Drydocks in the UK - Assignment Example

Technically, a drydock is “a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform”. Drydocks have been used for the construction , maintenance, and repair of water vehicles such as ships, boats, and other types of watercraft. It is interesting to know that dry docks were invented in Egypt during the Ptolemaic Period sometime after 204 BC. However, someone from Phoenicia thought of a better method of launching a ship which is by creating a trench under the ship. (1)wikiopedia The size of the trench must be the same with the length of the ship and preferably close to the harbor for obvious purposes. Amazingly, manual labor was very much involved during that time where able-bodied men helped in bringing in the ship. An engine known as organois was used in draining the water, allowing the vessel to be supported by cross-beams.(cite) Because of this, dry docks are considered part of inventions belonging to the classical period. Nevertheless, dry docks also were used in China during the Song Dynasty. Obviously, dragon ships during that time which carried imperial couches were made of solid wood. Because of this material, there was a need to repair the wooden hulls since it decayed quickly. It was only in a later period that some wise official suggested the concept of a dry dock. In another part of the world, Henry VIII commissioned the first dry dock was built in Portsmouth in 1495. In modern times, the drydock at Belfast , Ireland was once the biggest drydock in the world. While in the United States, Northrop Grumman Newport News Shipbuildings Dry Dock 12 is considered the largest, situated closely to the slipway where the unlucky Titanic was constructed. Due to the competitive maritime industry, more dry docks have been constructed on many parts of the world. According to the April issue of Maritime, the largest dry dock in the world is now located at Ulsan, South Korea. It was described by the article as : “….490 meters (1,600 feet) long, 115 meters across and 13.5 meters deep, Hyundai has announced that it now has the world’s largest drydock. Imagine an area roughly the size of 7 soccer fields and that is what you would see at the new H-Dock in Ulsan, South Korea.  The dock is custom designed to build floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels and includes two 1,600ton goliath cranes.  Traditionally FPSO’s hull sides and topside are built separately. The hull is built in a ship building drydock and then transported to a quay for topside installation. This method is time consuming and makes the use of a crane very difficult.  Because of this, Hyundai received a staggering $1.6 Billion for the project commissioned by the Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd. However, the more important achievement is the ability to utilize the H-Dock type which boosts efficiency by 15% thereby shortening the project by as much as one month. TYPES OF DRYDOCK The first type of drydock ( known also as the graving dock ) is simply a narrow basin constructed out of concrete. Gates or caisson are used to close the drydock when a vessel is floated whenever water is pumped out. Caisson are actually watertight structures that have been used in geotechnical engineering to aid in the construction of a dam, lay foundation of a bridge, or ship repair. There are different types of caisson also such as shallow caisson or pneumatic caisson which can be used depending on the purpose. Blocks of different types such as keel blocks and bilge blocks are laid on the floor as determined by the “docking plan”. It must be emphasized however that not all dry docks have the same function – it can be used to repair ship or building humongous ships . In the military, such as the Navy, dry docks have served one crucial purpose: repair ships that have been damaged in battle. Many dry docks have found their place in history for they were instrumental during a war example of which is the St. Nazaire Raid in World War II. Another type of dry dock is known as the marine railway. In this type, the blocks are mounted on skid which is lowered into the water using rails. Chains or line bring up the the skid with the vessel on the blocks. Interestingly, past types of this dry dock used horses to provide power for the railway.  As compared to graving docks or floating docks, this type has less lifting power. Currently modern dry docks are box-shaped so as to accommodate the box designs of modern ships. This box shape has a lot of advantages since it is easier to construct, support on the sides and require less water that had to be pumped. Floating dry docks Unlike modern dry docks which arte box-shaped, this type of dock is U-shaped . Moreover, this dock can be sunk to allow the ships to enter and then positioned. Afetr the ship has settled inside, the water from ballast tanks is pumped thus causing the dock to rise and meet the ship. The ship is slowly lifted out of the water caused by the upward motion of this type of dock. Hence, the ship is now “floating”. A main advantage of this type of dock is that it can be towed to almost any location. It can also possibly lift a damaged ship that has an excessive trim. An example of a remarkable dry dock is that of the 80 000 Floating Dry dock built by Gotaverken Arendal AB, in 1979. Its main purpose was to handle the massive nuclear powered icebreakers in the Arctic region of the USSR. This floating dry dock met the complicated requirements of handling a nuclear power plant aside from ship repair and maintenance. IMPORTANCE OF DRY DOCKS The importance of dry-docks are of economic significance. In the case of Hawaii in 2005, dry-docking cruise ships was fervently pursued since passengers disembarking from the ship would boost the local economy. Tourist activity would boost the sales of hotels, restaurants and other allied services in the area. In New York City, the graving dock that was used by IKEA as parking lot created an outcry . The news report by the New York Post in 2008 revealed that the city government would lose between $50 million to $150 million in revenues in a five-year period. Ironically, the study also revealed that the city needed more seven more dry docks. The income from the existing dry docks are sizeable since they generate around $2 billion dollars. Incidentally in 2008, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayen, Chairman of Dubai World made a visit to the Nanindah and Graha shipyards at Batam in Indonesia, and Singapore. The mentioned dry docks are the latest addition to Drydocks World SE Asia which is in charge of ship building and repair as well as rig building and conversion. It contains no less than 29 building berths and 8 floating docks. Even the operations is massive since it employs an average of 20,000 people which provides employment . More important is the fact that these dry docks are strategically located on the middle of busy seaways and close to expanding offshore oil and gas developments. The current goal of Dry docks world is to gain China , Vietnam, Thailand , and India. What drives the rapid expansion of Drydocks World? Nothing less than the revenue of $1.5B in one year, not a bad motivation at all which is the reward of global expansion. Development in the Middle East In 2007, UAE had inaugurated the extension of Dubai Dry docks. The main target of the said dry dock is the commissioning of giant ships as well as oil tankers that would contribute to the economy. According to Drydocks World Dubai, which has been in operation for 25 years, the facility handles an average of 400 vessels in a year, most of them ULCCs (Ultra Large Crude Carriers) and VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carriers). However, other countries in the Middle East has taken interest in this business and one of them is the rich state of Qatar. Qatar’s resource is its black gold, literally “fueling” the economy. It is a member of the OPEC ( Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and produces vast amount of oil. According to Qatar Energy Data, it is the world’s third largest source of natural gas reserves . Because of this, revenues from the oil and natural gas sectors amount to 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product ( GDP). Even in Qatar, energy consumption derives mainly from natural gas ( 79%) which makes Qatar a very rich country. Qatar has also started constructing its dry docks as early as 2005 which would be operational by 2012.It is predicted that 5000 ships a year would be serviced by the said facility which would make Las Raffan the largest hydrocarbon port. This large ship repair and dry-dock facility is expected to have state-of-the art equipment that would even surpass existing modern dry docks. The main partner of the aforementioned dry dock is Singapore-based Keppel Offshore and Marine. By its opening in 2010 , it would be the world’s largest dry dock that can possibly procure 60 tankers including very large crude carriers. This dry dock is considered as an extension only to the Ras Laffan port which has been operational since 1996. This port is the only gateway for Qatar’s main earner- the LNG ( liquefied natural gas ) produced from the North Field which is a massive offshore that holds more than 900 Tcf of proven natural gas reserves. According to OGJ( Oil Gas Journal) Qatar’s proven natural gas reserves stood at 910.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) as of January 2007, about 15 percent of total world reserves and the third-largest in the world behind Russia and Iran . In fact, its operational LNG berths is considered as the world’s main LNG exporting facility. It is for this very reason that the construction of the dry dock would accelerate the profit of the country derived from LNG. In 2006, it has surpassed Indonesia in exporting LNG. Another milestone was achieved in March 2007when RasGas completed its fifth LNG production train that contributed to Qatar an annual 1.5 Tcf liquefaction capacity. This would translate to additional revenue for the country. Over-all, dry docks have been existent since the Egyptian Period. It is as old as the maritime industry yet the latest innovation in this field has generated billions of revenues to those who engage in this business. Dry docks are not just structures used to repair ships but also significant source of income, more importantly, symbol of a nation’s progress. Read More