Tent on deck

Jack Tighe Industrial Services Ltd of North Lincolnshire, UK, is supplying a HakiTec 750 roof as part of its £80000 (US$155000) contract scaffolding contract in support of maintenance work on HMS PORTLAND, a Type 23 Frigate in dry dock in Portsmouth, UK

The roof shelters deck work, including repainting the vessel's flight deck, which must be done in dry conditions to allow a special, non–slip floor paint to bond effectively. Water would severely damage the process, so dry deck conditions are essential

Kenny Grey, for a painting supervisor for Tighe and a twenty–five year veteran of this type of project, commented that ease of opening the roof, ease of access and that the shelter genuinely is weather proof, make it “…by miles the best roof he has ever worked under. It over–sails the deck area to give a better coverage and can be immediately closed if there is the possibility of rain.”

Fleet Support Ltd, of Portsmouth, the main contractor in the project, also directly benefits from use of the roof. Its quick opening feature has provided ready delivery of material onto the flight deck, and scaffold workers have not had to climb at any time over the structure – a major Health and Safety consideration in any dockyard. The last is especially significant when vessels are in dry dock and workers risk a fall of 20 m