To ensure a hull remains sound it is crucial not to ignore water ingress.
Yacht repairers and boatyards will offer osmosis treatment as a standard yacht repair, but how essential is this work? Yacht surveyors have clients who ask them to check the condition of their hulls on an annual basis. It's also true that in many cases the development of further blisters and increase in moisture content has advanced at a slow rate. Experienced suveyors will have seen many examples of 'osmosis' and other types of blistering eventually acknowledged in the late 1970s as being a real cause for concern. Wonder products to cure osmosis have come and gone. The most important and alarming thing is the deterioration to the structural integrity of GRP hulls by osmosis and hydrolysis. As the hulls become older, it is becoming much more common to find the outer 2-3mm of the hull, or more, has little or no strength left and in the course of carrying out osmosis treatment, the degraded outer layer must be cut away and rebuilt with new layers of GRP laminate.
OSMOSIS
To ensure a hull remains structurally sound, it's crucial that water ingress is not ignored. The blisters on the surface may be just cosmetic, but the water ingress below the surface could be weakening the structure.
On a brighter note, most of the hulls moulded since the late 1980s, with at least the skin coat behind the gelcoat incorporating an isophthalic or vinylester resin, are absorbing much less moisture and remaining blister-free and structurally sound for longer.
Osmosis Treatment OSMOSIS
Captain Zarir Irani Presentation on Marine insurance and warranty at the off shore support Vessel Technlology Forum held in Abu Dhabi.
ReplyDeleteIn a well researched presentation Capt. Zarir lrani spoke about the Act, Principles, Warranties, Common Findings related to the marine insurance surveyor sector. He mentioned that worldwide Marine insurance contracts take into consideration the statute mentioned in the Marine Insurance Act 1906 and majority of the world-wide marine insurance is governed by this Act.Without-Fools-No-FUn-During his talk he pointed out the five basic principles of marine insurance that should be adhered to viz: Insurable interest, Utmost Good Faith, Proximate Cause., indemnity and Subrogation. He categorically stated that all contracts of marine insurance are contracts Uberrimae fidei’ i.e. of the utmost good faith’ and if the utmost good faith be not observed by either party, the contract may be voided by the other party (the underwriters). Proximate Cause (or ‘causa proxima’) is derived from the legal dictum causa proxima non remota spectatur’. This means that ‘the proximate and not the remote cause to be considered’. The Act provides that the insurer is liable for any loss proximately caused by a peril insured against h mentioned.
Capt. Irani clearly explained the warranty surveyclauses and its meaning. In his well-attended paper he mentioned that a warranty s the same as a “condition” on any other type of insurance policy. It is an express or implied contractual undertaking by the assured that something will or will not be done.
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