Ship lifting from dry dock
Lifting a special shaped ferry from a dry dock without damaging it. Commissioned by Stena Line, Holmatro supplied locknut cylinders and Vari pumps.
Commissioned by: Stena Line
Location:
Situation
Stena Line is a major Northern European company which operates several roll-on roll-off ferries. Stena Line has a fleet of 35 vessels and an extensive route network in Europe, consisting of 18 ferry routes spread across the geographic markets Scandinavia, Irish Sea and North Sea.
Challenge
How to lift a special shaped ship from and place it back into a dry dock without damaging it? That is the question Stena Line was faced with regarding its ferryboats from the HSS 1500 series. These ships are massive catamarans, made of aluminium and epoxy. They weigh 3.140 tons, have a length of 110 meters, a width of 40 meters and a draught of 4.5 meters.
Solution
Stena Line developed a special method which involves a hydraulic lifting system designed by Holmatro.
Inside the dry dock Stena Line built 10 concrete towers (height 10 m, ø 2 m), in 2 rows of 5. On top of each tower: a steel carrying frame with a wooden covering mounted on 4 locknut cylinders. The ship is manoeuvred very precisely above the towers after which the dock is slowly emptied. The moment the ship’s bottom, in between both floats, nearly touches the towers, the plungers of all 40 hydraulic cylinders are pushed out. The cylinders are operated from the quay by means of 3 Vari pumps. Dependent the reading of the pressure gauge each cylinder plunger is pumped out just until the carrying frame touches the bottom of the ship. The remaining water is pumped out of the dock and the ship is resting on the cylinders. The load is mechanically locked with the locknuts on the plungers. Secured and in an empty dock the ship is now ready for major repairs. And after being serviced the ship is launched smoothly back into the water in reverse order. Secured and in an empty dock the ship is now ready for major repair work. And after being serviced the ship is launched smoothly back into the water in reverse order.
Read more about locknut cylinders
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