Technology

(a)        Ship repair and marine engineering; Except in the case of emergency repair works, the vessel/ship owners have adequate lead time to plan when to send the vessel/ships for repair. Adequate technical data are provided to the shipyard to determine the scope or specification required before any repair works is finalised and agreed by the two parties. Once the scope of required repair work is finalised and the schedule is fixed, the required parts are ordered and the required team of workers are arranged in advance for the proper execution of the agreed job. 

(b)        Dry Dock ; To ensure their seaworthiness, most ships are required to be dry docked twice every five years. Some ships may have dry docking postponed or the intermediate dry docking waived by performing an Under Water Inspection in Lieu of Dry docking (UWILD).

Dry docking a ship is a complex task. Ships are normally heavy and the weight      needs to be spread evenly to the dock. While a ship is floating the pressure holding the ship afloat is spread throughout the entire underwater hull. While in dry dock the load is spread among wood blocks. There are also interferences such as transducers and irregularities such as flare at the bow. In order to dry dock the ship, the dock master must be aware of the characteristics of the ship’s bottom and its weight distribution. Therefore ships carry a docking plan, which specifies where the blocks are to be placed, the angle of the side blocks and the height of the side blocks. It also lists where transducers, sea chests, tail shafts, and other items are located.

The proposed shipyard will have the following types of dry dock:

(i)         Graving Dock: A graving dock is a channel cut out of a basin or river in which a caisson is placed in front of the opening and water is pumped out. As the water is pumped out the ship is lowered on to the blocks. This type of dock can handle the largest of vessels.

(ii)        Marine Railway: This type of dock has blocks mounted on a skid, which is lowered into the water on rails. The ship is positioned and chains or line haul up the skid with the vessel on the blocks. These railways typically do not have as much lifting power as a graving dock or a floating dry dock and suits only smaller vessels.

(iii)       Floating Drydock: This type of dock is U-Shaped and can be sunk to allow the vessel to enter and be positioned. When the ship is in position the water in the ballast tanks of the dock is pumped out and the dock rises to meet the ship. The ship is then lifted out of the water by the upward motion of the dock. This type of dock typically can lift heavier ships than the railway but not as heavy as a graving dock. The benefits of this dock are that it can be towed anywhere in the world and that it can be ballasted to lift a damaged ship with an excessive list or trim.

(c)        Fabrication: Initially, the Project will focus on fabrication of jack-up vessels. Typically, these are floating barges fitted with long support legs that can be raised or lowered. The jack-ups are manoeuvred (self-propelled or by towing) into location with its legs up and the hull floating on the water. Upon arrival at the work location, the legs are jacked down onto the seafloor. Jack-up rigs can only be placed in relatively shallow waters, generally less than 400 feet (120 m) of water. However, specialized class of jack-up rigs known as premium or ultra-premium jack-ups are known to have operational capability in water depths ranging from 500 to 625 feet.

The shipyard will fabricate the jack-ups based on pre-agreed design, which on completion will be fitted to a ship. In such as case, the shipyard will cut, bend, and weld, steel sheets and plates to form the jack-ups.