Dry Dock
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- Heger Dry Dock Gets to Work on AFDM for U.S. Navy Maritime Reporter, Jan 2023 #32
Born in 1998 and celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2023, Heger Dry Dock holds a unique position as one of the few engineering firms in the world dedicated to the design and lifecycle engineering of drydocks, primarily floating dry docks. Premal Shah, P.E., President and Principal Engineer, discussed some of the company’s recent contract wins with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News.
Specializing in the design and lifecycle maintenance of floating dry docks, Heger Dry Docks was founded 25 years ago, and still run today by one of its co-founders, Bob Heger. “We are experts in floating dry dock designs,” said Shah. “We're a design and engineering company and we deal with dry docks; about 90% of our work deals with floating dry docks.”
While all of its business is in the U.S., it has experience internationally, designing drydocks for customer that have had them built outside the country. “There is simply not enough capacity in the U.S. shipyards to build something large [like a drydock],” said Shah. “Most of the larger shipyards in the U.S. are busy building Navy ships, so they don't want to take time away from their workforce to build a one-off dry dock. So most of our large designs get built elsewhere outside of the U.S.”
While the capability to build the drydocks lies mostly outside of the U.S., Shah estimates there is a high demand for the units in the U.S., a “shortage of dry docks.” A strong driver recently has been the U.S. Navy and its shipyard infrastructure optimization program (SIOP), which is working to identify – and help alleviate – bottlenecks that it sees in the coming 20 to 30 years, particularly as it embarks on a substantial shipbuilding program through 2035.
“They've essentially started these massive programs, billions of dollars of funding allocated to the four main shipyards: Portsmouth Naval, Norfolk Naval, Puget Sound, and Pearl Harbor: and they're initiating all these efforts to build new dry docks,” said Shah.
While graving drydocks have a much longer life span, with units built in the 1920s and after still active, they represent mammoth civil engineering projects with similarly sized mammoth budgets in dollars and manpower. A floating drydock has a much more modest life-span – 50 years or more if properly maintain, but a similarly sized floating unit is much cheaper.
Photo courtesy Heger Drydock“The main driver is the cost. Let's say you're setting up a shipyard from ground zero and you want to invest in a dry dock that can lift a substantial capacity vessel,” said Shah. “A graving dry dock is 10 to 15 times more expensive than a floating dry dock. From a capital investment perspective, it makes more sense to have a floating dry dock.”
“I can't remember the last time anybody designed or built a graving dry dock for a commercial yard,” said Shah. “But the Navy, of course, can afford them, and they're looking for longevity.” He notes that most of the Navy yards do not operate a floating dry dock.
Depending on vessel size, there are other options to dry dock a vessel, with travel lifts, ship lifts and marine railways offering solutions. But if you are targeting vessels in your business model that are over 10,000 tons, “your only options are a floating dry dock or a graving dry dock,” said Shah.
Heger Dry Dock has a long list of projects and clients over the past 25 years, but a more recent contract to build a U.S. Navy asset, an Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock Medium (AFDM), is keeping the company busy. Measuring 700 x 160 ft. with a lifting capacity of 18,000 long tons, the AFDM will be designed to accommodate destroyers, cruisers, the new LCS type vessels which are homeported in and around San Diego.
“There were a bunch of them [drydocks] built in the 1930s and 1940s, and there were some other smaller dry docks built in the 1960s,” said Shah. “But nobody has designed or built an AFDM or any kind of floating dry dock for the Navy in the past 40-plus years.”
Heger Dry Dock were recently awarded a new AFDM design project along with its design-build partner in Mobile Alabama, Austal USA. “So we're designing this AFDM, which is a significant project for us because nobody has done this in a few decades,” said Shah.
When built at Austal in Mobile, the AFDM will be located at the naval base in San Diego.
“Once it's all done, it will be a huge feather in our cap, because a privately held company has not designed a floating dock for the Navy in many decades,” said Shah.
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- Inland Drydocks: Location, Location, Location Marine News, May 2018 #54
A recent dry dock rehab project in Chicago provides new options and money saving opportunities for inland and Great Lakes stakeholders alike.From software to steel plating, Indiana-based TPG Marine Enterprises provides a range of services in the Great Lakes and inland waterways markets. River based tug and
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- Dry Dock Conference 2014 Maritime Reporter, Aug 2014 #52
Scheduled for December 1-2, 2014 in New Orleans Dry Dock Conference 2014 is the eighth in a series of international Conferences held every two to three years. This year’s conference will be held December 1-2, 2014 in New Orleans. Among the highlights of the upcoming New Orleans’ conference will be a
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- Grand Bahama Shipyard: Investing in the Future Maritime Reporter, Sep 2016 #18
customer demand by upgrading workshops, purchasing new machinery and tooling, as well as expanding its wet berth capabilities to relieve pressure off dry dock utilization and move vessels out of dry dock and into service faster. In all, GBSL invested in three key pieces of equipment in January of 2016.
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- International Appeal With Local Customer Service Feel Maritime Reporter, Jan 2001 #33
A tlantic Marine Inc and Atlantic / 1 Dry Dock Corp have forged an enviable reputation around the JL JLglobe in all aspects of vessel construction, conversion and repair. The yards offer ship owners modern physical facilities, technical capabilities and organizational experience, and are conveniently
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- Pictou Industries Completes Third Enlargement Of Crandall R a i l w a y Drydock Maritime Reporter, Jan 1989 #46
currently under the management of Canadian Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited, who also manage facilities at Thunder Bay and Port Weller Dry Dock on the Great Lakes. According to Crandall Dry Dock Engineers, if a railway drydock is initially well designed it not only allows security and
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- Senesco Marine Christens New Drydock Maritime Reporter, Nov 2003 #29
Senesco Marine last month christened its new dry dock and celebrated the dry dock's receipt of a key certification that has already significantly increased the company's repair business. The certification bestowed upon the Leslie G by Heger Dry Dock, Inc, of Holliston, Mass., now allows the shipyard t
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- Signal International Maritime Reporter, Aug 2013 #50
offers new construction, rig and ship repair, offshore and technical services. Marine construction and repair needs are complimented by three dry docks; a 30,000-ton lift rig dock, a 22,000-ton Panamax dry dock and a 4,500-ton lift dry dock. In Mobile, Ala., Signal Ship Repair (SSR) offers 4
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- Port Of Portland's Drydock —Largest On West Coast— Arrives At Swan Island Yard Maritime Reporter, Nov 1978 #6
million authorized. The effect may be that the project could come off the tax rolls in two years, instead of the three to five predicted. In the new Dry Dock 4, the Port of Portland will have the largest floating drydock on the U.S. West Coast, and the third largest in the world. The new dock will
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- Dry Dock Association Elects Massa President Maritime Reporter, Jun 15, 1977 #50
Alfred C. Bruggemann, outgoing president of the New York and New Jersey Dry Dock Association, has announced the election of Robert L. Massa as president for the new term. Mr. Massa was born and educated on Staten Island, N.Y., and attended Wagner College and Rutgers University. After serving his
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- Rules For Floating Dry Dock Construction Published By ABS Maritime Reporter, Jul 1977 #4
A new Rule book, "Rules for Building and Classing Steel Floating Dry Docks," has been published by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). The Rules apply to floating dry docks over 61 meters (200 feet) in length, but can be applied, subject to special considerations, to smaller structures. The
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- Streamlined Service for the Offshore Sector Marine News, May 2014 #53
to an equally vibrant offshore oil and gas industry and its support sector. The ABC’s of High Blocking Signal Ship Repair (SSR) has the ability to dry dock up to 600 foot vessels draughting over 24 feet of water on 12 foot blocks. While the standard blocking is six feet, the high blocking scenario gives
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 42, and the launch of a new high amperage subsea connector se- ries, the 225 Amp BIRNS Meridian line. The Meridian line, a robust, custom engineered dry-mate connector series is open face rated to 6km, and is well-suited for battery packs and thrusters for crewed and uncrewed subsea vehicles that re- quire
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March 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 35. ing one generally involves some measure of trade-off. ? Lithium Polymer (LiPo): A lower cost version of the Lithium-ion battery. A LiPo battery uses a dry, thin electro- ? Battery Packs: Soldering directly to batteries may lyte polymer separator sheet laminated between the anode damage the cell. Batteries
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 41operator Tokyo Kisen. Oldendorff Carri- for 2024, including return customers faced by their watchkeepers at sea. In the ers, one of the world’s leading dry bulk looking to roll out Groke Pro across their future, we are planning to build guidance owners and operators, has also joined us. ? eet. We see
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 38Tech Files Latest Products, Systems and Ship Designs Zero-Emission Mooring Service of a Tanker Consulmar achieved a milestone by executing what it calls ing boat Castalia, which operates on full electric propulsion. the world's ? rst zero-emissions mooring service for a tanker. Equipped with two 150 kW
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 31CRANES & OFFSHORE WIND Cadeler’s new NG-20000X class vessels will have 2,600t cranes, and its new NG-20000F class vessel will have a 3,200t crane. Similar new vessels for Havfram will have a crane of approximately 3,200t, as will Van Oord’s KNUD E. HAN- SEN-designed newbuilding currently being built in
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 29RADM PHILIP SOBECK, MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND U.S. Navy photo by Bill Mesta/released U.S. Navy photo by Ryan Carter Rear Adm. Philip Sobeck, Commander, United States Navy’s Military Sealift Command, visits USNS Patuxent (T-AO 201) for a tour of the ship at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., November 20, 2023.
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 28FEATURE INTERVIEW track missiles and warheads for the Mis- sile Defense Agency, and it travels with its support ship, the MV Hercules. For our Service Support ships, we have the two hospital ships, USNS Mer- cy and Comfort; two rescue and salvage ships; two submarine tenders; and the Sixth Fleet ?
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 27place. We’re replenishment oilers, with more on the way. We have 14 Lew- hoping that makes things easier for our people, and that it is and Clark class dry cargo and ammunition ships that deliver will help us to retain them. Unfortunately, we can’t guaran- ammo, food, parts and fuel. We have two big fast
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 25RADM PHILIP SOBECK, MILITARY SEALIFT COMMAND Photo by Brian Suriani USN Military Sealift Command From a global supply chain perspective, What makes MSC so vital to the we’ve learned a lot about dealing with Navy’s ? eet and our military disruptions. COVID delivered a big forces around the world? wake-up
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 23offshore wind; and the foreign ? ag Maersk supply WTIV at Seatrium Singapore, together with U.S. ? ag feeder ATBs for transportation and installation of the Empire Wind. Three newbuild SOVs and three conversions/retro? ts were award- ed, too, and 22 CTVs were also announced. The ? rst US rock installa
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 15hydro-acoustic design of a propulsor that delays cavitation meets its underwater noise limits. This will require specialized inception and cavitating area. The third approach should be test sites or specialized mobile underwater testing equipment. isolation mounting of a vibro-active equipment and
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April 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 13from gasoline to methanol, but compared to just buying an EV After some pondering, I think I can reduce it to this logi- today that is a pointless exercise. It would actually make more cal sequence: sense to buy a plug-in hybrid that is con? gured for methanol It is the carbon. We want zero carbon as
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April 2024 - Marine News page: 37Feature Electric Tugs could change down the road. “What do we really need an In San Diego, eWolf’s transits will typically run 20-30 engineer to do? There are no moving parts. So, how does minutes, “not the optimal operation to really see a lot of that [role] change? How does that change where we work?
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April 2024 - Marine News page: 30Feature Shipbuilding Crowley Crowley’s electric tug eWolf, built by Master Boat Builders. Administration (MARAD) put a cost of $97 million on the ulatory ? lings, the vessel “is expected to be delivered and vessel. The same yard has also been contracted to build an operational in 2025.” Filings with
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April 2024 - Marine News page: 29engines from Caterpillar. Another in the series, Isabel McAllister, will be delivered in 2024. Construction of new vessels for the offshore wind markets has fallen short of the boom times forecast only several years ago amid calls for “30 by 30” (30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore power gen- erated by
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April 2024 - Marine News page: 13want to make sure that that renewal cycle goes smoothly quirements which then leads to different interpretations and ef? ciently, that the process of dry docking and all of and different outcomes. We appreciate the Coast Guard that goes ef? ciently and, again, with a risk-based approach. taking steps
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February 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 36fuel prices (far less for new fuels). Michael D. Chris- ery and an optimized hull and cargo design, the company’s two tensen, VP Global Sales, Dry Cargo Vessels at ABB, is seeing newbuild self-discharging bulk carriers were projected to cut greater take up on bulker newbuilds, but not yet across
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February 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 31it was the overriding bearing material migrating through the lubrication system. theme at Sea Asia.” Rudder, propeller and shaft needed to be removed in dry dock However, insurer Gard remains concerned about EAL fail- before the required repairs could be completed. ure, and company analysts voiced them in
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February 2024 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News page: 14coating is then studied to determine Greensea IQ van used if any scratching or other mechanical damage has occurred, for remote operations of and the dry ? lm thickness is calculated and compared against EverClean robot ? eet. the readings following application. With this information, shipowners can
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February 2024 - Marine News page: 40catamaran from Gladding-Hearn ZF model 8000. Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation for passenger service be- The ferry will be tween Key West and the Dry Tortugas National Park. The new equipped with an vessel will replace Yankee Freedom III, a 250-passenger cata- Atlantic Detroit maran built for the
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February 2024 - Marine News page: 20Column Washington Watch Will 2024 Settle the Turbulence of US Offshore Wind? By Jeff R. Vogel, Shareholder, Cozen O’Connor’s Transportation & Trade Group There is no denying that “commercial conditions driven by in? ation, interest that 2023 was a challenging year for the U.S. offshore wind rates and
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January 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 60SHOW PREVIEW OCEANOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 2024 All images courtesy Oceanology International • ANB Sensors, developers of revolutionary, calibration updates on information, meeting customers, meeting poten- free pH sensors for ocean monitoring; tial suppliers, hearing what’s happening in the industry – you •
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January 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 59All images courtesy Oceanology International participants and to deliver another packed three days of exhi- Oi24 Events and Features bition and conference activity, features, workshops and one- Oceanology International is able to capitalize on the advan- to-one meetings.” tages of ExCeL’s expansive 18
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January 2024 - Marine Technology Reporter page: 58SHOW PREVIEW OCEANOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 2024 All images courtesy Oceanology International Oi 2024 ceanology International 2024 (Oi24), arguably content across ? ve different conference locations. World-class the world’s biggest and best marine science, scientists, thought leaders and innovators in the