Todd To Move 'Frisco Drydock, $40-Million Syncrolift Being Built For Los Angeles Yard

Todd Shipyards Corp., San Francisco, Calif., said it plans to move one of the drydocks from its San Francisco yard to its Seattle facility in February or March.

The company will transfer a floating drydock that has a lift of 40,000 tons, leaving San Francisco with a drydock that can handle 9,000 tons.

Todd's 'Frisco yard mainly handles ship repair and conversions, while the Seattle yard has a building backlog that includes some 13 Navy frigates.

Clifford E. Jones, Todd vice president of resources, said construction has also begun on a new Syncrolift for the Los Angeles yard. The Todd Syncrolift, from Pearlson Engineering Co., Miami, Fla., will be the largest shiplift in the world. It will have a lifting platform 655 feet long by 106 feet wide, and will be able to handle vessels up to 48,000 dwt. In addition to the Syncrolift platform, the facility will include an onshore transfer area which will accommodate five maximum sized vessels simultaneously.

This $40-million facility will be a flat platform with an elevator that can be lowered into the water. Ships are floated over the elevator and lifted in a cradle, which can be moved on rollers or by another transfer system.

Todd said the main advantage of the design is that five or six ships, depending on size, can be served at once, compared to traditional drydocks that handle one at a time.

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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.