General cargo vessel turns into cable recovery vessel in Estonia (Video)

An Estonian shipbuilding company has carried out the conversion of a general cargo vessel into a fully equipped cable recovery vessel at its premises in Tallinn.

BLRT Repair Yards manufactured and installed five cable tanks in the cargo hold, each 8,200 mm high and 10,200 mm wide, weighing a total of 72 tons, that are used for collecting and storing cables recovered from the seabed, for Mertech Marine’s vessel.

Following the conversion process, managed by WIND, the vessel – renamed from Petra to Grace – is currently on its way towards the Pacific to begin its first cable recovery job.

The conversion project included the manufacture and installation of a 19-ton cable walkway that guides cables being recovered from the seabed to the cable tanks, a cable roller of a 2-meter diameter, weighing over 4 tons, as well as a bow chute, weighing over 4 tons, that serves as a bow roller foundation and cable guidance, capable of withstanding loads over 20 tons

BLRT said it had also installed cable recovery winch and tensioners, seven 10-40 feet containers, rebuilt cargo hold hatches, cargo hold ventilation casing and forward mast, and relocated and rebuilt forward mooring appliances.