ROYAL ROOS BV I PROFILE

Providing the Serviceof a Lifetime

Established five years ago as a provider ofmarine services, Royal Roos BV is alreadyrepeatedly proving its prowess for completework scopes. From on site inspection topreparation and engineering, the Dutch basedfirm provides turn-key project solutions forthe maritime industry in the fields of salvage,marine engineering, lifetime extension (LTE),conversion and maintenance of ships andoffshore structures. Georgina Warrenspoke with Managing Director Fulko Roosabout the services the company is nowable to offer.

Royal Roos has fashioned a good reputation as a providerof LTE services and project support for the conversion andmaintenance of ships and offshore structures. One of the

key milestones for the company in its five-year existence was tobe awarded the position of project support for the docking of one ofthe largest crane vessels in the world. Following the success of thisendeavour, the company has received similar projects for variouscompanies each year.

“We are a small to medium sized company with all the bestcharacteristics of a larger organisation, whilst maintaining our ability to be manoeuvrable and f lexible to keep in line with our clients’ requirements and expectations,” said ManagingDirector Fulko Roos. This approach is seeing the company’sturnover, market share, production capacity and sales all rise steadily.

Another service provided by Royal Roos is outsourcingdrawing works through an internet application, SketchExpress(www.sketch-express.com). This is a tool to assist companies orpersons working on site without draftsmen to prepare drawingsfor modifications and repairs. It is an affordable way to convert PDFs

ROYAL ROOS BV I PROFILE

to scaled CAD drawings and enables Royal Roos to subcontract thedrawing works outside of the Netherlands, to places such asChina, India and Serbia.

Keeping Things Personal “We are there from start to finish,” added Mr Roos. “Our aim is tobe involved in the project definition phase where the scopes of workand project boundaries are determined. In that case, you candetermine critical path and long lead items, which mostly causedelays and project cost to increase dramatically. In the start-upphase we can assist the client with one or two experienced projectengineers or project managers to determine the project requirements,decide who is going to do what, and identify long lead items andcritical paths.”

Furthermore, the project engineer that has done the preparationwork will also be on site to supervise. Not only does this enableprofessional relationships between Royal Roos employed personneland the client to be established, it also, and more crucially, meansthat any engineering errors or problems can be remedied quickly.“Questions from the project will be channelled to the right per-sons quickly,” affirmed Mr Roos.

Rotterdam based Royal Roos may have a modest employee count,but the available pool of freelance personnel at the company’sdisposal, in addition to the strong relationships the company hasformed with recruitment agencies and other engineering companies,means if additional capacity is needed, it is sought; no problem.Its network of construction workshops spans in the Netherlands,China, Singapore and Malaysia.

2014 activity for Royal Roos included various assignments for aDutch Marine Contractors’ repair campaign for one of its large semi-submersible crane vessels. This included the detailed engineeringof a new incinerator room that will be installed in the weather deckarea of the semi-submersible unit.

Mr Roos explained: “To assess strength, a beam model has beenused followed by preparing of lay-out drawings of piping, exhaustsystem, automation, firefighting and general subdivision of the room.When this was done, fabrication drawings were prepared withmaterial take off (MTO).”

In relation to research and development, Mr Roos said the companydevotes reasonable time and money on this area. Already engagedin a Joint Industry Project (JIP) with the Delft University ofTechnology in order to determine the fatigue characteristics of astructure, Royal Roos has a number of other research partnershipscurrently in the pipeline.

Providing Lifetime SupportThis strong commitment towards research and development is gearedtowards increasing LTE for its clients. Whether conducting largerepair and modification jobs for existing offshore units, dredgersor other vessels, the LTE process can be lengthy, but Royal Roos,is consistently present at all stages.

This process begins with the customer, determining the requiredwork based on information from the vessel and technical department.During this initial phase, project boundaries are set with the client, interms of who will do what and where responsibilities lie. This phase isfollowed by an inspection on site to determine the status of the vessel,compile drawings and perform measurements and 3D scans, ifrequired. Conceptual engineering and writing the scopes of work fortendering purposes is then undertaken so the client can start thetender process at ship (or repair) yards. Royal Roos can providetechnical guidance during this process and check if the tendersare technically correct and pricing is applied in the right manner.

Once this is completed, the project enters the detailed engineeringphase. If a ship (or repair) yard has been selected, Royal Rooswill start with detailed engineering and reporting. The outcomewill, for example, include determining steel weight, dimensionsof plating and which stiffeners to use and, if required, productiondrawings can be provided as well. Based on the outcome of the detailed engineering phase, Royal Roos can assist in thepurchasing process by supplying technical specifications of the items to be bought.

The penultimate phase is the execution phase, whereby RoyalRoos will be on site to supervise. The quality of the work, budgetand planning is checked and finally, once all work has beencompleted, the company begins the ‘close-out’ phase, in whichthe ‘as-builts’ are prepared for classification societies and the client.

Royal Roos is currently working on the LTE of a launch barge.This involves the supervision of complete paint repair (over anarea of 330,000m²) and engineering of new engine room (3 x1,500 kVA and 1 x 350 kVA generators) complete with all auxiliarysystems (ventilation, exhaust system, fuel oil system, cooling watersystem, structural reinforcements). As well as this, the companyrecently supervised the deck outfitting for two float-over topsideinstallation projects for the same barge.

“If problematic areas are identified based on monitoring (forexample, crack propagation) we can then advise a possibleimprovement by performing FEA calculations,” continued MrRoos. “We are able to offer a complete solution starting withinspections and measurements on site until the modification tothe structural detail under investigation is complete.”

Royal Roos wants to expand on the LTE services it already offersby taking on complete projects from initial inspection on site to the preparation of as-built packages, as well as becoming aspecialist in fatigue and crack monitoring and increase its level ofunderstanding in the processes behind fatigue, fatigue life andcrack initiation and growth.

Ensuring Stability for the FutureRepeat custom is, according to Mr Roos, the pride of the company.The managing director highlighted a number of factors that setsthe company apart and keeps the clients happy.

“We are investing in more specialised software packages, likeCFD and FEA software to complete the software we are alreadyusing (Octopus Office, SolidWorks Premium, FEMAP, Pipeflow, GHS14.00, BricsCad, Rhino and FINE/Marine) and are in the process ofdesigning a DP barge for salvage operations in shallow water.”

One of the company’s biggest challenges is to find well-motivated, experienced personnel with a hands-on mentality forthe demanding scopes of work that the company has to execute.

“One could say that supervising the docking and repair jobsof the three biggest crane vessels is a challenge, but that’s justwhat we do: bringing back the jobs to the basic engineeringprinciples with motivated people. If you do that, you can do any job.”

Mr Roos also explained that the company has done all it can toensure its financial stability. “We make sure that we are careful toselect projects. We don’t engage in projects which are uncertainor too big for us. If we have bigger projects, we work together withother companies to share (financial) risk and responsibilities.”

Displaying stable growth during the economic downturn, MrRoos believes is mainly due to the quality of the work the com-pany does, in close cooperation with the client, and providing a 24/7 service.

“We try to give every project our full attention and keep ouroverheads low. In that way, we can deliver high quality work whilereducing costs. This is what matters in the end: you get what youpay for. Furthermore, we often quote lump sums, so the customerknows upfront what his expenditures will be.” n