PALFINGER completes first cruise drydocks after spring lock down

PALFINGER successfully completed the first major refurbishment jobs since the outbreak of the COVID-19-pandemic. Royal Caribbean Group awarded PALFINGER the contract to service 18 lifeboats and 20 winches for Allure of the Seas, the first cruise ship to dry dock after the lock down in spring.

Working in a global team effort, PALFINGER’s US based cruise service experts were finally able to attend to Allure of the Seas after this year’s spring drydock season had stopped to an abrupt halt due to the pandemic. Eleven technicians from PALFINGER’s US service office travelled to Naventia’s shipyard in Cádiz, Spain, to join the five LSA- and seven refinishing technicians from PALFINGER Spain.

The team refinished the canopies on 18 lifeboats, which can carry up to 370 people each, and conducted the 5-yearly inspection on the boats and release gear. This includes cleaning and maintaining the release hooks as well as inspecting the boats according to MSC.402 and other regulations required by class and flag. On top of that, PALFINGER’s dedicated service team re-piped 20 winches. After only 30 days, the job was successfully completed. 

PALFINGER’s perseverance in the pandemic
“Manpower, schedules and locations are battles we are used to fighting in our daily business. COVID-19, though, posed an entirely new challenge. Nonetheless, our perseverance during this difficult time has prevailed. Slowly but surely, we were able to resume our work after the lock down, starting with the first successful service job for Allure of the Seas”, says Josh Lozano, PALFINGER’s Operations Manager based in Florida. 

“Having completed this job, we utilized our PALFINGER Italy office for a cruise drydock in Palermo, Italy, and the PALFINGER Singapore office for another one in Singapore”, says Josh Lozano about further service jobs in the pipeline. “In addition, with the help of PALFINGER UK, we have also been able to complete three ‘5-yearlys’ and five annual inspections of boats and release gear”, he concludes.