Austal USA has launched AFDM 15 into the Mobile River, a steel structure that measures 694 feet (about 212 meters), weighs approximately 12,000 tons and offers 90,800 square feet of working deck. This is the Navy\u00b4s first new Auxiliary Floating Dry Dock Medium in more than 40 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This dock works by doing something ships normally try to avoid: instead of being designed to remain high in the water, the objective is to flood its ballast tanks, so that it sinks enough to place itself beneath a warship. Then the tanks are emptied, lifting both vessels out of the water. The AFDM can support up to 18,000 long tons, so this ability to control its buoyancy<\/a> could help the Navy solve maintenance delays that keep big ships out of service longer than expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lifting a destroyer for maintenance is not as simple as raising a car. At around 500 feet long<\/a>, it needs a huge dry dock to lift the sections that are below the waterline. This action is necessary to access and repair the hull<\/a>, propeller shafts, and the sonar equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The process follows different stages. First, the dock fills its ballast tanks and moves its deck below the vessel. After this step, tugboats and crews position the ship above a series of support blocks. After pumps remove the water, the dock rises carrying the ship on top of it, pulling it out of the water. Although the scale is huge, the method is quite simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AFDM 15 is not attached to a single basin, so it can be moved when it is necessary. This \u201cRennie\u201d design<\/a> includes side walls with separate pontoon sections, to gain buoyancy and stability. The dock measures 157 feet wide and 65 feet from its base to the wing deck, with enough power to move heavy Navy destroyers and cruisers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before entering the river, AFDM 15 had to be carried by a bigger dry dock. After it was built on land at Alabama Shipyard, it was taken to Dry Dock Alabama on July 25, 2026. Three days later, the larger dock was flooded, allowing AFDM 15 to float free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This summary does not really show the real scale of the operation. Crews worked for nine days, getting ready to receive the dock and used 1,500 crane mats<\/a>. Berard Transportation then moved the giant structure on self-propelled transporters<\/a>, and finally, tugboats guided it into the Mobile River.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA floating dry dock used as a tool<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A dock without engines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n