Our Gulf Coast dock injury attorneys would like to preface this brief discussion by emphasizing that with use of proper equipment as well as appropriate safety precautions and procures, injuries and fatalities resulting from ships tipping or overturning during dry docking and re-launching processes remain rare. But when such accidents do occur, the consequent injuries can be catastrophic.
Some ship repairs and maintenance procedures require that the ships’ keels, normally below the waterline, be lifted clear of the water so that workers can get to these surfaces and clean or repair them. Lifting a massive ship, designed to float and maneuver in water, free of its natural medium is a tricky process. The ship, normally buoyed and stabilized by the surrounding water, must be supported and balanced by other means.
One method involves the placement of “keel blocks,” lines, and workers to stabilize and guide the ship into its dry dock berth. Our Gulf Coast dock injury attorneys note that an experienced and well-qualified dock master is needed to supervise the complicated operation. Winches attached to cranes on nearby docks might be used to help position the heavy ship in its dry dock berth.
The trickiest and most dangerous part of the operation of dry-docking occurs when support is transferred from the buoying water to the dry dock keel blocks. If the strength of the blocks falls short of the needs, the ship might crush the blocks and overturn. If the foundations holding the steadying winches to the docks are inadequate, lines can snap, cranes can be pulled from their moorings, and again ships can turn over and crush workers who can’t possibly get away from the danger in time.
If the dry-docking operation is successful, the ship repairs and maintenance can begin. Once the hull is sufficiently restored, the ship might be re-launched and moved off to an “outfitting dock” for completion of the work. The re-launch from a dry dock berth might be from the end, from the side, or by flotation or flooding of the dry dock while the ship remains in place. Heavy drag chains help control the ship’s re-entry into its natural medium, the sea. Tugboats then guide the ship to its next berth.
Detailed planning and solid experience are necessary to safely re-launch a ship into the water. So many things might go wrong. Equipment might be flawed or of insufficient weight to control the ship. Inexperienced workers might make mistakes. Our Gulf Coast dock injury attorneys emphasize that if the ship loses its stability at any point during the dry-docking or re-launching processes, multiple injuries and fatalities could be the result.
To learn more about some of the dry docking methods most commonly used, read our Gulf Coast dock injury attorneys’ post discussing three of the most common dry docking means in use today.