SAFE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF DRY DOCK FACILITIES

Floating dry docks are often referred to as "floaters" - they are engineering structures having enough size, strong construction and displacement as well as sufficient stability to be able to lift vessels from the water using the buoyancy. The floating docks can normally be operated with list and trim to reduce block loading and reduce or, ideally, to eliminate ship stability problems when docking or undocking.

Some shipyards are equipped to transfer vessels to shore from a dock, which enables concurrent work on multiple vessels. The common construction of the docks implies a pontoon and wing walls. The pontoon is considered the major structural component of any FDD, i.e. floating dry dock, that shall be designed to provide due distribution of the concentrated blocking loads from the vessel to the docks deck and ultimately to the uniform buoyant force on the hull.

The pontoon provides the transverse strength for the dock as well as contributing to the longitudinal strength. Additionally, the pontoon must feature sufficient size to be capable of providing enough displacement to lift the ship together with the dock from the water. In short, this is must-have book for all shipyard specialists engaged in docking activities.