VESSEL REVIEW | Michael – Barge company Hughes Brothers to deploy dry dock in New York Harbor

Family-owned barge and shipyard company Hughes Brothers has placed a new floating dry dock into operational service in Red Hook in Brooklyn, New York.

The dry dock has been named Michael after Michael Hughes, who had co-founded the company that eventually became Hughes Brothers. Design work was undertaken by JMS Naval Architects of Groton, Connecticut, while construction took place at Feeney Shipyard in Kingston, New York.

“The drydock is primarily designed for hauling barges and has an increased beam to accommodate vessels,” David Forrest, Senior Naval Architect at JMS, told Baird Maritime.

“Aprons are used at either end to extend the working deck area without adding unneeded buoyant capacity. The wingwalls are arranged with a large opening at amidships to allow for access to the drydock when it is alongside a pier or spud barge.”

Michael has a length of 206 feet (62.8 metres), a beam of 86 feet (26 metres), a height of 25 feet (7.6 metres), and a total lifting capacity of 1,500 tons. The dry dock has a space of 70 feet (20 metres) between the wingwalls and is equipped with fully automatic pumps and valves for enhanced efficiency.

Michael will be operated at the Hughes Brothers shipyard in New York Harbor’s Erie Basin. The primary vessels to be dry docked are barges, both in Hughes’ own fleet and other commercial customers, though the dock is also able to haul tugs and small workboats when needed.

Increased automation and significant lifting capacity

“The new dock decreases the amount of personnel required to operate it due to the high level of automation,” said Forrest. “The larger size and lifting capacity also increases the amount of vessels that can be serviced.”

JMS had been asked to design a dry dock with a focus on tailoring the dock to handle barges. According to Forrest, the new dry dock increases the capabilities of Hughes Brothers’ own shipyard and allows the owner to expand the services that can be offered to outside customers.

“JMS developed a concept design to identify the principal characteristics and lift capacity of the dry dock. During the detailed design, we worked closely with Hughes to design the line handling and working decks for maximum functionality during docking operations.”

The dry dock is supplied with an electronic control and monitoring system supplied by EMI. The monitoring system consists of TMS Levelcom tank and draught level sensors that are displayed on an HMI panel and the operating station.

Also monitored are pump alarms via Flygt’s MiniCAS system. Meanwhile, at the control station are push buttons controlling the flood valves via electric, multi-turn actuators located in the safety deck space.

According to Forrest, the control and monitoring arrangement has been used on previous dry docks designed by JMS and has been well-received for the amount of control and awareness that it provides to the operator.

Design permitting use of proven, existing equipment

“Four manual winches on the top deck are used for linehandling and centering the vessel when docking vessels,” Forrest told Baird Maritime. “Chocks and kevels are provided throughout for additional line handling needs as necessary. Hughes additionally created specialty blocks used to align the vessel during docking procedures.”

Forrest said the deck equipment is typical of other small dry docks that JMS has designed, and it has been selected and arranged to suit Hughes’ preferences and match what is on their other dry docks.

Forrest remarked that, for smaller dry docks, fitting all of the equipment onto the top deck while leaving space to work can be a challenge. Fortunately, the top deck on the new dock was larger than on existing docks, thus enabling JMS to incorporate some of the existing arrangements and still have adequate working space.

“The steel fabrication was fairly straightforward, but the shipyard worked closely with W&O Supply to plan for and lay out the control and monitoring equipment so that installation and commissioning would go smoothly.”