While MS Fram was dry docked in Panama, Marine Offshore Management (MOM) applied our Sandwich Plate System (SPS), to reinstate Deck 7 around the jacuzzi and the vessel’s Monkey Island.

MOM applied 16 m² [172 ft²] of SPS 6-25-Existing to the Monkey Island and 39 m² [420 ft²] of SPS 6-20-Existing to the jacuzzi area, reinstating the existing plating and protecting it from further diminution. In each case the retained deck plate becomes the lower face of the finished sandwich, bonded through a 25 mm or 20 mm elastomer core to a new 6 mm steel top plate.

The process started with fitting and welding, or bonding, perimeter and backing bars to the existing structure. The top plates were then welded to those bars to form sealed cavities and elastomer was injected into each one under controlled conditions.

Fourteen cavities were filled over four days in May 2025. MOM carried out the work from the deck itself, using straightforward steel working techniques, with no access required from the spaces below.

Because SPS leaves the existing structure in place, it cuts the repair schedule significantly against the traditional crop-and-renew alternative. It also retains the diminished plating as a working part of the finished panel, which removes the need for steel renewal, disposal, and much of the hot work a conventional repair would require.

MS Fram is a 1B ice class expedition cruise ship, built in 2007. She carries up to 200 guests on polar expeditions, cruising the Arctic and Greenland through the northern summer before heading south for the Antarctic season.

That pattern demands rigorous upkeep. Working through pack ice puts constant load on the hull, propulsion and safety systems, so MS Fram’s owners maintain her to a high standard year round. Consistent maintenance also preserves her ice class notation, which governs where she can operate.

With SPS Technology’s beginnings rooted in the defence of hulls against Arctic ice, we are proud that the Sandwich Plate System continues to protect vessels working in polar waters.