A foreign ship had sought refuge in Odense after a fire in the engine room. The electric motor and seals in two cooling pumps were damaged. Now the defective pumps were in the workshop at Hoppe & Møldam Elektro in Ringe, where Claus Madsen and Thomas Riise were tasked with refurbishing the pumps at speed and returning them to Odense Harbour so that the ship could soon be back on the lake and resume operations.
It is a particular challenge to procure the necessary spare parts at the threshold of this year’s biggest holiday. Especially this Christmas, when most of Denmark had the prospect of a longer period of holidays and closed days than usual. Claus and Thomas immediately realized that when it came to new seals for the pumps, Betech was probably their best chance of success.
Together with Bjarne Feddersen, who is Technical Sales Engineer at Betech, they quickly figured out exactly which seal should be used in the pumps – a mechanical seal type 528 from Groupe Latty – and Bjarne sent a request to the European manufacturer to arrange a prompt delivery before the goods were shipped out and the transporters closed for Christmas.
It was successful to have the mechanical seals brought to the workshop immediately after the Christmas holidays, and the pumps were fixed, tested and installed in the cooling system, so that the ship could be fully operational again and sail out from the north coast of Funen on Friday 2 January 2026.
Mechanical seals are superior for applications with rotating shafts. But with many principle types and often even more variants of the individual seal types, there is a sea of possibilities. The refurbished pumps were quickly back on the ship because Claus and Thomas are skilled electromechanical engineers and immediately sought guidance on the sealing technique from Betech. In their dialogue with Bjarne Feddersen, they were guided through the clarification of relevant dimensions and material selection. Then they could focus on the remaining repair work while the seals were brought forward.
At the workshop of Hoppe & Møldam Elektro, Claus Madsen and Thomas Riise are proud to be able to solve urgent tasks such as the damaged pumps on the ship – even during the Christmas season, when the logistical conditions are more difficult and the time for the technical clarification is correspondingly short.
