Dry-dock?

[diannezzz]

What exactly is dry dock? Is it a quick week of refubishing? thanks, dianne

[chessbriar]

X schedules dry dock for their ships evey two years. It is a thorough maintanence time. Repainting ships, fixing any damage to hull, rust or contact, in the case of the M-class ships working on the pods. They also give and overhaul to the interior as well.

[diannezzz]

Thanks dianne

[rjg41]

To further explain dry dock means exactly what it says. They dock the boat in an area that can be sealed and then pump all the water out. That then allows access to all parts of the hull and engines. Not all dry dock visits are scheduled.

The dry dock visits you have read the most about are the unscheduled ones involving the engine pods on the Millie class ships. As way of explanation modern ships do not have the big long propeller shafts of old. The have engines pods that hang under the stern of the ship. The pods have a propeller on them that is driven by an electric motor inside the pod. The pods can be turned in any direction thus there is no longer a rudder on new ships. The manufacturer of the Millie class pods has been dealing with a on-going design problem with the pods which causes them to prematurely fail.

Another unscheduled repair made in dry dock that got special attention was a hull repair to Summit. Summit hit a rock in Hubbard Bay last summer(2003) and put a good size gash in her hull. She was never in danger as a result. However, emergency repairs were made in Seward without benefit of dry dock over the following days and she sailed the rest of the summer and until a permanent repair was made recently.

[diannezzz]

Thanks, dianne