The large German shipyard in Wismar is the first in the world to build supertankers under cover. The ships are built in an indoor dry dock with an accordion-type door claimed to be the biggest in the world.The door is 64 metres high, 72 metres wide, weighs 280 tonnes and can handle wind forces up to 150 km/h. Several leading door manufacturers competed to win the prestige order.

The order, valued at SEK 20 million, includes five more, slightly smaller, ‘GrandDoors’, as Nomafa call them.
“We’ve already supplied three doors to the HDW shipyard in Kiel, Germany, among them one of the world’s largest at 48 x 18 metres”, says Stefan Larsson, GrandDoors project leader. “They’ve performed very well and the Kiel installation opened the way for the order from MTW”.
Building a tanker under cover shortens the construction time and means more stable welds and higher-quality surface treatment, since the effects of wind and weather are eliminated. This is why MTW are building a reference installation for the international shipbuilding industry.
The German building firm MSB is the overall contractor for the construction of the shipyard, whilst Nomafa are responsible for planning and designing the giant door. The heavy steel components for the door are being made in Germany.

Demanding environments
The door is designed for demanding environmental conditions, such as wide temperature variations and high wind strengths. The door and its control system are tailor-made for different fields of application. The drive unit is always uniformly loaded, so the door can be opened and closed quickly and safely.
The maximum opening speed for GrandDoors is 0.6 metres per second and the efficient lifting gear is claimed to halve the energy demand compared with conventional doors. The horizontal beams are individually suspended and run separately. The wind forces cannot be transmitted vertically, which means that the door can withstand high wind loads.
The door fabric is made from double PVC sheets which give good insulation. The sheet sections can be replaced if they are damaged. The frames and beams of the door are galvanised for corrosion resistance. All aluminium sections are anodised.

Nomafa is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of rapid-operating industrial doors for indoor and outdoor use. The product range includes roller doors, accordion-type doors and sliding doors (GrandDoors).

Caption:
Swedish company Nomafa is building a door 64 metres high and 72 metres wide for an indoor dry dock in Wismar, Germany. It is claimed to be the largest door of its kind in the world.

For further information:
UK;
R S Stokvis & Sons Ltd
Paul Sands, Export Manager
23 Pool Road, West Molesey
Surrey, KT8 2HN, England
Phone: (081) 941 1212
Fax: (081) 941 4136

ASIA PACIFIC:
Mr Theo Matter, Export Manager
Kiara Green Apt 7-0-17
Off Jln. Tun Mohd Fuad
Taman Tun Dr. Ismail
60000 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Tel (03) 717 0184

SWEDEN.
Nomafa AB
Stefan Larsson, project leader
Box 509, S-301 80 Halmstad, Sweden
Phone: +46 35 14 73 62
Fax: +46 35 12 02 69

Press release images