Dockmaster News

Born in 1998 and celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2023, Heger Dry Dock holds a unique position as one of the few engineering firms in the world dedicated to the design and lifecycle engineering of drydocks, primarily floating dry docks. Premal Shah, P.E., President and Principal Engineer, discussed some of the company’s recent contract wins with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News.Specializing in the design and lifecycle maintenance of floating dry docks, Heger Dry Docks was founded 25 years ago, and still run today by one of its co-founders, Bob Heger.

Washington State Ferries' (WSF) Jumbo Mark II class ferry Wenatchee, the largest in the WSF fleet, entered drydock at Everett Ship Repair, LLC (ESR) on November 10.The vessel is 460’ x 90’ with a docking displacement of 4675 LT. ESR’s drydock, the Faithful Servant has underwent improvements to expand its capabilities, and can now service vessels up to 460’ x 100’ with drafts up to 32’, including all of WSF fleet.The docking evolution started with moving the Faithful Servant drydock…

Bollinger Quick Repair, LLC, a Bollinger Shipyards LLC company, has taken delivery of a new 3,400 ton dry-dock.Built at Bollinger Shipyard’s Amelia, La. facility, the dock is now in service and measures 219’7” X 84’, with a wing wall depth of 15’, and is rated for 3,400 tons, said Bollinger President & CEO, Ben Bordelon.The dry-dock is named in honor of long-time Bollinger employee Eddie Barnes, Jr., who joined Bollinger Shipyards on June 29, 1972 and during his tenure with the company has held various key production positions such as Dockmaster, Foreman and Superintendent.

International vessels have been trading in the Port of Charleston, S.C. for centuries. While Charleston is the sixth largest container port in the U.S., it is also home to Detyens Shipyards, Inc (DSI). In the past several years, DSI has seen an increase in the number of dry dock inquiries and bookings from International vessel operators. “In the last two quarters, we’ve dry docked eight internationally owned and operated vessels,” explained Peter Browne, Vice President of Estimating.

U.S. shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO has taken delivery of a new tug, Blue Fin, to support its waterfront activities. The new tug, built by Marine Group Boat Works in National City, Calif., was christened July 8 at a ceremony at NASSCO’s shipyard in Barrio Logan in San Diego. Bonnie Fanelli, the wife of 43-year NASSCO employee and assistant dockmaster Tom Fanelli, christened the tug. The name Blue Fin was selected for the new tug after NASSCO invited local K-8 students to participate in a vessel naming contest.

Dry dock pontoon deck preservation is often taken for granted. In the flow of ever changing priorities for dry docks, it often gets pushed aside and/or delayed. If neglected long enough and often enough between preservation cycles, the thickness of the pontoon deck steel plates can be compromised. Salt water with chloride contamination causes accelerated corrosion while impact and abrasion damage from heavy equipment also take their toll. For shipyards, the overall objective should be to provide a protective surface that will hold up over time, and that is easy to clean.

My-Villages, owner of the DockMaster suite of marine business software, launched DockMaster 8.0 for beta testing, which it calls the most powerful version yet with new navigation, scheduling and dashboard features to help companies simplify operations and work more efficiently. Incorporating years of feedback from its loyal customers, DockMaster 8.0 unifies the user experience across all modules, improves overall navigation and provides superior flexibility and control over critical data. In addition, its architecture has been thoroughly upgraded to provide an enhanced user experience and seamless connectivity to off-site “cloud” data storage.

DockMaster, a suite of marine business software, will stage its latest user conference this week as its client roster continues to grow under new ownership. More than 100 DockMaster customers will gather in West Palm Beach, Fla., for the free DockMaster User Conference: OnBoard 2014, Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 10-11. Experts and users will exchange information, hear more about DockMaster 8.0, the latest version due out in beta form this March, and get an update on the ongoing integration with The Boat Village, the industry’s leading mobile platform to simplify boat ownership and service coordination. “The industry response to our DockMaster product strategy has been phenomenal, and it is great to see so many new customers come on board,” said Kevin Hutchinson, founder and CEO of My-Villages.

My-Villages, a marine mobile technology company, has acquired DockMaster, an information management solution provider for marine retailers, marinas and service centers. The integration of DockMaster software and My-Villages’ consumer and professional application, called The Boat Village, will create an integrated software solution for marine businesses in the industry. By combining the DockMaster and The Boat Village technology products, My-Villages will serve more than 600 marinas, dealers, boatyards and marine service centers in North America and the Caribbean, and facilitate the care of tens of thousands of vessels. Marrying DockMaster’s suite of productivity products…

Marine Travelift Inc. announced that Newport Shipyard of Newport, R.I., has acquired one of its 100 BFMII mobile boat hoists. The new machine joins another Marine Travelift hoist already on site. Located downtown on Newport Harbor, Newport Shipyard is Newport's oldest and only working boat and shipyard facility. Not only is the yard a major East Coast yachting hub, it also is host to the Newport-Bermuda Race. Eli Dana, Newport Shipyard’s manager and dockmaster, said the yard purchased the new 100 BFMII to replace an existing 70-ton machine.

Riverkeeper, a New York clean water advocate, commended the New York City Council for passing Int. 54-A, a bill substantially increasing penalties for illegal dumping in New York City Waters. The bill, passed unanimously by the City Council, creates a new civil penalty for dumping into the waterways where none currently exists, setting fines at not less than $1,500 or more than $10,000 for the first violation, and not less than $5,000 or more than $20,000 for each subsequent violation. “The waters of New York City are a public resource that all New Yorkers have the right to enjoy,” said Riverkeeper Attorney & Chief Investigator Josh Verleun.

Lawrence Robert “Larry” Glosten, founder of The Glosten Associates, a Seattle naval architecture firm, died February 22, 2010 in his home on Bainbridge Island, Wash. He was 91. Glosten graduated from Webb Institute of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering in 1940. He subsequently served as a Ship Repair Officer and dockmaster at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard during the early months of World War II. His naval duty included assignment to the Bureau of Ships Preliminary Design Division and, later, to the Bikini Atoll atomic weapon tests.

Bradford Marine, Inc. announced that James (Jimmy) Floyd has joined the Bradford Marine Team as Sales and Marketing Professional. Floyd has an extensive knowledge of the yachting industry.  He started his yachting career many years ago as Dockmaster at Bradford Marine, and since 1981, he has been involved in the yachting industry through Smallwood's, a well-known family business. Bradford Marine is one of the world’s largest undercover yacht repair facilities, offering a full line of yacht-related services. (www.bradfordmarine.com)

A down economy, a disabled drydock and a nation under heightened security measures — not exactly the best position for a ship repair facility to be in — or so one would think. Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Corporation (NORSHIPCO) however has managed to stay on top with its steady stream of government and commercial work coming in into its yard. With 70 percent of NORSHIPCO's work on the government side, the yard has still had a steady stream of commercial work. According to Krekich, the work that was performed on MSC ship M/V SSG Edward A. Carter was successful in terms of schedule, costs and customer satisfaction. The 950-ft. (289.5 m) vessel, which arrived at NORSHIPCO on March 1, 2001, is under a long-term charter to MSC.

The ability of ship repair yards to quickly, efficiently and effectively get ships in and out in the least possible amount of time is cornerstone to their very existence. Southwest Marine in San Diego has recently adopted an advanced, automated floating dry dock control system, which promises to ensure these lofty goals are met. In May 1999, Randy Jaeger a project manager at Southwest Marine (SWM) in San Diego, Calif., contacted IDAC West to discuss retroffitting their floating dry dock with a new automatic control system. SWM's 22,000-ton Floating Dry Dock, known as "Pride of San Diego" that is typically used for Naval Ship repair, had an existing control system that had become outdated and difficult to maintain.

Riding the often tumultuous waves of freight rate boom and bust, Curacao Drydock has carved a unique niche of business in this Caribbean paradise. Since August 2000 the Curacao Drydock Company started to feel the effect of an improving cargo market. The amount of inquiries doubled since the first six months and the amount of bookings followed soon. Instead of patching of the ships, the owner decided to stop his ship for a few days to make sure the vessel is in good shape, ready to enter the better paid charter. Times, though, have been different. In 1998 and 1999, the cargo market was so depressed that owners could not afford to carry out many repairs. The school of thought at this time was to keep the vessel trading as long as possible.

The early 1980s witnessed the birth of the first generation Autohydro by Coastdesign Inc. (now called Autoship Systems Corporation (ASC)). Autohydro was one of a very few PC-based first principles stability and longitudinal strength programs available on the market of the day. Running in DOS, Autohydro quickly became world-renowned as a robust, dependable design and analysis tool for the creation of trim and stability books. Even today, some users of these early versions of Autohydro call ASC asking for advice. Since those early times, ASC has continued to improve Autohydro. The most recent release, Autohydro 6.0, includes many new features that hundreds of naval architects around the world rely on for their hydrostatic and strength calculations.

Heger Dry Dock will present its four-day Dockmaster's Training Seminar during May 2000 in Seattle, Wash. Held from May 2-5, the course will provide the latest information on dry docks, and drydocking techniques to dockmasters, marine engineers, naval architects and others involved in the docking vessels. Topics for discussion throughout the course will include dry dock accidents, types of docks, ship characteristics important to drydocking and docking procedures.

Cruise + Ferry 2003, which is set for London's Grand Hall, Olympia, from May 13-15, will be the 10th biennial exhibition and conference in a series ranked as the passenger shipping industry's premier technical and operations event.The extended format introduced in 2001 - which helped to attract more than 350 exhibitors and 3,500 professionals from 50 countries - is being retained with major maritime hotel content in the trade fair and conference program as well as a gala dinner marking the second Cruise + Ferry Awards. In a new feature, a special arena within the exhibition hall will be available for company and product presentations.

Overloaded dry docks are not a pretty picture. They crack, buckle, flood, sink, damage the ships they are trying to lift - and sometimes even cause accidental deaths. Dry dock accidents are not common, but they do happen, usually resulting in dramatic photographs and disastrous physical and financial consequences. With past docking failures in mind, prudent dry dock operators strive to avoid overloading, normally through a set of manual calculations, but in certain cases through more sophisticated methods. A case in point is the AFDL-23 ADEPT, a rigid, one-piece, welded steel, floating dry dock that was built during WWII. Throughout the last 50 years…

San Juan Towing & Marine Services announces the upcoming arrival of the floating dry dock PERSEVERANCE which has been purchased for service in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is located in the Caribbean Sea and is in the main shipping lanes leading west to the Panama Canal. San Juan Towing & Marine Services is a ship repair contractor that provides a variety of ship repair services in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. The purchase and development of a drydocking facility comes as a second step in order to provide expanded services in the Caribbean. PERSEVERANCE is currently located in New Orleans being upgraded prior to being towed down to San Juan in late October. PERSEVERANCE is a 150 foot long x 70 foot wide drydock capable of lifting vessels of up to 1000 tons.

James Fisher (Shipping services) Ltd undertook to apply International Paints innovative underwater coating system Intersleek 900 while their vessel Galway Fisher was under refit at A&P Falmouth Limited in May 2007. The paint system is based on a fluoropolymer foul release technology, providing a very smooth surface which has the dual effect of reducing hull friction and making it very difficult for fouling organisms to adhere to the surface. blast equipment, followed by application the four coat paint system. careful planning is needed to ensure these are not exceeded. immersion time.