VESSEL REVIEW | IB Dock – Floating dock for fishing vessel and workboat maintenance and repairs in West Africa
A new floating dock designed by Kuasar Marin Engineering of Turkey was recently delivered to a client in West Africa.
The Türk Loydu-classed IB Dock was designed by Kuasar Marin along with a non-self-propelled floating crane as part of a turnkey project on behalf of the same client. The dock has an LOA of 52 metres (170 feet), a beam of 21 metres (69 feet), a depth of 10 metres (30 feet), and a lifting capacity of 1,500 tons.
Bahadir Baskan, Founder and Partner at Kuasar Marin, said that the entire process—including design, procurement, production, subcontractor management, and quality control—was managed by the company to ensure that the vessels met high technical standards.
Although the client had specified that both projects would primarily operate in West Africa, these platforms were designed to be capable of serving worldwide.
“The floating dock was specifically designed to accommodate the needs of small and medium-sized fishing vessels in West Africa,” Baskan told Baird Maritime. “With a capacity of 1,500 tons and constrained dimensions, engineering iterations were carried out to ensure optimal weight and load distribution. As a result, the dock achieves a balance between operational efficiency and safety.”
Optimised for small- and medium-sized vessels
Baskan said the floating dock has been designed independently of any specific operational region. It can accommodate fishing vessels of up to 1,500 tons as well as tugs, pilot boats, patrol vessels, workboats, and various commercial platforms for maintenance, repair, and classification renewal.
“The structural strength, pump capacity, and stability criteria required for docking vessels have been designed to meet international standards, making it a globally deployable maintenance and repair infrastructure.”
Baskan explained that many of the existing fishing vessels in the client’s region are ageing and in need of repair. In numerous African ports, even the most basic maintenance and repair work requires sending vessels abroad, resulting in long operational downtime and high costs.
Baskan explained that with the crane and the dock now operational in the region, maintenance costs will decrease, operational efficiency will improve, and local operators will be able to meet their needs independently and on-site. Therefore, these projects will not only fill a critical gap but also contribute to establishing fundamental maritime infrastructure that has been lacking in many areas until now.
Part of a complete turnkey package including a crane vessel
“Our first encounter with the shipowner was regarding a repair request for his old fishing vessel,” said Baskan. “Since the vessel had not been in use for many years, it was in very poor condition both structurally and in terms of equipment; many of its systems, devices, and components were no longer operational.
“We explained to him that repairing the vessel would be both very time-consuming and costly, and therefore purchasing a new vessel would be a more rational solution. However, when the shipowner insisted on proceeding with the repair, we accepted the project and successfully completed the vessel, delivering it to the operational area.
Baskan remarked that, following this process, the client requested for a completely new floating crane and floating dock with all stages—from design to equipment procurement and production—managed entirely by Kuasar Marin.
“In the case of the floating dock, the client’s requirements were shaped entirely according to the types of vessels in the operational area,” he told Baird Maritime. “Since the main goal was to dock small and medium-sized fishing boats used along the West African coast, the dock’s dimensions and 1,500-ton capacity were determined based on the characteristics of this fleet.
“Additionally, the maximum water depth at the port where the dock would submerge and resurface became one of the most critical boundary conditions in the design. Therefore, the dock’s geometry, ballast volumes, and operational level control systems were optimised to comply with these regional constraints.”
Baskan said that in the floating crane and dock projects, the turnkey production responsibility assumed by Kuasar Marin went beyond design activities to also include management of procurement processes, coordination of subcontractors, quality assurance, process planning, and supervision of on-site implementation.
Meeting the client’s expectations therefore required not only technical knowledge but also intensive project management skills and operational discipline, transforming the process into a comprehensive and multifaceted endeavor.
The dock design project encountered challenges, particularly in identifying a balance between stability, displacement, and keeping the size of the structure within a limited threshold.
“Due to our client’s operational needs, the dock’s hull dimensions had to be kept relatively small, as only certain standard small and medium-sized vessels would be docked. However, the limited dimensions made the stability–weight–draught relationship extremely sensitive from a design perspective.
“Therefore, we carried out an intensive iterative process to achieve an optimal balance between the dock’s self-weight, sidewall geometry, tank volumes, ballast distribution, and operational trim control. We analysed all scenarios for flooding and dewatering both when the dock was empty and when vessels of varying displacements were docked, in order to determine the safest geometry.”
Valuable insights gained in integrated engineering, materials procurement and process management
Baskan added that the design challenges were not limited to theoretical calculations, so an integrated engineering approach was required to simultaneously meet operational requirements, client expectations, and safety standards. In his view, this represented the most difficult and critical part of the design process, but it became clear that the solution that was adopted by the company to overcome the identified challenges in this design project can also benefit work being undertaken on other vessels.
“The experiences gained during both the design and construction phases of this project provided valuable lessons for our future projects,” he told Baird Maritime.
“First, these types of floating structures, which involve highly multi-disciplinary work, highlighted how critical an integrated engineering approach is during the design phase. The simultaneous management of structural analysis, stability, lifting calculations, mechanical system layouts, and operational requirements allowed us to develop a more optimised and faster development model for vessels we will design in the future.”
During the procurement process, Kuasar Marin learned how carefully materials and equipment from different countries and standards must be planned. Baskan said this project helped the company establish a broader and more reliable supplier network and develop a stronger management infrastructure for delivery schedules, quality control, and logistics processes.
Construction and subcontractor management also proved to be important learning areas. By optimising simultaneous work across sub-packages such as steel fabrication and mechanical–electrical integration, Kuasar Marin developed methods that will improve labour efficiency in its future projects.
“In terms of process management and scheduling, we found that breaking down complex workflows into smaller, trackable segments significantly increased overall project efficiency,” said Baskan. “The project tracking methods we developed facilitated both progress monitoring and budget control.
As this project was an export-oriented platform, Kuasar Marin gained valuable experience in international certification, customs procedures, maritime transport operations, and towage logistics. In particular, the technical preparations, risk analyses, and coordination activities required for transporting a floating structure across continents will provide significant advantages in future export projects.
“Finally, we once again recognised the importance of maintaining transparent communication with the client, properly managing expectations, and integrating feedback into the design. The methods we developed to enhance customer satisfaction will become a natural part of all our new projects.”
