The first, central, module of the new floating dock being built at Szczecin Wulkan Shipyard for Gryfia Marine Ship Repair Yard was launched on April 19 and moored on the Oder River.
The section weighed 3,600 tons and measured 70 meters in length, more than 46 meters in width and 19 meters in height.
It was moved using a giant pontoon brought from Norway, self-propelled modular transporters from Belgium and tugboats.
The second module, more than 80 meters long, was launched on April 22, with the full structure to be assembled on the water and delivered in July 2027.
The operation was one of the largest of its kind carried out in Poland, officials said.
Grzegorz Huszcz, a management board representative at Szczecin Shipyard “Wulkan” responsible for production organization, said the shift of the first module from the quay onto the pontoon, immersion and mooring took around eight hours.
He said even light wind made the operation difficult because of the size of the structure.
Huszcz said the docking hull would be assembled entirely on the water, which he described as the first operation of that scale in Poland.
He added that the project required heavy equipment to be brought to Szczecin in dozens of trucks.
The dock, 240 meters long when completed, is being built for “Gryfia,” which operates on the opposite side of the Oder.
The contract was signed in 2020. The project was first estimated at PLN 130 million (around EUR 30 million, USD 35 million), later revised to PLN 160 million to PLN 180 million. By 2024, the cost had risen to more than PLN 250 million, while roughly 30 to 35 percent of the work had been completed, according to Huszcz.
Industry experts and Deputy Infrastructure Minister Arkadiusz Marchewka have said the final cost could reach around PLN 400 million (EUR 95 million, USD 110 million).
The modernization of Gryfia and the construction of the dock at Wulkan are being financed largely by the state-owned Company Development Fund (FRS).
Gryfia, which specializes in ship repairs and conversions, employs around 450 people. Dozens of companies operate at the Wulkan site, employing up to 2,500 workers.
Huszcz said the project had since been simplified and reorganized, allowing work to move faster and at lower cost.
He did not give a final figure for the full project, but said most of the remaining dock would be built for substantially less than had previously been spent.
With the second module now launched, the yard plans to move straight to joining it with the third section, for which all components have already been prepared and painted.
The final assembly will involve work above and below the waterline.
Huszcz said a protective tunnel was being built so that the underwater part could be joined and welded about a meter below the surface.
The two outer sections of the dock are each more than 80 meters long. They will contain the key installations, including two large pumping stations that will form part of the ballast system.
Two cranes will run along the left and right towers of the dock and will be used during ship repair work.
Once in service, the dock will allow Gryfia to inspect and repair ships more than 230 meters long, around 36 meters wide and weighing up to 24,000 tons, the largest vessels entering the ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście.
Huszcz said it would also be able to handle vessels with unusual weight distribution, including ro-pax ferries, ships designed to carry both passengers and freight.
He added that recesses at the bow and stern would allow repairs to ships fitted with azimuth thrusters, propulsion units that can rotate to improve maneuverability.
Gryfia has already prepared its site for the new structure, which will be designated Dock No. 8 and is expected to become the most important element of the yard’s infrastructure in Szczecin.
Works completed last year included a 17-meter docking depth in the Oder, new power cables, an upgraded quay and a new 57-meter pier, at a cost of PLN 140 million.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP, szczecin.tvp.pl