New drydock arrives in Long Beach

General Dynamics NASSCO has taken delivery of a new floating drydock at Long Beach, marking the conclusion of a complex transportation process which required one of the world’s largest semi-submersible heavy lift vessels, Boskalis' BOKA Vanguard, for the voyage from Turkey.

Kuehne+Nagel was tasked with delivering the 17,300-tonne drydock, which is 253m long by 54m wide, and can comfortably accommodate large US Navy Pacific fleet vessels.

Departing from Yalova, Turkey, in mid-July, BOKA Vanguard’s main deck was submerged for the voyage – a complex affair, according to Kuehne+Nagel national project logistics manager Aliye Erkan Bıyık. “We had checklists. Then we had checklists for the checklists: every smallest detail accounted for, nothing left to chance.

“Thanks to the submersible capabilities of BOKA Vanguard, the support of tugboats, and the supervision of the mooring crew and Kuehne+Nagel’s engineering team aboard the drydock, we were able to safely position and lash the structure onto the vessel.

“The process of securing the drydock was not rushed and took several days … we also had additional support boats on standby to shuttle crew and engineers between the port, the drydock, and the carrier ship.”