[plimsollmark]

Guys a few more clicked in the last few days around sunsets/sunrise.







cheers.

[nanduchitnis]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Speaking of the Viraat, here are some pics i took :

more here









Its caused by "rolling shutter" of digital cameras.

cya
R

Mr Rehaan: Amazing pics ! How did you manage to get on on board during flying operations ? Are you in the Indian Navy?

Jealous

[plimsollmark]

Hi Folks.

A few pics of one of the ship's I was on. When she was being built and just around delivery time. First lot here.

[plimsollmark]

Some more from the shipyard.

Doing a PDI



Fresh coat of paint.



Almost ready !
Attachment 846620

Finally afloat !

[khoj]

Oh! part of the Great Eastern's fleet. Which shipyard BTW?

[plimsollmark]

Originally Posted by khoj

Oh! part of the Great Eastern's fleet. Which shipyard BTW?

Hi Khoj,

This is Colombo, Sri Lanka !

Cheers.

[deky]

I have seen a few dry docks. But what i never managed to understand was that how do they manage to balance such huuuge vessels on just blocks of wood??

Doesnt the vessel fall over??

Sorry, I might be sounding stupid here. But this question has been in my mind since my cruise ship days.

Regards

[khoj]

Hi deky,

Those blocks of wood are called 'keel blocks' and the person responsible for selection / correct placement of these and the ship on top of them is the Dockmaster.

As for tipping over I am sure there must be instances of the same due to incorrect alignment or the blocks not being strong enough to support the weight of the vessel. Our Mariner friends can elaborate.

[patil]

A very beautiful thread. We are getting to see so many things all of which we probably will never get to see in reality. A great idea and thanks a lot. Really enjoyed the thread and please keep adding more and more pictures.

[nanduchitnis]

PRONGS REEF LIGHTHOUSE Colaba, Mumbai, 100 yrs old and still going strong !

[amitwlele]

Originally Posted by plimsollmark

Hi Folks.

A few pics of one of the ship's I was on. When she was being built and just around delivery time. First lot here.

By the way how much time does it take to build it? 2-3 years?

And how much does it cost? I know the costs would vary depending on the size and type. But some figures to give us an idea?

And yes PDI for this would be a humongous excercise.

[nanduchitnis]

Amit> The small Offshore Supply Vessels take just 3 -6 months to build! The bigger vessels max one year.

[n_aditya]

Just added my vote on this thread. This is one of the threads that has me hooked. I've always been curious and in awe at life on the seas and the pics and stories on this thread (and the others) are truly captivating.

Originally Posted by ariesonu

@ Swanand/Amit/Selfdrive
In case you guys are in Mumbai & have day to spare then shoot me a PM & I promise to take you inside the Mumbai port. If you guys are lucky enough then onboard a ship too. The latter only in condition that I'm surveying or my office is attending some business on that ship, but definately up, close & personal to ships.

What about lesser mortals like us?

[ariesonu]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

What about lesser mortals like us?

Do you even need to ask?
All bhpian's are welcome but I can be get permission for only two in a day.

Raab Rakha.

[plimsollmark]

Originally Posted by deky

I have seen a few dry docks. But what i never managed to understand was that how do they manage to balance such huuuge vessels on just blocks of wood??

Doesnt the vessel fall over??

Sorry, I might be sounding stupid here. But this question has been in my mind since my cruise ship days.

Regards

Originally Posted by khoj

Hi deky,

Those blocks of wood are called 'keel blocks' and the person responsible for selection / correct placement of these and the ship on top of them is the Dockmaster.

As for tipping over I am sure there must be instances of the same due to incorrect alignment or the blocks not being strong enough to support the weight of the vessel. Our Mariner friends can elaborate.

Deky, the question is a very valid one. Khoj is right, these are the keel blocks with the dockmaster of a drydock responsible for the correct layout.

To answer your questions, there is something called as a docking plan (see pic below) which is prepared by the naval architects at the drawing stage. This plan as you can see, shows exactly the position of each and every block under the ship and it is based on the location of relatively load bearing locations at the ships bottom. This is just one of the hundreds of plans/drawings made by the naval architects and are fine tuned during the vessel construction.

When a new ship is built, its the yards responsibility for the layout of the blocks. However as you yourself have visited drydocks (A routine carried out by each and every ship every 5 years (if not 30 months), in this case the ship’s Captain is responsible to check whether the dock has been prepared by the dockmaster as per his ship’s docking plan.

Now comes the question of tipping over - well not to go too deep into stability, but what we see here is the metacentric height of the ship. That is the distance from the Metacentre to the COG (centre of gravity).

In any floating object, the metacentre is the point at which the vertical line from the centre of buoyancy (centroid of the underwater or submerged part) while the object is upright intersects the vertical line from the new centre of buoyancy when the object is tilted to one side. So long as this metacentre is above the COG, the object or ship is stable and if it tilts, there will be a corrective force making it upright. There is a critical moment when the ship is touching the block at just one point when the water in the dock is being pumped out which causes a virtual loss of stability. This is known and overcome by ensuring enough positive stability.

Apologies if I went too deep into the subject.

Originally Posted by patil

A very beautiful thread. We are getting to see so many things all of which we probably will never get to see in reality. A great idea and thanks a lot. Really enjoyed the thread and please keep adding more and more pictures.

Thanks patil, appreciate it.

Originally Posted by amitwlele

By the way how much time does it take to build it? 2-3 years?

And how much does it cost? I know the costs would vary depending on the size and type. But some figures to give us an idea?

And yes PDI for this would be a humongous excercise.

Amit, I would say for small tugs its anywhere between 3-6 months, the vessel in pictures, 10-14 months, large sized vessels again 10-18 months. A lot depends on the shipyard’s capability itself, the number of contractors involved in providing the various installations and machineries, lead time for their deliveries, the entire shipyard’s logistics department, the quickness with which the shipowner disburses the funds and the urgency of the owners requirement if a charter has already been fixed ánd the charterer are desperate for the vessel.

Costs – Well, again it depends on the shipyard, the type of ship, the type of equipment on the ship, the state of the market when the order was booked by the yard. The vessel that I am showing, about 25-30 million USD.

PDi – Well the PDI is of course a humongous exercise! Its starts with 2-3 officers arriving and attending the last stages of construction 2-3 months prior the completion or delivery of the vessel. Later on, 2-3 weeks prior delivery, the number of officers is increased to 4-6 by a prudent shipowner/manager and finally the entire vessel complement is present 2-3 days prior delivery for the PDI.

Cheers.