A lecture on Dry docking

Developed by Capt. Manish Singh

A lecture on
Dry
Docking
Capt . Manish Singh

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A lecture on Dry docking

Developed by Capt. Manish Singh

Dry docking

What is dry docking :Well simply put, it is docking the vessel in such a way so as to
expose all the wetted area for inspection , repair and
maintenance. Obviously this will also be a good time to
undertake the maximum repairs and inspection jobs. This is a
period when the vessel is docked in a facility which is best
equipped for all hull and machinery jobs and therefore all major
inspections are also scheduled during this operation
The dry dock is not required by SOLAS , MARPOL , TONNAGE OR
LOADLINE conventions. It is actually a CLASS society
requirement. This is to conduct the docking survey as per the
classification society. The docking survey is part of the periodical
survey conducted by the classification society in order to
maintain the vessel in class. The docking surveys are conducted
by the class societies surveyors.
The durations within which to conduct the dry dock are as
follows:-

For ships of up-to 15 years age (before the 3 rd special

survey ) 2 dry docks in each window of 5 years
The duration between above two surveys will be at-least 2
years and maximum 3 years.
For ships over 15 years of age (beyond the 3 rd special
survey ) dry dock every 2 years.

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A lecture on Dry docking

Developed by Capt. Manish Singh

The areas of greatest interest in a dry dock inspection are :

Shell plating
Side shell coating
Stern frame
Rudder
Propeller
Sacrificial anodes / ICCP arrangement
Logs and echo sounder transducer
Anchor and cable
Chain locker
Sea suctions and chests
Bilge keel and fittings

Personnel involved in a dry docking :

Ships officers
Managers superintendent
Ship repair manager ( from Dry dock)
Class societys surveyor / surveyors
Repair foremen
Paint companys representative (the company whos
paint you will use on your hull)
Sub-contractors representative ( eg. Radio or
automation company for specific jobs )

In case the dry dock is following a damage or accident

then it will be necessary for a H&M underwriter and the
owners P&I correspondent to also attend.

Before you proceed to the next section you must at this

time be able to understand the need for dry docking of
vessels and the personnel involved.
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A lecture on Dry docking

Developed by Capt. Manish Singh

Preparation for a dry dock

A run up to the dry dock. You must learn to see dry dock preparation not as a
result but as a process which is always going on. As soon as you have come
out of one DD, you will start noting effects for next one. But generally
following is the sequence followed: Vessel will maintain a running defect list.
The defects which warrant attendance in the dry dock will
be moved to a dry dock file.
The contents of the dry dock repairs is updated to include all
the particulars and plans relevant to the repair or
maintenance.
Basis of the current contents of the dry docking file , a
consolidated initial Dry dock specification will be generated.
This copy is considered both by ships officers as well as the
managers superintendent.
With due review of the specs, they are finalized and
forwarded to various dry docks for raising quotations.
Basis of the vessels operating area and availability of
dock ,,also most importantly ,,the tenders submitted by the
various dry docks ,,the vessel is booked for dry dock in a
particular period.
Charterers are informed and the vessel is arranged to go out
of employment for the period it is to be in the dry dock.
It is common for most ship owners to maintain patronage
with a particular group of dry docks and try to arrange the
employment of their vessels in such a fashion that they may
disengage and proceed for dry dock without wasting too
much time in transit.
Ships plans are forwarded to the dry dock in advance.
A docking plan is discussed.
Keel blocks are laid as per the vessels docking plan.
Stability calculations are prepared prior arriving at the dry
dock.
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A lecture on Dry docking

Developed by Capt. Manish Singh

In consultation with the dry dock the docking trim is agreed

upon.
Structural features of the ship are considered.

ORALS question for Class room discussion

How will you dry dock a vessel with a damaged stern ??

When the vessel is taking to the blocks , it suddenly takes a big list.
What will you do in this event ???

What plans will you forward to the dry dock authorities prior
arriving ??

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A lecture on Dry docking

Developed by Capt. Manish Singh

Common dry dock jobs:-

Hull cleaning
Hull painting
Hull markings renewal
Anode replacement
Structural repairs
Propeller cleaning and polishing
Rudder and shaft drop measurement
Inspection of transducers
Inspection of bottom plugs
Anchor ranging and marking
Chain locker demucking
Ballast tank demucking
Fuel tank inspection
Close up surveys of cargo and ballast spaces
Structural modifications
All other jobs which are labour and facility intensive
Common services required when in the dry dock
Docking assistance
Access to vessel (as own gangway will be
unusable)
Shore power (as generators will be overhauled)
Shore crane for heavy items
Oxygen and gas lines for gas cutting
Welding connections for steel renewals
Fire main to remain pressurized (own pump
unusable)
Portable eductors and pumps for emptying
unpumpables
compressed air for miscellaneous jobs
communication facilities
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A lecture on Dry docking

Developed by Capt. Manish Singh

medical and safety facilities

garbage reception facilities
Shore water supply
Sewage connection or reception facilities
Ballast water prior dock flooding on departure.

Before you proceed to the next section you must at this

time be able to enumerate the common dry dock jobs to
attend and the kind of services that the vessel will require
from the dock.
Specific guidance on hull maintenance:
When asking for quotations for hull fabric maintenance it is necessary to make an
accurate assessment of corrosion on the side shell and also the area of various sectors as
follows:-

Formulae for Accessing area

underwater area = [ (2X Keel to waterline + Breadth ] X LBP X block
co.eff
also :- Wetted area = 2.58 X displacement X LOA
Underwater Vertical sides area = (2 X Keel to waterline) X LCB X
(Breadth / 2)
Dry vertical side area = 2 X Freeboard X { LOA +( Breadth/2)}
Boot top strip = 2 X Bw X {LBP + (breadth /2)}
Flat bottom = u/w area wetted vertical sides (as calculated above)

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A lecture on Dry docking

Developed by Capt. Manish Singh
In contemporary use and practical application it is common for vessel to be provided with
a paint manual which will include all above information about the vessel and same may
be referred for raising quotations.
When noting the area to be grit blasted a set of reference cards are used. Each card has a
picture of a surface with corrosion. It is marked as 5% surface corroded, 10% surface
corroded, 20% surface corroded etc..

The officer breaks up the surface of the ships hull into sectors as
follows:-

Aft topside
STERN

Mid-ship top side

Forward topside
BOW

Boot top area .forward 1/3rd , mid 1/3rd , aft 1/3rd

Vertical side . forward 1/3rd , mid 1/3rd , aft 1/3rd

Assessing corroded surface area on the hull

Reference
card

The corrosion on the ship side

as seen by the ships officer
evaluating

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A lecture on Dry docking

Developed by Capt. Manish Singh

Once the area corroded is established we do the following:

Area corroded + 10% = area to grit blast
If area to blast is > 65% of total area then might as well grit blast the whole
with almost same expense.
One of the major expenses during a dry docking is the hull cleaning, grit
blasting and coating. For this purpose the owners engage a particular paint
company. It is usual for the company to send a paint manager to attend to the
whole process. His job is to monitor surface preparation , cleaning and
painting process. It must be ensured that panting is not done in conditions of
excessive relative humidity (air temp should ideally be 3 to 5 degrees above
the dew point of the air )
The area which has been blasted will be touched up with a first coat which
will overlap up-to 10% beyond the blasted area. The second coat will
overlap 20% of the blasted area. The whole process of mixing and preparing
paints and also application renders about 10 to 20 % wastage and this should
be accounted for when ordering paints.
The touch dry and curing times of various layers must be well
understood.

Before you proceed to the next section you must at this

time be able to understand how to calculate the surface
area to blast and paint.
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A lecture on Dry docking

Developed by Capt. Manish Singh

Stability considerations on docking and

undocking
When the vessel takes to the dry dock keel blocks it experiences an
upthrust on the point where the hull makes contact with the block. This
upthrust can be considered as the discharging of weights from that
point. You can understand that if we discharge weights from the bottom
of the vessel we shall cause the centre of gravity of the ship to rapidly
rise. Due to this rise in COG, there is a virtual loss of GM, which may
render the vessel in an unsafe , unstable condition if due regard is not
given to anticipate this loss of GM.
Vessel must have :

Adequate initial GM so that despite the loss of GM (apperant loss )

the vessel shall still have residual positive GM and remain in stable
equilibrium )
Must have minimum trim (preferably by stern ) to ensure not too
much upthrust is generated ( upthrust = trim at time of taking blocks
X MCTC )
Vessel must arrive upright to avoid any problems when taking to the
blocks
Appreciate that RM = (W-P) X GM sin heel P X KG sin heel )
hence have min GM required to have adequate RM to keep vessel
upright
Pre-empt all intermediate GM and drafts fwd and aft for the critical
period.
Pre-calculate the draft at the time that blocks are takes all over.

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A lecture on Dry docking

Developed by Capt. Manish Singh

Water line at time of taking to blocks

TRIM

Upthrust (P) = trim X MCTC

(In tons)

Excessive trim
= excessive up-thrust
= excessive load on the stern frame
=excessive loss in GM.
Hence a minimum or moderate trim must be arrived at for purpose of docking.
Also disposition of ballast for refloatation must be such that the trim on
refloataion is also not excessive to avoid the same problems. Here you must
appreciate that ballast has to be put back in the tanks by shore facilities to
allow refloatation trim to be achieved. As this is a paid facility owners will
press you to refloat with the minimum ballast. In this case the minimum ballast
to take will be such that the Main sea suction must be submerged on floatation
so that M/E cooling is achieved and further ballasting may be done by vessel.
The distribution of such ballast will again take into account the trim on
refloatation.

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A lecture on Dry docking

Developed by Capt. Manish Singh

Before you proceed to the next section you must at this

time be able to enumerate the precautions prior re-floating.

ORALS question for Class room discussion

Why does the dry dock have a declivity ???

What are the contents of a docking plan???

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