we believe it a step in transforming an entire industry: By sending files rather than scupper plugs we are amongst other things able to reduce CO2 emissions on this one part by some 54% and this gives me great hope for the possibility of a more sustainable future for supply and logistics,” said Espen Sivertsen, ceo of  Ivaldi Group.   

Related:Online ‘Coronavirus – global port restrictions map’ launched by Wilhelmsen

The provision of the 3D printed scupper plug comes under Wilhelmsen’s Early Adopter Program where its customers access to on-demand additive manufacturing launched by Wilhelmsen’s Marine Products division in December 2019. Customers include Berge Bulk, Carnival Maritime, Thome Ship Management, OSM Maritime Group, Executive Ship Management, and Wilhelmsen Ship Management.

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About the Author

Lee Hong Liang

Asia Correspondent

Singapore-based Lee Hong Liang provides a significant boost to daily coverage of the Asian shipping markets, as well as bringing with him an in-depth specialist knowledge of the bunkering markets.

Throughout Hong Liang’s 14-year career as a maritime journalist, he has reported ‘live’ news from conferences, conducted one-on-one interviews with top officials, and had the ability to write hard news and featured stories.

 

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