AOPS Ship Fitting Qualification Testing

A Defence Prime contractor building the Harry DeWolf class Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) required qualification testing of ship pipe flange connections used throughout the vessel's critical piping systems. ESL Labs was engaged to develop customized test procedures and execute a comprehensive qualification program to validate the safety, durability, and performance of these connections before the ships entered service.

US navy San Antonio class USS New Orleans ship

The Challenge

Modern warships are built in sectional ‘blocks,’ with pipes joined using flanges bolted together to form fluid-tight seals. Hundreds of these flanged connections carry fuel, seawater, and firefighting water through hundreds of kilometres of piping across a single vessel.

While underway, these connections are continuously exposed to vibration, internal pressure, structural flexing, and mechanical stress. Any leakage of critical fluids poses serious safety and operational risks. Qualification testing was required at extreme levels — including 150% pressure pulsation and over 10 million vibration cycles — to ensure reliable performance over the ship’s operational lifetime.

With dozens of distinct pipe flange connection types requiring qualification and a compressed delivery schedule tied to ship construction milestones, the project demanded both technical precision and high-throughput execution.

ESL Lab's Solution

ESL Labs formed an integrated engineering team with the ship Prime Contractor and Classification Society to develop and execute fully customized qualification test procedures. Parallel testing operations were implemented to maximize throughput and meet the compressed schedule without compromising test integrity.

All testing was conducted at ESL’s Dartmouth, Nova Scotia facility. Our team developed the test procedures in partnership with the Prime and classifier, executed 150% pressure pulsation shock, 400% burst pressure, and 10 million cycles of vibration and flexing across dozens of pipe flange connection types, and provided comprehensive qualification reporting fully compliant with ship classifier specifications.

The result was a successful qualification of all required pipe flange connection types, enabling the HMCS Harry DeWolf — the first Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship in its class — to be delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy in July 2020.

Ship Fitting Qualification Testing for the AOPS Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship

The Challenge

ESL Lab's Solution

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