Balmoral re-floated and engines installed
Report and pictures by David Elms
May 4th. The sluices in the dry dock
caisson were opened, and the ship was floated off the blocks yesterday evening.
Installation of the new engines started bright and early this morning,
followed by the gearboxes and intermediate shafts which incorporate brake discs
to reduce load on the gearboxes when changing from ahead to astern.
The whole operation ran very smoothly and was completed by about 4.30pm.
Tomorrow the engines and boxes will have final adjustments made to their
alignment and be bolted down hard, after which the aft section of catwalk will
be refitted, and possibly the missing piece of deck as well.
Many thanks to Matt Verrell for taking the installation photos, as I had my
hands full controlling the crane.
