Ships docks. Ships and docks. Strengthening the Marine Corps

Armament

Built ships

11 ships LPD 4-10, LPD 12-15

Type Austin(rus. "Austin") - American landing helicopter dock ships, which were in service in the US Navy from 1965 to 2015. A total of 11 ships of this type were produced, 1 was rebuilt into a command ship (USS Coronado 1966, AGF-11) and one order cancelled. For the long service life of ships of the type Austin participated in the Vietnam War, the Iran-Iraq conflict and later operations in the Persian Gulf.

General information

Landing ships of the US Navy are represented by several classes: LSD, LHA, LHD, And LPD. As a rule, all ships of this class have a spacious cargo compartment, the ability to load and transport ground equipment and personnel, and are also equipped to provide air support to the landing force. The relative differences between the main classes of landing ships are presented below (see table).

“Landing helicopter dock ship” (synonym - helicopter carrier) is a type of aircraft carrier specifically designed to carry helicopters and aircraft and therefore does not have aircraft take-off and landing equipment (catapults, landing cables). As a rule, it is also an anti-submarine or landing ship. An air group may have several aircraft with vertical or ultra-short take-off.

The founders of the helicopter carrier class are the United States. American and British helicopter carrier cruisers (including those transferred to France, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands) were created on the basis of light aircraft carriers, while Japanese ones were created from destroyers. Specialized helicopter carrier cruisers were also built by the USSR, France, and Italy. In addition to the United States, universal landing ships (LHA) have recently also been built by France (including for Russia), Spain (including for Thailand), Japan, South Korea, Australia (shared with Spain).

History of creation

Landing helicopter carriers appeared in the mid-1950s, influenced by the successful use of helicopters for landing marines during the Korean War of 1950-1953. Based on the results of the landing operations, the concept of “vertical coverage” was developed, which provided for the landing of the first wave of troops using helicopters, followed by the capture of enemy strongholds, and then the unhindered landing of the remaining troops and equipment. USS became the first amphibious helicopter carrier Thetis Bay(1944)(rus. "Tethys Bay", a Casablanca-class escort aircraft carrier, rebuilt in 1955-1956 to house transport helicopters and accommodate marine units. These big ships are capable of delivering from 900 to 2000 personnel with weapons and equipment to the combat area, have a docking chamber for landing small landing craft and a flight deck with a hangar for operations of landing helicopters, fire support helicopters and attack aircraft with airborne aircraft, and are also the headquarters for the control of the landing force operation.

Predecessors

Preceding type Austin type Releigh had several critical differences. Firstly, Releigh was somewhat smaller and, accordingly, could carry less cargo; secondly, on Releigh there was no helicopter hangar equipped.

Design

The earliest class (LSD) is primarily a means of transporting equipment and drugs. A helicopter deck is possible, but the ships are not equipped with either a hangar or air group support facilities. The main advantage of these ships is the ability to quickly and conveniently load military equipment straight from land through the gate leading to the dock.

The largest representatives (LHA and LHD) resemble mini-aircraft carriers with a large flight deck, a powerful air group and its support facilities, and a transport dock. They are capable of transporting up to half a battalion of expeditionary forces with full equipment and military equipment. At the same time, up to 30 helicopters and 6 IVVs can be based on LHA and LHD Harrier with fixed wings. Group if necessary Harrier could be increased to 20 aircraft. This subclass can also serve aviation equipment, based on other ships, for example, on LPD.

An intermediate option is landing helicopter dock ships (LPD), which includes the types Austin And San Antonio. They have a spacious dock, a large cargo bay and are already equipped with a fixed helideck and hangar, unlike the LSD.

Construction and testing

A total of 13 ships of the type were ordered Austin. LPD-11 was later completed as the command ship USS Coronado(AGF-11). The order for the construction of LPD-16 was canceled and, therefore, a total of 11 ships were built. Among ships of the type, I sometimes distinguish two separate subtypes, which have some design differences: subtype Cleveland and subtype Trenton.

Description of design

Frame

The main advantage of ships of this class is their significant capacity, carrying capacity, and the presence of a helicopter deck and hangar. During the landing, the stern of the ship is “sinked” and the stern gate of the well deck opens. Landing barges and boats transport equipment and medicine. Then the water from the docking chamber is pumped out, and the ship returns to its original state. When loading, the actions occur in the reverse order.

The ramps allow transport vehicles to pass between the flight deck, the helicopter stand and the well deck. Landing Transport Docks (LPDs) have shorter well decks than Landing Ship Docks (LSDs) and provide more space to accommodate landing craft. (The length of the docking chamber of the amphibious transport dock is 51.2 m, the length of the landing ship dock is 120 m, and the depth of both is 15.3 m). On ships like Austin Unlike its predecessors, there was already a hangar measuring 17.7-19.5 m in length and 5.6-7.3 m in width. The deck had 2 landing pads for helicopters.

Ships of the type with indexes LPD 7 - LPD 13 had a design difference in the form of an additional level on the bridge, since they were originally designed as flagships.

Booking

Transport ships are practically devoid of armor.

Power plant and driving performance

The ships of the type were equipped with 2 turbo-gear units De Laval and 2 steam boilers Babcock & Wicox driving 2 shafts with a total power of 24,000 hp. Maximum speed reached 20 knots.

Crew and habitability

The crew of ships of the type consisted of 410-447 people. The transports could carry 840-930 marines and 2,500 tons of cargo.

Armament

Ships of the type were equipped with automatic anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapons: 2×25-mm guns Mk 38, 2x Phalanx CIWS and 8 machine guns.50-cal.

Aviation weapons

The ships can accommodate up to six transport helicopters CH-46 Sea Knight. The helicopter platform is also used to receive vertical take-off and landing attack aircraft Sea Harrier.

Communications, detection, auxiliary equipment

View of the radar antenna SPS-40 installed on USS TRENTON(LPD-14)

The type ships were equipped with radar type SPS-40, surface detection system SPS-10F and air radar SPS-40C.

For direct landing of troops on the shore, one landing boat of the LCU or LCAC type, four boats of the LCM-8 type or nine of the LCM-6 type are intended, which are placed in a docking chamber during the sea crossing, 24 × AAV (see table).

Modernization and refurbishment

Twin 76 mm guns Mk 33 conduct training firing from the side Austin(LPD-4) in 1976.

Ships type Austin originally carried 8 x 75 mm guns in (4x2). In 1977-78 2 of them were dismantled, and in 1992-93 the remaining guns were also removed.

The lead BDK "Ivan Gren" was built at the Baltic shipyard "Yantar" in Kaliningrad and accepted into the Russian Navy on June 20, 2018. The Petr Morgunov landing ship under construction should begin testing no later than March 2019.

Background

Shipbuilding or shipbuilding is a branch of production engaged in the creation of various watercraft. Shipbuilding has existed since people first felt the need for transportation across bodies of water.
Modern ships are some of the most complex structures. The ship takes a long time to build and requires significant investment. Taking into account related industries, shipbuilding provides work a large number people employed in industry.
Currently, China, South Korea and Japan are leading in civil shipbuilding. In 2018, companies from these countries received 66% of all orders for ships (by value). In total, 1,467 ships were ordered in 2018 with a total tonnage of 51.4 thousand registered tons. But in general, the global shipbuilding market has experienced a decline since 2010.
There are 268 shipbuilding enterprises in Russia, of which 86 are state-owned. The largest centers of Russian shipbuilding are St. Petersburg, Severodvinsk, Nizhny Novgorod and Kaliningrad region. In total, more than a thousand enterprises are involved in Russian shipbuilding. Russia ranks second after the United States in the field of military shipbuilding; about 70% of all orders from Russian shipbuilders are military.

On the topic of questions in the thread about the Norwegian frigate https://colonelcassad.livejour... "What about the sunken floating dock?"
So far everything is bad with the floating dock; yesterday Vzglyad published detailed material on the topic.

Admiral Kuznetsov. About the sabotage situation on the PD-50 floating dock

The newspaper VZGLYAD became aware of new circumstances of the accident, which sent one of the most important and expensive maritime structures in Russia - the floating dock PD-50 - to the bottom. It was here that the most powerful ships of the Navy were serviced, including the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov. Now we can guess who is responsible for the accident and whether the dock can be returned to service. The causes of the accident, which occurred in the last days of October in the Murmansk region, will long be the subject of heated debate among experts. Of course, the investigation will have the last word. But today we can already assume: the main reasons for the death of the largest dock in the Arctic were not “power supply interruptions,” but a symbiosis of incompetence and negligence of the officials responsible for the operation of this engineering structure.

Protection from fools

In principle, flooding a dock, excluding the apocalyptic scenarios of being blown up by saboteurs or rammed by a passing cargo ship, is not just a difficult matter, but an extremely difficult one. In simple terms, any floating dock (FD) is a complex of pontoons bound together by a single hull. The pontoons are connected to each other by jumpers, which, in addition to various types of hydraulic devices, can easily be closed manually.

A guarantee of the safety of any PD is a reliable and easy-to-use inclinometer. The device, known to every schoolchild, is a banal plumb line located above the target. If the plumb line is strictly in the center, it means that the dock has no roll or trim. If there is a deviation, then undesirable trends are leveled out by pumping or draining diagonally opposite ballast compartments.

Power outages (one version of the accident), of course, can add confusion to these events. However, almost all dock jumpers (if they are in working order) can be opened and closed manually. The senior on board has more than enough time to correct the situation in this way. After all, ballast tanks are filled naturally by the flow of seawater into sealed compartments. The process of immersing the dock to the operating depth lasts more than 5 hours.

It is completely incomprehensible how, during a sudden power cut, the valves of some PD-50 tanks were open, while others were not. And why was the docking operation carried out on the so-called shore power? The usual rules state that the docking and leaving of ships, in order not to depend on any external circumstances, must take place on on-board power. That is, electricity must be provided by its own diesel generators, and the cable from the nearest onshore substation is considered only as a backup source.

That is, in essence, the dockmaster or the person replacing him had plenty of time and money to level the dock. Even if this would mean leaving the floating repair complex in a semi-submerged (but not flooded) state.
A reasonable question arises: why did such a reliable security system and very clear instructions not become a protection against fools? Who and why ultimately sank the most important structure at a cost of billions of rubles?

Without diluting responsibility

A dock operation is a complex set of activities. Try placing a ship a hundred or more meters long on docking cages with a permissible error of a few centimeters. Large deviations can be fatal. If the repaired unit does not sit on specially constructed (and designed) supports, unpleasant incidents are possible: from damage to the side plating, various outboard equipment - from fairings to the rudder rotor group and to a broken hull.

Therefore, any docking operation is prepared in advance. A plan is developed and agreed with the plant management, the commander of the docked ship and tug captains are instructed by the dockmaster. All nuances are taken into account - from weather, ice conditions and visibility conditions to providing the dock with everything necessary before it starts. At the slightest deviation from the plan, the dockmaster is obliged to stop the ascent and dive and report everything to the shore authorities.

Therefore, another assumption about the causes of the accident - that it was caused by some independent actions of the dock crew - is simply an attempt to find the switchman on duty.

Those who complain about the “old age and wear and tear” of a floating structure are missing one important circumstance. Every year in May-June, any dock undergoes a test for safe operation, during which almost all mechanisms are inspected, and all responsible persons are examined. After such an audit, a repair estimate is drawn up, and the issue of confirming personnel for admission to management is resolved.

Such an audit is the responsibility of the plant management.

Impromptu operation

Hence the most important question: was a planned docking operation carried out that day? That is, has a plan been drawn up and all the team’s actions prepared? If so, the actions of both the dock command and the leadership on shore defy any sound logic. In any case, specialists had enough time to prevent a disaster and localize the extent of the damage.

However, according to the newspaper VZGLYAD, no operation was planned that day. And the accident happened spontaneously. It’s just that after docking the cruiser (this happened quite a long time ago), a number of outboard valves could not be closed due to ice clogging into the necks. Water entered the compartments in small volumes. And a “wise decision” was made - to maintain zero list and trim of the dock with the help of ballast pumps operating on shore power.

But the shore power suddenly disappeared. Something happened - maybe an accident at the substation, maybe something else. This confronted the dock crew with an obvious fact: there was no fuel to run the onboard diesel generators (if they were even operational). Instead of remembering the instructions when an emergency situation arose, the team began to act on a hunch, contrary to the theory of stability.

The investigation will show exactly how the team acted. But the undoubted fact is that primary measures were not taken that would have prevented such consequences. In particular, the dock is not ballasted by the natural flow of water through the lintels into the compartments diagonally opposite the already filled ones, which would even out the dock's tilt. It is also unclear why, during a critical roll, members of the upper (boatswain) crew remained on the dock towers, which almost led to the death of the personnel. Even if they wanted to, they couldn’t keep the cranes from falling, and the Kuznetsov was already hooked up to the towing lines.

The version that the operation was unplanned is also supported by the fact that Admiral Kuznetsov was not ready for departure. If so, we can only thank fate that the Northern Fleet did not lose its flagship overnight. We must pay tribute to the crew of the ship, who not only ensured the viability of the cruiser, but also saved the lives of several members of the docking crew in these circumstances.

However, it was not possible to save the dock.

What to do?

Today the dock is in a flooded state. According to some sources who consider themselves competent, the floating complex is holding back the air remaining in the tower compartments from sliding into a hole about 100 meters deep.

We would venture to suggest that this statement is not true enough. In fact, the PD-50 is fixed in this half-position not due to the air cushion, but because of the dock anchors, of which this structure has more than a dozen. And also due to the natural relief holes in the bottom, obtained when the massive complex came into contact with the rocky bottom.

If, as the divers claim, numerous cracks in the plating were discovered during the inspection, there is no need to harbor illusions that someday the PD-50 will again open its bayports for ships to enter. The very lifting of a cracked repair structure seems not only prohibitively expensive, but also pointless.

A ship-lifting operation of this scale will require many months of preparation, the manufacture of special equipment, and the cost will probably be comparable to the price of a new similar dock. But even after rising to the surface, the question will arise: how to reliably replace a significant part of the underwater bottom plating? To seal the holes below the waterline, the dock... will need another dock! But there is only one repair facility of the size in which the PD-50 can be installed in the world. at the moment simply doesn't exist.

Purchasing a similar dock in the near future also looks unrealistic. There are no stores in the world yet where you can easily go and buy yourself a dock with the necessary parameters. The same PD-50 was built in Sweden for four years according to a special order from the USSR.

Therefore, the consequences of the incident in Roslyakovo directly jeopardized the combat effectiveness of one of the most significant Russian fleets, and indeed the entire Navy as a whole. And this is not just about billions of dollars in losses.

The fact is that in the coming years, two leading warships of the Russian Navy - Admiral Kuznetsov and Pyotr Velikiy - have lost their repair base. Well, don’t drive powerful cruisers every time Far East, where there is a dock similar in capacity. And it’s almost impossible to predict when unscheduled repairs will be needed.

All ships and ships need docking, not only during modernizations and major overhauls. Keeping any unit in working order depends on regular inter-voyage dock inspections. There are also emergency situations (a ship wraps a fishing trawl around a propeller, etc.), when placing a PD on a slipway deck is the best option to solve the problem.

And without repairs the ship is not operational. Thus, the conclusion suggests itself: the PD-50 accident, in fact, disabled the two most powerful ships of the Russian Navy, and those who were responsible for the maintenance of the dock and its technical readiness are to blame for this.

Https://vz.ru/society/2018/11/... - zinc

There seem to be three options.

1. If the damage to the dock is subject to repair, then an option is to raise it and restore its functionality. If it is not possible to buy it abroad, build a new one, or transport ships to the Pacific Fleet, then despite the cost of the work, this will have to be done. The worst option is when the dock is completely lost and you can’t buy it abroad.

Chinese shipyard COSCO in Dalian.

2. If the damage cannot be repaired, then you must either build a new one (which is extremely unlikely) or buy it abroad. They probably won’t sell it in Europe (because sanctions and the United States won’t miss the opportunity to block such a deal if negotiations get serious), so the real option is China (possibly Japan), but even in this case, during the construction of the new dock, the Northern Fleet is several will remain without the necessary repair capacity for years. China has extensive experience in building floating docks of various sizes, including the giant dock in Dalian (the Chinese actually have 2 docks there - one for 300,000 tons, the other for 180,000 http://www.bogdanos-marine.gr/.. .) which can accommodate aircraft carriers and supertankers. The question here is rather about the price of such a project and the timing of its implementation, because the dock is needed now, but it is not there, and the planned time frame for modernizing the Admiral Kuznetsov has already obviously been disrupted.

3. Send large ships to the Pacific Fleet, where there is a floating dock PD-41 http://russianships.info/vspom... (Japanese-built), which can accept ships with a displacement of 80,000 tons, which is enough to service the Admiral Kuznetsov " and "Peter the Great".
An alternative is the PD-190 floating dock in Novrossiysk, which can accommodate ships with a displacement of 60,000 tons. Moving these docks to the Northern Fleet means leaving either the Pacific Fleet or the Black Sea Fleet without large docks. The Black Sea Fleet can, of course, be interrupted; all the same, only the Moscow is left among the first-rank ships.

PD-41.

PD-190.

In general, the problem certainly does not seem unsolvable, but at the same time we have serious damage to the country’s defense capability, significant expenses that the state will have to bear one way or another, and a weakening of the capabilities of the Northern Fleet in the next few years.
The perpetrators should be jailed for significant periods of time, but this, of course, will not correct the damage caused.

PS. The title photo is a photo from November 4, where on the deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov lies a crane from the sunken floating dock PD-50.

Ships and docks

The merchant ship Cap San Diego, now a floating museum.

At the Sports Harbor in the City

From the neighboring Sandtorhöft dam on the northern side of Sandtorhafen harbor, the port ferry route 62 departs every 15 minutes during the day, from which you can enjoy a magnificent panorama of the city and port. He floats by Sports harbor in the City (City-Sportboothafen) (24), in which the vessels of visiting guests are parked, from small motor boats to luxurious sailing yachts. A ship that has served its time is moored there too. fire ship with a restaurant and even several hotel rooms on board.

Behind the crowded waterfront promenade, the best panoramic line of the Hamburg U-Bahn, the section of line U3 between Rödingsmarkt and Landungsbrücken stations, runs along a viaduct. On this section of the path, in a couple of minutes you can make a small sightseeing tour by port. The streets under the metro line, running parallel to the shore, fully deserve the name “equipment zone”: any “sea dog” will find here everything he needs for his ship. The equipment sellers also have all sorts of nautical souvenirs.

Uberseebrücke Bridge and * "Cap San Diego"

Near the covered bridge Überseebrücke (?berseebr?cke) (25) Longboats, tugboats and many other large and not so large vessels for various purposes moor and sail by. When traveling by plane was still a novelty, passenger ships also moored at the bridge. Often during executive visits, training sailing ships or foreign frigates bringing honored guests are moored here.

A stunning mix of giant cranes, docks and container ships on the south bank of the North Elbe.

The snow-white cargo ship, now museum ship, now has its permanent postscript at the Überseebrücke bridge: this * "Cap San Diego". “The White Swan of the South Atlantic” - this is how old sailors speak of it with delight. This elegant vessel for the transportation of general (i.e., any packaged) cargo has its own cargo equipment, large refrigeration chambers and 12 passenger cabins. The almost 160 m long liner was built in 1962. This is a pure jewel, whether from the outside or from the inside: Hamburg architect Cesar Pinno has created a truly masterpiece of design.

If you watch a modern bulk carrier of the RoRo class, a sort of wide, asymmetrical giant as tall as a house, float past in the Elbe fairway, you will have to admit: the Cap San Diego clearly wins the beauty contest. But with the current cargo turnover, it has clearly found itself on the sidelines of trade, and it has become a museum since 1986.

When it was just being built, the era of container transportation had already begun. They revolutionized shipping, and at the same time the shape of the ships themselves. Today, for a shipowner, an elegant “swan” is of no use: for standard heavy-duty containers, the ship must be wide and angular. And although the slender, graceful Cap San Diego is still seaworthy, it is not suitable for modern cargo transportation technology.

And a couple of decades before the construction of the Cape San Diego, sailboats and steamships from all over the world stood at its current pier. Now this cargo ship with impeccable lines has found refuge here and only serves as an illustration of one of the pages of the history of navigation. It still has something of that maritime romance that has completely disappeared in modern merchant shipping. Guests have at their disposal an elegant ship restaurant and cozy cabins on board.

Harbor Theater

In a big yellow tent Theater im Hafen (26) on the opposite bank, the extravagant musical “The Lion King” has been running since 2003. This unusual building was erected in the 1990s specifically for the musical Buddy Holly. The eye-catching tent, expanded with a glass plane of the facade with a restaurant and an extension at the back, does not at all resemble a temporary structure. Ferries run from the piers to the other side of the harbor. A wonderful panorama of the city opens from the theater foyer.

* "Rickmer Rickmers"

A few meters downstream near the northern shore there is another museum ship. This is a smart veteran of an older generation, a three-masted barque * Rickmer Rickmers (27). Before the First World War, it transported cargo under sail across the seas of the whole world. An 80-meter vessel with a green-painted steel hull and a thick-cheeked figurehead under the bowsprit was built in 1896. During the First World War, it went to Portugal as a trophy and under the name “ Sagres» in 1924–1962 served as a training sailing ship for the Portuguese Navy.

For the port's birthday in 1983, the Rickmer Rickmers were paraded up the Elbe to loud applause. A society with the not very respectful name “Galoshes for Hamburg” bought this ship, which had been laid up for a long time. But it took another four years of tireless volunteer work until it turned into the pearl that now adorns the city. Now it is a sailing ship-museum with restaurant. True, it could not boast of good seaworthiness even initially. The museum tells about the history of the sailing ship, about sea tools and works. In addition, there are interesting thematic exhibitions here.

Dry and floating docks

Dock Elbe 17 (28), the only dry dock in Hamburg with a length of 351 m and a width of 60 m, and at the same time the largest dock in the port of Hamburg, belongs to the shipyard "Blohm + Voss". Its buildings, founded in 1877, are located on the island of Steinwerder near south coast Northern Elbe to this day. This dock often attracts crowds of sea enthusiasts: every time a celebrity like the 345-meter superliner Queen Mary 2 enters the dock for repairs, it turns into a fascinating and exciting spectacle.

On the Line 62 ferry you can get quite close to the ships being towed downriver to floating docks "Elba 10" (29) And "Elba 11" (30). A ship enters a dry dock in the same way as a port ladle. The dock is then hermetically sealed and the water is completely pumped out of it. A floating dock is a U-shaped box with sides and bottom built from hollow elements. If they are filled with water, the box will submerge and the ship will be able to enter. And when water is pumped out of the cavities, the dock floats up along with the vessel in it.

author Serov Vadim Vasilievich

Burn the ships The primary source is the book “On the Virtues of Women” by the ancient Greek historian Plutarch (c. 45 - c. 127). In the chapter “The Trojan Women,” he reports how the women of Troy burned the ships of their husbands, the defenders of the city, and thereby stopped their flight from the battlefield: they should retreat

From the book Ships of the USSR Navy. Volume 3. Anti-submarine ships. Part 1. Anti-submarine cruisers, large anti-submarine and patrol ships author Apalkov Yuri Valentinovich

GUARD SHIPS In the Soviet Navy, patrol ships were an analogue of frigates of foreign countries. However, unlike the latter, they were intended for operations not in the ocean, but in the sea zone. However, in practice, patrol ships were widely used

From the book 100 Great Aviation and Astronautics Records author Zigunenko Stanislav Nikolaevich

NASA ships The Americans, after two disasters that cost the lives of 15 astronauts, after numerous alterations, also came to their senses. A decision was made to soon lay up the three shuttles still in service, and to develop something instead

From the book Yak we talk author Antonenko-Davidovich Boris Dmitrovich

From the book Miracles: Popular Encyclopedia. Volume 1 author Mezentsev Vladimir Andreevich

Ghost ships An atmospheric mirror can form not only directly at the earth's surface. It is possible that it will appear in the upper layers of the atmosphere. Then we can see the reflection of objects located beyond the horizon. Early in the morning, when the lower layers of air

From the book Handbook of Maritime Practice author Author unknown

Chapter 15. Docks and ship-lifting structures 15.1. Methods for docking ships Docking is the draining of the underwater part of a ship's hull for its inspection, cleaning and painting of the outer plating, inspection and repair of rudders, propellers, bottom fittings and other underwater devices.

From the book 100 Great Mysteries of Astronautics author Slavin Stanislav Nikolaevich

15.2. Dry docks A dry dock is a waterproof pit (chamber) dug in the ground, adjacent to the water area, from which it is separated by a sluice gate (Fig. 15.2). The dimensions of a dry dock are determined by the dimensions of the largest ship for which this dock is intended. Length

From the book The Author's Encyclopedia of Films. Volume I by Lourcelle Jacques

15.3. Loading docks Loading docks consist of the same main parts as dry docks, but differ from the latter in the design of the chamber, which allows the simultaneous installation of at least two ships across the width. The ships are installed not at the bottom of the chamber, but on slipways,

From the book Great Encyclopedia of Technology author Team of authors

15.4. Floating docks A floating dock is a floating ship-lifting structure with the ability to maneuver vertically. To receive a ship, the dock is submerged, so it is installed at appropriate depths, in pits protected from waves and wind. Dock length can

From the book Warships of the Japanese Navy. Battleships and aircraft carriers 10.1918 – 8.1945 Directory author Apalkov Yuri Valentinovich

New US ships The Americans, after two disasters that cost the lives of 15 astronauts, after numerous alterations, also came to their senses. It was decided to put an end to the three shuttles still in operation, and instead develop something better. So, in the very

From the author's book

The Docks of New York The Docks of New York 1928 - USA (8 parts)? Prod. Famous Players, Lasky, Paramount· Dir. JOSEPH VON STERNBERG· Scene. Jules Furthman based on the story “The Dock Walloper” by John Monk Souders · Oper. Herold Rosson · Starring George Bancroft (Bill Roberts), Betty Compson (Sadie), Olga

From the author's book

Landing ships Landing ships – sea ​​vessels, serving to transport marine paratroopers. Any government leading fighting against the state

From the author's book

Tracking ships Tracking ships are ships that can provide communication channels with launch vehicles and spacecraft. In Russia, two groups of tracking ships can be distinguished. The first includes ships that make stationary measurements, i.e.

October 25th, 2013

The world's largest heavy cargo ship, Dockwise Vanguard, set out on its maiden voyage on February 12, 2013 and headed to Gulf of Mexico, Texas, USA, where it will arrive in mid-April. This was reported by the press service of Dockwise Ltd.

On board the vessel is the hull “Jack/St. Malo" semi-submersible offshore oil platform weighing 56,000 tons for the Kiewit yard in Ingleside, which was built by Samsung Heavy Industries, Geoje, South Korea. However, the Dockwise Vanguard can carry cargo weighing up to 110,000 tons.

We would like to remind you that the heavy lift vessel “Dockwise Vanguard” IMO: 9618783, Netherlands flag was put into service on February 1, 2013. Shipbuilder: Hyundai Heavy Industries, Ulsan, South Korea (building number 2511). The vessel was laid down in December 2011. It was launched on October 7, 2012, and the christening ceremony took place on November 30, 2012. Owner and operator: Dockwise Shipping, Breda, Netherlands.

Main characteristics: Displacement 91238 tons, deadweight 117000 tons. Length 275 meters, width 79 meters, draft 9.5 meters. Maximum speed 14.4 knots, average 12.9 knots.

But in 2012, the largest active dock ship was the Blue Marlin ship.

Blue Marlin- is a ship with a huge deck area for transporting large cargo, including other ships. A special feature of this dock ship is the way it loads floating cargo.

If you need to load another ship onto a deck or a floating drilling platform, then the Blue Marlin is submerged so that the deck on which the cargo will be located is below the waterline, then this dock ship in a semi-submerged position is brought under the oversized floating cargo and begins to float. Ultimately, the floating cargo ends up on the deck of this floating dock and can be transported to any point across the water.

The docking ship is equipped with 60 cabins for the crew and persons who accompany the cargo, a gym, a sauna and a swimming pool.

He is not the only one of his kind, his predecessor Black Marlin, built according to a similar design.

Blue Marlin was built in 1999 and entered service on April 25, 2000, but in 2004 it underwent significant modernization, in particular new engines were added for maneuverability, the ability to dive to greater depths was increased and the usable deck area was significantly increased. The deck was expanded to accommodate large drilling platforms. The all-time record for moving the Thunder Horse PDQ platform with a total weight of 60,000 tons.

Technical characteristics of the Blue Marlin dock ship:
(the ship received these characteristics after reconstruction in 2004) Total carrying capacity 76,000 tons
Deck area 11,227 m2 (63 m x 178.2 m)
Speed ​​on ballast 13.3 knots
Total length 224.8 meters
Deck immersion depth 13.3 meters
Crew 24 people
Diesel engine power: 17,000 hp

In November 2005, the Blue Marlin left Corpus Christi, Texas for Adak, Alaska, via the southern tip of South America and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The ship arrived at Pearl Harbor on January 9, 2006, having traveled 15,000 miles. In January 2007, the Blue Marlin was hired to transport two jack-up drilling rigs, Rowan Gorilla VI and GlobalSantaFe Galaxy II, from Halifax to the North Sea.

It is worth noting that the MV Blue Marlin has a sister ship, the MV Black Marlin, and both of these vessels are owned by Offshore Heavy Transport, a Norwegian company specializing in large-capacity maritime transport. Naturally, both heavy-duty vessels, 217 meters long, 42 meters wide and capable of transporting heavy and bulky cargo weighing up to 56 thousand tons, were built by the same manufacturer, the Chinese shipbuilding company by China Shipbuilding Corporation.

Five-story "stack" of river boats and pontoons were loaded onto the ship in the Shanghai port of Nantong, after which the MV Blue Marlin set off and 58 days later, on March 22, it arrived in the Netherlands at its destination port.

Of course, the “stack” of river vessels is the most unusual cargo that the MV Blue Marlin was called upon to transport. But this cargo is not the heaviest cargo, here we show pictures that show how the MV Blue Marlin transports an entire offshore drilling platform, a huge maritime radar station and a US military rocket ship USS Cole (DDG-67), which was damaged as a result of a terrorist attack in one of the ports of Yemen.

The US Navy used the Blue Marlin to transport the destroyer USS Cole back to the United States after the ship was damaged in an al-Qaeda suicide attack in Aden, one of the ports. In the second half of 2003, the Blue Marlin underwent a refurbishment that increased capacity and added two retractable thrusters to improve maneuverability.

In the summer of this year, to be precise, on July 25, the leader in the field of sea transportation and installation of heavy, oversized structures, Dockwise, announced its choice! Emerson Process Management will now provide unique control systems for the heavy-duty semi-submersible vessel Dockwise. These systems are designed to ensure complete stability and tightness of this “mega” vessel.

Why did Dockwise build this huge vessel? It is intended for transportation of large-sized cargo by sea. In addition, Dockwise Vanguard - this is the name this heavy cargo ship bears - will now be used as a dry dock for the design and construction of even larger and heavier structures for work at sea.

The unique design of the vessel without a bow and a cargo capacity of 110,000 tons made it possible to make the construction of giant structures, as well as their loading and maximum safe transportation to distant offshore wells, a reality. This aspect allows us to significantly reduce all types of costs in the field of oil production and oil refining. In addition, and importantly, the number of possible risks has decreased.

The ballast system that helps the Dockwise Vanguard sink and surface while maintaining full stability will now be controlled by a system from Emerson. This control is based on a level measurement system. Such measurements provide high measurement accuracy for load calculations. The system provides an alarm for high liquid levels and overflows.

Dockwise Vanguard uses Emerson's Smart Wireless technology to measure tank levels and transmit the data to the control room.

Eugene van Dodeverd, director of fleet management at Dockwise, noted that the unique carrying capacity and the ability to use the vessel as a dry dock for repairs and the introduction of new technologies for offshore facilities was achieved thanks to the most reliable, unique Emerson technologies. The company's cost-effective and accurate systems have proven their effectiveness in offshore environments on many of Dockwise's vessels.

In turn, Steve Sonnenberg, President of Emerson Process Management, noted that he is pleased with the result of the joint work, and is confident that ships such as the Dockwise Vanguard are the future of the industry.

Last year, in 2012, the Dockwise Vanguard received the Spotlighton New Technology Award for its innovations driving the rapid development of the industry. This award was presented at the international Offshore Technology Conference.

The cruise ship Costa Concordia will be cut into scrap metal. This decision was made by the shipowner, Costa Cruises.

However, first the liner, which was seriously damaged as a result of a crash in January 2012 off the coast of the island of Giglia (Tuscany) and raised from the reefs in September of this year, must be delivered to the dock. Costa Cruises launched a tender, which was won by Dutch firm Royal Boskalis on Thursday. The contract price is $30 million, Reuters reports.

The Dutch intend to use their unique vessel, Dockwise Vanguard. It is equipped with ballast tanks that allow the vessel to sink and surface like a submarine. Dockwise Vanguard is launched under a floating object intended for transportation, and then floats up under it. Dutch specialists have repeatedly carried out similar operations with oil platforms. They recently transported a floating hotel this way.