RMK Marine has successfully implemented the use of resin-infusion technology in the construction of the new Oyster superyachts. This technique is used by only a few shipyards locally and a significant development for both Oyster Marine and RMK Marine. Following an agreement with luxury yacht producer Oyster Marine, RMK Marine are building the 30m (100ft) and 38m (125ft) series yachts which have been designed by Ed Dubois. The “Hull infusion”, was a major step in the construction programme for the 30m Oyster 100 model superyacht.
The resin infusion process is accepted as one of the most environmentally-friendly methods in yacht building. It leads to consistent, lightweight and high strength structures. To ensure best practice a consultancy service was assembled from experts around the world to advise and train the technical staff working on the production of Oyster super yachts. Having planned and predicted the process the application was checked through many detailed tests. All the structure was rigorously analysed by Oysters structural engineering team and following numerous tests of the structural properties of moulded parts of every section of the structure was approved by Lloyds for notation.
The infusion method is applied by pulling liquid resin by vacuum, through the dry structural fibres laid into the prepared mould. Before this the dry fibre layers are covered by a nylon vacuum bag that ensures that the product surface and surrounding area will not be contaminated and consolidates the structure under pressure. The spread of the gases emerging to the surrounding environment as a result of the resin reaction is also prevented. This method of infused Vinylester composite construction from production tooling is designed to facilitate rapid and accurate build of these high quality yachts. To accommodate this specialist build, RMK Marine has a large purpose built workshop 80m long and 40m wide which houses a 40m long oven, which is one of the largest of its kind. The oven is used to post-cure the structure leading to enhanced mechanical properties of the materials and in particular stability at the varying temperatures that will be experienced by the laminate. This sort of process is unusual in yacht building but was considered the appropriate technology by the RMK/Oyster team for this quality of production.
With the investments in its infrastructure and facilities as well as investment in its labour force RMK Marine has continued to demonstrate the capability of Turkish SuperYacht construction.
RMK Marine
Mike Burnham
+90 (216) 395 28 65
[email protected]
www.rmkmarine.com