DSME Begins Construction on World’s Largest Floating Dock

DSME said today it has started construction on its No.5 Royal Dock that, once completed, will be the largest floating dock in the world.  Construction on the dock commenced November 1st with a steel cutting ceremony held at Daehan Shipbuilding (DS) in the South Korean province of South Jeolla.

DSME says the No.5 Royal Dock is being built to meet the increasing number of new orders for offshore projects such as FPSOs and LNG-FPSOs. DSME adds that as these offshore projects become larger in scale, the need for bigger production facilities increase.

Daehon Shipbuilding has been working with DSME since last June and will be responsible for the construction of the dock thus reducing strain on DSME’s tight production schedule and storage issues.

At a size 85.6m wide by 432m long and 130,000 DWT, the No.5 Royal Dock will be the largest floating dock in the world and will be able to handle the 18,000TEU containerships on DSME’s orderbook with ease, or any other large vessels up to 68m in width for that matter.

The No.5 Royal Dock will be delivered to the DSME’s Okpo shipyard in December 2012, and will be first used to construct three LNG carriers starting in February 2013.

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