A quick stop from Solent Guardian at Berthon

Solent Guardian stopped at Berthon for 3 nights for a major service and minor repairs

Solent Guardian, a coastal survey catamaran owned by Briggs Marine and on charter to the Environment Agency, weighs approximately 30t and measures 18.3m × 6m in size.

Solent Guardian was lifted out at Berthon primarily for a service and inspection. It was a quick visit with only 3 nights out of the water where Berthon carried out a small but vital checklist to keep her in operation.

6000 hour service of the Twin Volvo D9-MH engines.

Electrical inspection of 2 generators.

Re-antifoul of her two hulls.

Heat exchanger inspection.

6000 hour service of Twin Disc MGX-5075 integral vee-drive gearboxes.

Removal and replacement of all hull anodes.

Supply and install replacement fridge freezer.

Modify metal railings for fridge installation.

Before a new coat of antifoul, the Environment Agency conducted a few tests on her underwater hull. For the past few weeks, she had been on charter in France so the underwater growth was scraped off and collected for testing to see if any invasive and non-indigenous marine species were present. This is part of multiple tests throughout the country to gather an idea of what is being brought into British waters. As everyone knows your hull is subject to biofouling, as micro-organisms, vegetable and animal matter naturally attach to a vessels hull. Not only does this reduce the performance of your vessel, which is why we would always suggest regularly lifting your vessel for a scrub and new coat of antifoul, but also if not dealt with effectively and regularly, this can cause damage to the environment. If marine biofouling is not dealt with correctly, the collected fouling poses a risk of transporting invasive, non-indigenous marine species around the world, and into British waters, resulting in damaging effects to local marine life and a decrease of biodiversity.