ANL Dhambi is a container ship. In August 2022 it was alongside in Melbourne under a different name, and five rope access technicians drove a van down from Brisbane to change it. The old name was blocked out and painted over, the new one rolled on in white over the top, both bow quarters, with the river underneath and a boat sitting below the ropes the whole time.
The client had a two day window. Any longer than that and the job was going to the ship crew instead, so the team went down with every piece of equipment they could possibly need rather than planning to buy anything locally. There is no hardware run when the ship sails on Friday.
At a glance
Location
Melbourne
Services
Rope access painting, vessel name change
Access
Rope access off the deck edge, rescue boat standing by
Duration
Three working days, five technicians
The work
Cover it, then write over the top
The hull is a weathered grey with rust running down it, which rules out sanding the old name back and blending it in. So it gets covered instead. A black panel goes on over the previous name, wide enough and deep enough that nothing of it will read through, and the new letters are rolled in white straight over that. Five technicians worked the panel at once, each on their own rope, each on their own letter.
What that involves
Block out the previous name in full, because anything left underneath will read from the wharf
Set out the new letters across a bow that flares away from you, from a rope, with nowhere to stand back
Roll the white on and cut the edges in by hand, letter by letter
Keep every tin, roller and tool tethered, because the only thing underneath is the river
Check the line and the spacing from the wharf before anyone calls it finished
Five on the wall at once
The team drove down with five harness kits, five 50 metre ropes, rigging slings and carabiners, battery tools, buckets and rollers. Everything, including the just in case gear, because a two day window does not survive a trip to go and find a fitting.
Three working days and 116 and a half technician hours in the end. Five on the ropes for the first two days, three to finish it.
How we get to it
Over the bow, with the river below
The lines rig off the deck edge and the ship structure at the bow. From there the technicians work down the flare to the name, which sits low enough that there is nothing under it but water and mooring lines. The bow flares outward, so a technician on a rope hangs away from the plate rather than against it, and has to pull himself in to reach the surface he is painting.
The boat is a condition of the work
A manned rescue boat sits under the working area for the whole job, supplied by the client on this one. If it leaves or goes out of sight, work stops until it comes back.
That is agreed in writing before anyone rigs. A lifejacket will not float a technician wearing a harness and a rack of steel gear, so the boat is the rescue plan, and there is no working without it.
How we work it
Lines rigged off the deck edge and ship structure, checked by a second set of eyes before anyone goes over
Everything tethered, because anything dropped goes in the river and is gone
Paint and tins kept controlled over the side, with nothing allowed into the water
The bow worked in sections, so each technician owns a letter rather than half of one
Work called off on wind and rain rather than pushed, because wet paint on a hull gets one go
Filmed and photographed as it ran, so the client could watch the whole job without leaving the office
Challenges
What makes this one awkward
The window. Two days was the cut off the client set, and the alternative on the table was handing the job to the ship crew. Everything about how it was set up, the van instead of flights, the spare gear, five people on the wall instead of three, came out of that one constraint.
Then the surface. A weathered hull with rust bleeding down it will not take a blended repair, so the old name has to be covered completely and the coverage has to be right the first time.
And the geometry. The bow flares away, the plate curves in two directions, and the letters get set out by people who cannot see what they are making. The only person who can judge it is the one standing on the wharf.
Outcome
What the job delivered
A ship that went alongside under one name and sailed as ANL Dhambi, both bow quarters clean and matching, finished inside the window the client set and done by the contractor rather than handed back to the crew.
Ships are not what most people picture when they hear rope access, but the discipline is identical to a facade. Rig off structure, reach a surface nobody else can get to, do it once and do it properly, and get everybody back on deck. The only difference is what is underneath.
