Second Crandali Dock At National Sea Products Yard Rebuilt And Enlarged

The small Crandali marine railway drydock at the National Sea Products, Inc. shipyard in Rockland, Maine, (shown above), has just been enlarged and rebuilt for 700-ton capacity. This improved facility, along with the larger one recently rebuilt for 1,200 tons, assures the yard and ship operators on the Northeast Maine coast of adequate and reliable drydocking capacity, with a good backup plant for speedy vessel repair. A similar restoration was completed in 1980 at the Frank L. Sample & Son, Inc. yard in Boothbay Harbor.

The restoration at National Sea Products, with new machinery, chains, cradle, and roller system and an extended track, has almost doubled the capacity, increasing it from 400 to 700 tons, and resulted in twice as much water draft over the cradle blocks.

Not only was the total capacity increased, but by using steel cradle beams with a decked cradle and winch-operated bilge blocks, along with larger track rails and rollers, the concentrated load capacity was boosted from 5 to 8 tons per foot. This increase with the draft increase from 7 to 14 feet makes the dock far more valuable and useful, with less dependence on peak tides to get enough water over the blocks. Eventually, it should result in a substantial growth of shipyard business, especially as it seems that more and more vessels are in need of refit.

The project was carried out gradually over a two-year period by the shipyard itself under the direction of Perry Holmes and his staff. The design, plans, underwater work, machine elements, and chains were provided by Crandali Dry Dock Engineers, Inc. of Dedham, Mass.

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 12, Jul 1981

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Maritime Reporter

First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.