AESSEAL Cape Town was approached by Armscor in November 2016 to quote on repairs to the water jets of the SAS Tekwane, an Inshore Patrol Vessel of the SA Navy. This vessel has been with the SA Navy since 1995 and carries a crew of 12. It is designed to do shallow water patrols along the coastline and carries no fixed weapons.
Upon inspection of the jets, we found that they were made out of aluminium and that blasting will have to be done with care due to the softness and brittleness of the metal. We also found extreme corrosion from the salt water on the internals & externals of the jets.
AESSEAL presented a comprehensive quote to Armscor and the quote was accepted in December 2016. We collected the jets from the Naval Base in Simons Town and brought it back to the Belzona workshop at the Cape Town branch. The jets were hand scrubbed with a wire brush to remove any loose particles and then washed with Salt-Away to remove salt off the surfaces. After cleaning the jets, they were taken to the blast yard to get grit blasted. The profiles were inspected on a regular basis to make sure that it complies with the Belzona application specifications.
Once back at the workshop our Belzona applicator inspected the profiles again before starting the two-coat, two-colour system on the jets. He proceeded to clean the surfaces with Belzona 9111 Cleaner/Degreaser to remove leftover grease & dirt after blasting. Corroded areas were rebuilt & cracks repaired with Belzona 1111 Super Metal. After the application of Belzona 1111, the internals of the jets were coated with Belzona 1321 Ceramic S-Metal. Belzona 1321 was selected as it is designed to provide protection against erosion and corrosion. The external of the jets were coated with Belzona 1341 Super Metal Glide as the jets are submersed in sea water under the vessel. Armscor conducted regular visits to do inspections during the job to make sure quality controls were in place. They were happy with the progress and final product and were supplied with QCP’s to keep on file.
AESSEAL also supplies mechanical seals to the SA Navy & Armscor including Belzona coatings on their fire pumps & valves.