Portascanner® WATERTIGHT
The Portascanner® WATERTIGHT is the world-leading fully ABS Type-Approved & RINA-Accepted watertight integrity tester for inspecting watertight and weathertight seals on ships and marine structures. It is highly versatile and can be used on marine structures from warships to offshore oil & gas platforms.
Portascanner® WATERTIGHT is developed to test the integrity of sealed compartments, watertight and weathertight doors, hatch-covers, and multiple cable transit areas. It has unique dual decibel and linear readings accurate to 0.06mm +/- 0.02mm.
The Portascanner® WATERTIGHT offers a cleaner, faster, and non-invasive alternative to traditional methods such as the hose test. Its unbeaten accuracy and suitability for use by any operator, with free training provided, and no need for time-consuming, expensive courses, makes the Portascanner® WATERTIGHT is the easiest way to reliably check for watertightness and weathertightness.
How it works:
The Portascanner® WATERTIGHT PLUS uses a simple yet effective process to detect leaks:
- An ultrasonic pulse is emitted from the device’s transducer.
- The signal is reflected from any solid structure and will transmit through any air gaps, so any signal detected indicates a leak. In contrast, no readings are recorded for an intact structure.
- The operator moves the sensor along the tested area to locate the exact point of the leak. The test provides a decibel reading and an Open Hatch Value (%OHV), helping to quantify the leak’s severity. A moderately experienced operator can complete this entire process in minutes.
Multiple Cable Transits
Multiple Cable Transits are designed to act as fire barrier and watertight barrier for cables onboard submarines and across the maritime industry. They are designed so that they must provide fire protection, but also have one or several demands to protect against water, gas and smoke.
Cable transits are often the weakest link in the chain of fire safety and water tightness and are key for compartmentation. There have been many accidents and catastrophes caused by sealing systems that didn’t perform when needed. For example, in 2022 HMS Nottingham grounded in Australia during a flooding incident. A secondary flooding occurred above the free flooded compartments due to water ingress through the cable glands and ventilation penetrations. An investigation into the incident concluded that multiple cable penetrations should be examined to ensure that they are sufficiently robust to ensure compartment watertight integrity.
Accordingly IACS have recently mandated Cable Penetration Registers for all Commercial Shipping Rule Sets and for the navies this could present an administrative burden that will also be very onerous to assure. IACS Z28 requires that all Offshore structures must keep a log of all the Multiple Cable Transits in the structure, referred to as a ‘Cable Transit Seal System Register’.
The Cable Transit Seal System Register must include information on each cable transit installed, the certification and instruction, drawings and other relevant information from the manufacturer on the Seal itself. This must also include inspection information and any details of any subsequent repair or modification made to the MCT.
Using ultrasonic technology, the exact location and severity of any leaks in airtight, gastight or watertight seals can be identified. This is far more efficient compared to high pressure air or water tests, is more accurate and is cheaper. Testing can also be done in-situ allowing for routine testing and preventative maintenance.
The most advanced watertight and airtight quantifiers, such as the Portascanner® WATERTIGHT PRO can be stationed onboard, and used as a digital storage and inspection platform. Thereby, allowing vessels to comply with Z28, ensuring compartment integrity by enabling them to record and export Cable Penetration/Multiple Cable Transit Area dimensional, quantification and water flow rate data.
