Austal USA shipbuilders get set to start out work on the shipyard’s third metal building undertaking
Construction is now underway at Austal USA on the Navy Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock Medium (AFDM) awarded the Mobile, Ala., shipyard below a $128 million June 2022 Naval Sea Systems Command contract. The AFDM is the third program to start building on Austal USA’s state-of-the-art metal meeting line following T-ATS 11 and 12 — the primary two of 4 U.S. Navy Towing, Salvage, and Rescue (T-ATS) ships the corporate is below contract to construct.
“This dry dock will be a first for Austal, but we’re up to the challenge,” mentioned Austal USA vice chairman, new building Dave Growden. “Our talented shipbuilders are always ready for whatever we require of them whether it’s the fourth ship in a multi-ship program or the first of a new design.”
The Navy floating dry dock is a “Rennie”-type floating dock which suggests it has steady wing partitions and several other sectional pontoons to offer the steadiness and displacement required to carry and submerge vessels from the water utilizing buoyancy. It has a 18,000 LT lifting capability and a transparent deck working space of 90,800 sq. toes. It has an total size of 694 toes, total pontoon breadth of 157 toes, and a top of 65 toes from baseline to wing deck. The vessel design incorporates options to enhance operability and maintainability primarily based on Austal USA’s expertise and classes realized from proudly owning, working and sustaining an analogous dry dock at its Mobile, Alabama, ship restore facility.
- Historical observe: Rennie, or pontoon sort, floating docks have been round fairly some time, we were writing about them back in 1911.
