If you have experienced dry docking of a ship, you would know

that Dry docking is a great experience. I personally love to be on a

ship due for dry dock. After all you get to see things which you don’t
during routine operation of the ship.
I was lucky enough to get a chance to be in dry dock in each rank I
have served on. I was even lucky to experience the double hull
conversion of a tanker during dry dock.

But if you have not been to dry dock, there would be one thing that
might come in your mind on hearing the word Dry Dock. And that is
dry dock calculation that we read in ship stability, probably during
our Mate’s exams.

That’s purely theory part. And I believe if theory is not attached to

practical aspect, it is just a theory.

you might have already read the theory of dry docking in stability. I
am going to write about practical aspect of taking a ship to dry
dock.

But before I proceed, in layman’s terms I will summarize what we

had read about dry docking in stability.

We read and understood these things

1) The time from “when stern touches the blocks” to when “full ship
is on the blocks” is the critical period.

2) During the critical period, the vessel’s GM reduces. This is

because vessel’s ‘Gravitational center G moves upwards when stern
touches the blocks.
 3) It is required and a good practice to have least trim while
docking so that the critical time is minimal.

Preparing for Dry dock

Well, I am not going into the operational parts which can vary and
are exclusive to each company. I will only be talking about
preparing for taking the ship into the dock and making it sit on the
blocks.

And then off-course bringing the ship out of dry dock.

Days before the planned dry dock, Dock master will make the first
contact with the ship. He can do so either directly or through
the company representative such as superintendent.

Dock master has huge responsibility of calculating the stresses on

dock as well as the ship’s structure. Any miscalculation can lead
to serious accidents resulting in huge damages. These damages can
be to the ship as well as dock itself.
The dock master is trained for block arrangement and
stability during dry docking. For all these calculations, dock master
needs certain information from the ship. Among other things, he will
ask for
1. a copy of Vessel’s Docking plan

2. Arrival Stability condition

3. Pre-docking condition
Some of the content of his email might look something like this

From the docking plan, dock master wants to know

1) Hull structure so that he can arrange the blocks to support the ship’s hull.

2) locations of transducers for log and echo sounders so that these do not come
beneath the blocks.

3) Location of sea chests and drain plugs for the same reason.

Based on the docking plan provided by the ship, dock master prepares his own
docking plan for the ship. Below are some of the sections of actual docking plan
prepared by dock master for s ship arriving for dry dock.
As you can see, dock master has planned which blocks he needs to remove and where
he needs to put blocks. He also has specifically marked the location of echo sounder
and speed log.

Have a look at more closer view below, which is again from same docking plan
prepared by dock master.
I think the above image make it more clear about what dock master is trying to
achieve from the docking plan. If you want to see the stern view too. Here is it.
And this is no theory. This is an actual docking plan prepared by dock master for a
ship arriving for dry dock.

I know I am kind repeating myself but I can’t say it enough. That is because I get
excited to see real thing than just theory.

Stability condition and weight distribution

 Apart from docking plan, dock master would ask arrival weight distribution of the
ship.

There can be up to 4 stages for which stability calculations is required. These stages
are

1. Arrival Dry docking port

2. Pre-docking condition

3. Ship sitting on the blocks but dock not yet empty (also called wet condition by
dock master)

4. Ship on the blocks and dock empty (called Dry condition by docking master

Lets discuss each of this condition

Arrival Dry docking port

On arrival dry docking port, you need to have least possible ballast. By least possible I
mean, propeller should be immersed. And also you should be complying with all
stability requirements.

Pre-docking stability condition

So we know that we cannot arrive with zero ballast as our propeller need to be
immersed and the ship need to be stable.
But what is the logic behind having other three conditions ? Why can’t we just
remove all the ballast and go inside the dock ?

Lets understand the logic behind these conditions

Docking with zero ballast is the ideal condition. But most of the times this would not
be possible. That is because docking master would limit you for the maximum trim
that you can have. In zero ballast condition your trim may be more than 2 meters.

Dock master would want you to reduce the trim to around 0.5 meters. This depends on
the dock on how much trim you can have before docking.

We have already discussed the reason for the need of least trim while docking. This is
to have the least critical period. More trim we have, more will be the time required to
bring the vessel from stern on block to full ship on block. And this is the critical
period with least GM value. We do not want to have the ship in critical period for
longer time.

Most of the ships will have considerable stern trim in light weight condition. So most
ships will need to have some ballast forward in Pre-docking condition.

The amount of ballast would depend on how much trim dock master has advised you
to have.

Stability condition while ship on blocks but

dock not empty
When the ship is on the blocks, you have already passed the critical period. Dock
master will tell you to start deballasting. The only concern dock master will have is
the ship should not refloat.

Ship can refloat if dock deballsting cannot compensate for decrease in draft because
of deballasting.

The condition is monitored by the dock master and he would tell you on how much
ballast you can remove in this condition.

But the question is why the dock master need the vessel to remove the ballast
concurrently when he empties the dock?

This is because dock water does not want to have more weight on the blocks. When
the ship is sitting on the blocks but has water inside the dock, there is certain amount
of buoyancy ship has. This buoyancy acts like upthrust which reduces the effective
weight acting on the blocks.

This condition will be discussed by dock master and he will advise when and how
much ballast you can remove.

As I said earlier, dock master bases his calculations on not to allow ship to refloat.

Ship on the blocks and dock empty

When the ship is on the blocks and there is no danger of ship re-floating, dock master
will tell to take out all ballast.

Dock masters sometimes call this condition as Dry condition.

Procedures for taking the ship to dry dock

Now that we know about the stability part, lets look into each stages of taking the ship
to the dry dock.

Arrival to dry docking port

As I mentioned, you would arrive with least ballast. That would be arrival dry docking
port condition. Even though the ship will be complying with draft and stability
requirements, but the ship will be light. Lighter than usual ballast condition. So before
you arrive at this condition, it is important to scan the weather reports. You would not
want to arrive in light condition if the weather prediction are rough.

Most of the time, the ship is taken to the lay up berth before going into the dry dock.
If not, vessel need to be at anchor for deballasting to arrive at Pre-docking condition.

While at anchor, dock safety inspector will board the vessel. He will do the gas check
of all the compartments to make sure that vessel is gas free. He will then issue a gas
free certificate. He will also give safety booklet of the dock which will have all the
safety regulations of the dock.

Docking of the vessel

Vessel will dock when it has achieved the pre-docking condition. In this condition
vessel will have least ballast to achieve the required trim.

Before docking, dock master will board the vessel. He will discuss the docking
procedures with master and chief officer. He will give the mooring arrangement plan
while docking. He will specify the panama leads from where the moorings will be
passed.

Apart from this he will also discuss about the ballast condition at each stage.

For shifting to dock, pilot will board the vessel. As the ship’s engine will not be
available, ship will have number of tugs to move the ship to dry dock. The number of
tugs would depend on how big the ship is and how powerful the tugs are. In any case,
all ships can expect 5 tugs or more.

Out of these 5 tugs usually 2 will only be assisting for pushing. Different docks can
have different arrangements for making fast the tugs. It will all depend upon the
location, tidal current and local factors.

One of such arrangement can be two tugs made fast forward, one made fast aft and
two tugs standby. The one tug made fast aft will have one line on each side of the
poop deck to have better control in handling the ship.

Depending upon the dock, ship will either enter stern in or bow in.

The pilot will bring the ship parallel to the dock. When the stern (or bow whichever is
entering first) is close to the dock knuckle, docking master will take over from pilot.
Docking master is different from dock master. Docking master may not board the
vessel and will be giving instructions to the tugs from the dock itself.

When the ship is inside the dock, ship’s crew need to pass the mooring lines as per the
agreed mooring arrangement. Usually forward and aft will have two lines on each
side. Out of two lines on each side, one on each side can be shore line. But this can be
different and mooring arrangements will be advised by the dock master.

When the ship is made fast with the moorings, docking master will sign off and dock
master will take over.

Vessel on the blocks

Before dock master start to remove dock water, a diver will make underwater
inspection. Diver will ensure that echo sounder and log sensors are clear and not
sitting under the blocks. He will also ensure physically that vessel’s centerline is in
line with the blocks. It is a good practice to switch off the echo sounder and speed log
now.

After the diver has made his inspection, dock master will start pumping out dock
water.

Dock master will let the vessel know when stern has touched the blocks and when
ship is on the blocks.

After the ship is on the blocks, dock master will tell to start pumping out ballast to
arrive at wet condition.

As the dock water is being pumped out, at one point the water will go down from the
generator cooling water sea chest.

After this point ship will get power supply from shore.

A shore electrician will board the ship (Through basket and shore crane) and make
arrangement to connect the shore power. Ship’s electrician should coordinate with
him to have the shore power connected.

You should check if shore power will be enough for running the ballast pump and
mooring winches. If not, this should be discussed with dock master in advance. He
will then ensure that water level does not go below sea chest until you have pumped
out required ballast.
Once on shore power, dock master would continue to dry the dock. He will tell you to
take out all ballast accordingly. You may do so with gravity as same might be more
effective.

Once the dock is dry and ship sitting on the blocks, you can line up to deballast all
ballast tanks by gravity. This is to let all the water drain whatever is left in the ballast
tanks.

So now you have already brought the ship to the dry dock. It is wonderful view to see
the ship out of water. You should not wait to go down in the dock and have a look at
her.

Removing the Drain plugs

The Ship repair manager will now request the chief officer to witness removal of the
bottom plugs.

As you know, each tank which form part of the hull has a bottom plug to drain the
water in dry dock.

Removing bottom plugs ensure that the tanks are empty and dry. As bottom plug of
each tank is removed, it is important to label it. This will ensure that bottom plugs are
not interchanged while fitting back.

Though plugs of all the ballast tanks are of same size, it is best practice to fit back
plugs which belongs to each tank.

If you wish to experience how we remove the bottom plugs, watch this video.
 Departure from Dry Dock

After few hectic days in dry dock, it would be time to leave dry dock. We need to be
equally attentive in leaving the dry dock as we were while coming into the dry dock.

Before dock master floods the dry dock, all the underwater things needs to be in order.
This includes sea chests, ICCP system, echo sounder sensors, log sensors and drain
plugs.

Echo sounder, log and drain plugs are tested for air and water tightness. Testing
involves first putting soap solution around drain plug. Then we create vacuum around
drain plug and look for any bubbles.

If you have never experienced this testing before, here is a video of testing of drain
plug.

After all these integrity tests are complete, it is time to leave the dry dock.

The best approach of leaving the dry dock is to follow exactly how the ship came into
the dry dock.

It would involve

1. Filling the ballast to bring the ship to wet condition.

2. passing the lines as was in the arrival condition

3. Flooding the dock

4. Filling the ballast to pre-dry dock condition

5. Flooding the dock up to the level where ship is fully afloat.

6. Disconnecting the shore supply and taking ship’s generators on load

7. Taking the ship out of the dock with the help of tugs.

Finally to summarise the process of bringing a ship to the dry dock, here is an
Infographic
Conclusion

Dry docking is a great experience for those who do not want to stop learning. The
special thing about dry docking is that there are plenty things that a seafarer can learn
each time he attends a dry dock.

While it might seem to be a difficult process but if we view the whole process
logically, it would seem a routine.

If you are going for a dry dock, Enjoy the learning process. And let me know in the
comments below if there was anything that should form a part of this guide.