Jérôme, aged 39, is the in-service support (ISS) Shipyard Production Team Manager on the Brest site of Naval Group. As a specialist in diesel engines, Jérôme took up his new position last June after having spent 20 years in the Diesel workshop. “At the start of 2000, following my apprenticeship training, I joined the Diesel workshop: that’s where I learned it all! I felt I was ready to take on more responsibilities; so when the opportunity came up, I to apply straight away”, he explains. Now, leading a team of six operators (mechanics, electricians, a metalworker and a maintenance expert), he manages his team’s interventions on two types of ships (during maintenance periods or unavailability periods): tripartite minehunters and BSAMs. “This is new for me - I essentially used to operate on frigates. But I can surely count on my team members to support me! ”
An unprecedented operation successfully carried out in collaborative spirit
Soon after he took up his position, Jérôme was faced with a major challenge in the shipyard: fitting the new propeller on the Andromède tripartite minehunter, the blades of which were produced by additive manufacturing on the site of Nantes-Indret: a first! This was a delicate operation, so Jérôme sought the help of his former team in the Diesel workshop and asked them to prepare the propeller in their workshop, while he and his operators took care of the dismantling and reassembly work on board. This operation coincided with the ten-year general inspection of the shaft line - work which is usually subcontracted - but which was backsourced this time round. Despite the high level of activity at that moment, the shipyard decided to keep this delicate operation in-house in order to master the entire chain, from design to onboard fitting. “The dismantling work requested some coordination to ensure that everything was ready for each intervention. I also monitored the preparation of the propeller and organised the onboard reassembly with my counterpart in the Diesel workshop. ” Completed on Christmas Eve, this unprecedented operation during the Andromède’s Major Technical Stop, was somewhat a success.. It will also have enabled the shipyard team to deploy a number of major changes and to restore the ship to its full potential: yet another success. Congratulations to Jérôme and his teams - both the new and old!