What is a hatch cover?

What is a hatch cover?

marine. A large steel structure fitted over a hatch opening to prevent the ingress of water into the cargo hold. It may also be the supporting structure for deck cargo. Various designs exist for particular applications.

What is the purpose of hatch covers?

The major objective of hatch covers and coamings on ships is to prevent the ingress of water into the cargo hold and protect the goods from being damped and damaged.

What is hatch cover cleats?

The function of the cleats is to keep the hatch covers in position and maintain the seal’s design compression. The excessive tightening of cleats will not improve weather tightness but will lead to the accelerated wear of the seals and the landing pads and could even distort the hatch cover.

What are the 5 different types of hatch cover?

Hatch Cover Types

• Pontoon and tarpaulin.
• direct pull.
• folding hatch cover.
• Folding Covers.
• Roll Stowing Covers.
• Side and Rolling Covers.
• Lift and Roll Covers.
• Sliding Tweendeck covers.

What are the drawbacks of water test in hatch covers?

The limitation or drawbacks of this test is that it requires two persons and hatch cover to be tested must be empty. The leakage if very minimal cannot be identified by naked eye and cannot be performed in sub zero or cold weather. 2.

How do you test a hatch cover for leakage?

Ultrasonic testing (UST) Testing of vessel’s hatch covers for weathertightness can be performed by different methods. The most common ones are hose tests and UST. Weathertightness can also be checked by light test, chalk test, air test and putty or moulding test.

Why does hatches cover leak?

Cargo damage due to water ingress through leaking hatch covers remain an important part of cargo claims. Non-weathertight hatch covers are the main cause of wet cargo damage. Therefore, P&I clubs require vessels to always maintain hatch covers in a weathertight condition.

How do you secure hatch covers?

Never open hatch covers at sea unless absolutely necessary. Then, always secure by lowering wheels into guide pockets and/or attaching wires, particularly if side-rolling type. Do not tighten cleats so that the panels are unable to move on the coaming.

What is a ship’s hatch?

HATCH COVERS Both for the safety of the vessel, and also the protection of cargo. Hatch covers are the key to ensuring that water is held at bay. The major objective of hatch covers and coamings on ships is to prevent the ingress of water into the cargo hold and protect the goods from being damped and damaged.

How do you ensure that hatches are kept watertight?

Hatch covers of cargo hold are generally made from light weight steel or high tensile steel. They are fitted over a steel bar of the hold with a rubber packing inserted in between them to avoid water ingress.

What test is needed for hatch cover?

Various methods can be used to test a vessel’s hatch covers such as light test, chalk test, air test, putty tests, moulding tests, hose tests and ultrasonic tests (UST).

What part in the hatch cover that is among the weakest part of the hatch covers?

Retaining channels
Retaining channels – The gasket retaining channels are among the weakest construction parts of the hatch covers.

Why do you need a MacGregor hatch cover?

MacGregor makes sure that the arrangement of hatch covers, sealings, support pads and locators on board your ship are optimised to deliver uncompromised weathertightness to protect the cargo and to ensure safety. The efficient use of cargo space is of utmost importance for general cargo vessels.

What kind of hatch cover does a bulk carrier use?

Most bulk carrier ships are fitted with steel hatch covers of what is known as Macgregor Type Hatch Cover. Macgregor’s being an organization that pioneered and patented hatch cover designs in the period following World War II, and which still plays an important role in the design of cargo-handling equipment.

Are there any spare parts for a hatch cover?

Hatch covers. All hatch cover spare parts, such as seals and load-bearing pads, are manufactured to the highest MacGregor standards. They are designed to maximise efficiency and safety and come with a MacGregor guarantee with service support from our global service organisation.

When was the first steel hatch cover made?

Steel hatch covers made their first appearance in 1929 as a design by the MacGregor brothers. Since then, steel hatch covers have become the standard equipment for General cargo ships, Bulk-carriers, and Refrigerated cargo carriers. In addition to these hatch covers they design and build covers for other types of vessels.