Between January and May, cruise companies make use of the lower cruise volume to drive off their vessels to check and maintain the equipment. This year, many cruise ship dry docks overlapped between January 21 and March 22 and, accordingly, so did PALFINGER MARINE’s refurbishment jobs. Completing them all within such a limited time frame required outstanding coordination and efficiency. In just 61 days, seven cruise ships, divided between North America, the Caribbean, Europe and Southeast Asia, had to be serviced. All in all, the PALFINGER MARINE technicians refurbished 135 units, including lifeboats, rescue boats, tenders, life rafts, davits, and winches.

Global cooperation as key to success
On average, the technicians had less than 21 days to conduct and complete the required service scope of cruise ship equipment until the ship set sail again. To complete the jobs in this limited amount of time, PALFINGER MARINE had to come up with creative solutions. For example, service technicians carried out repairs to the interior of the lifeboats on a cruise ship while it was traveling from Miami, Florida, to Cadiz, Spain. When the ship reached dry dock, the maintenance process was successfully completed on land.

The precisely timed cooperation between the North American and the European staff as well as the international technical and spare parts departments ensured this challenging project ran smoothly. It is another great example of how the GLOBAL PALFINGER ORGANIZATION (GPO) makes processes more flexible and more efficient.

Importance of long-term planning
As soon as the annual inspections, repairs and refinishing jobs are done in spring, the focus shifts towards the fall drydock season. “It is all about precise planning and efficient implementation. This combination drives the level of service that we at PALFINGER MARINE offer our customers”, affirms Gunther Fleck, VP Sales and Service Region Marine at PALFINGER, “we are constantly working six months out in advance to ensure that even a challenging task such as this short dry dock season is handled as thoroughly as it is handled efficiently.”