Boston or Bosporus, Montevideo or Mallorca, Guadeloupe or Gothenburg – cruise ships are underway across all the world’s seas and oceans. However, many a sea mile travelled owes a lot to a small town in Northern Germany. Papenburg in Emsland usually finds itself at the focus of interest only when a new ship runs down the slipway at Meyer Werft and moves with impressive precision along the river Ems into the North Sea.
Harsh working conditions
These enormous ship fabrication halls are the temporary homes of ferries and gas tankers as well as cruise liners. New ships are put together from over 60 individual sections called blocks, which can weigh up to 800 tonnes each. The quality of the connection interfaces plays an important role in the construction of the ship and in the assembly of the blocks themselves. Consistent measurements are crucial – correcting mistakes is virtually impossible.
Ralph Zimmermann is a qualified surveying engineer with over 20 years’ experience in this field. He heads the surveying section at Meyer Werft. “Our surveying instruments are used every day under harsh conditions in both indoor and outdoor environments. In addition to the quality of the instruments, we also recognise the value of good service and a long-term relationship. It is important that our partners are still there for us tomorrow,” says Zimmermann. “In Leica Geosystems and Hexagon Metrology, we have found partners who have never once disappointed us.”
Surveyors are always involved in the action
The surveying team at Meyer Werft is on hand to provide its services at every stage in the production of a new ship. Alignment of the plasma torch cutting machines is just one of the first tasks. Accuracy is also the name of game when laying keels and fabricating the blocks. On top of this come a host of other special jobs, such as determining the overall length of a ship. Ralph Zimmermann: “More and more parts are being prefabricated and then attached to the ship in once piece. For us this means we have to carry out fairly accurate 3D surveys – such as taking the measurements of a sun shade composed of multiple concave shapes or a 260-m-long waterslide with curves and loops.”
The contents of the instrument locker at Meyer Werft include a Leica TDRA6000 laser station and two Leica HDS6200 high-definition surveying (HDS) laser scanners. Both instruments are permanently in use. Ralph Zimmermann: “The HDS scanners and laser station together form a strong combination. Before we begin to scan and capture point clouds, we determine the exact position of the targets using the Leica TDRA6000 and create a mesh...
