The Procedures of

Dry Docking a Ship

Introduction
The process is described as of a ship being dry-
docked in the graving dock type. In the case of the
other dock types, such as the floating dock, the
docking procedure is somewhat similar but it will vary
with the dock construction and may have its own
distinct features.
The ship's crew is involved in the dock entry and exit
along with the shipyard personnel. It is important that
they maintain contact with each other in order to
ensure smooth entry/exit. The ship's hief !fficer is
mostly responsible for these tasks.
There are many preparations that need to be made by
the shipyard as well as the ship owner before
docking. These include timing schedules so as to
avoid ariving with cargo on board or the ship ariving
when the dry dock is being used by another ship. The
process of docking and undocking must be conducted
with professionalism and must be cost effective for
both the ship owner as well as the shipyard. "nd as in
every operation, safety plays an important part.
The Undocking Procedure
#hen the docking work is near completion, the ships personnel as well
as the shipyard personnel will need to carry out their respective checks
on the vessel and around the dock area. !nce the ship has finished dry
docking it may not be immediately ready for normal trading. There are
many tests which must be carried out first. These tests engine tests and
sea trials and will be explained further in this section. The dry dock is
not the loading port of the ship and hence the ship would leave the dock
in the ballast condition on route to its loading port.
There are various duties and logs that need to be taken before and
when the ship is leaving the dock. These are summari$ed in the topics
descussed below%

Duties of the Chief Officer prior undocking
&nsure all the listed work is completed to a satisfactory standard. In
particular that all 'survey work' is completed, prior to leaving the dock.
To this end a final internal inspection of the vessel would be the order of
the day.
arry out an external inspection of the hull and enter the 'ry 'ock.
This final visit to the dock floor would also encompass the replacing of
any tank plugs that have been drawn. This task should not be deligated
to a (unior officer as the hief !fficer must sight all the tank plugs being
replaced.
The 'ry 'ock )anager would accompany the ship's hief !fficer on
final inspections and ensure that no vehicles, materials or personnel are
remaining in the dock, prior to commencing any flooding operation.
Inform the ship's )aster of the expected departure time and the crew
would be engaged in activities to make the vessel ready for sailing.
These activities would include odering the *avigator to plan the ships
movement from the dock, posting the sailing board and cancelling shore
leave, placing the engine room and respective personnel on standby,
carrying out checks on all navigation e+uipment and making relevant
entries into the deck and offical log books.
&nsure that a full set of tank soundings have been taken and that
ade+uate supplies of fresh water, fuel and lubricating oil are on board to
suit the ships movement needs. These tank +uantities would then be
applied to a complete stability check to ensure that the vessel has an
acceptable ,) once she floats clear of the keel blocks. -tability checks
are the sole responsibility of the ships personnel and comparison should
be made between the entry soundings when the vessel was last afloat.
"ll hatch covers would be closed up and the watertight integrity of the
uppermost deck assured. "nchors and cables would be heaved up and
stowed correctly aboard the vessel. "ll pipelines, power lines etc. would
need to be disconnected and relavent manpower should be made
available both ashore and aboard the ship in order to release these
safely and at the appropriate time.
Tugs, the marine pilot and linesmen would need to be ordered to
standby for the time of departure. -hips crew would be placed on
standby on the fore and aft ends to tend moorings.
.inally, the chief officer would sign the "uthority to .lood ertificate.
This is provided that he is satisfied that the 'ry 'ock "uthority has
completed the docking specification and that the ship is in a seaworthy
condition. This certificate should then be completed to allow the flooding
of the dock to commence.

The Undocking Process
/efore water is pumped into the dock, there are a few checks that
must be made. /ottom plugs must be closed and sea chests should be
in full working condition. "lso, ballasting of the ship must be done. This
is to ensure that the ship does not have an even keel draught 0the aft
draught is usually greater than the forward draught1.
The pump room, which is usually located at the forward end of the
dock controls the amount of water being pumped out of the dock. This is
also referred to as ballasting the dock.
The gangway is lifted sometimes by means of a crane once the dock
personnel have cleared the ship. .ire hydrants and all shore
connections are disconnected.
The forward and aft ends of the ship are attached to shore based
mooring lines which are winch controlled. " crane lifts these lines and
places them on the deck so that they can be attached. These help to
control the movement of the ship as it leaves the dock so as to ensure it
leaves smoothly.
#hen the level of seawater in the dry dock reaches the sea level, the
dock gates are opened.
" tug boat attaches a tug line to the aft end of the ship and begins to
pull the ship backwards 0out of the dock1. The shore based mooring
lines help to guide the ship smoothly out of the dock. "nother two
tugboats are on standby on either side of the ship.
!nce the ship is halfway out of the dock, the aft shore based mooring
lines are disconnected and the standby two tugboats attach themselves
to the ship by means of tug lines.
#hen the ship has cleared the dock gates, the front shore based
mooring lines are detached and the tug boats turn the ship around.
!nce the ship is some distance away from the dry dock, the tug lines
from all three tug boats are detached and the tug boats move away from
the ship. The propeller is then started and ship moves away on its own
propulsion.