Washington-based Everett Ship Repair has expanded its operations with the addition of a new dry dock, the Emerald Lifter. The dry dock, which has a lifting capacity of 2,000 tons and working deck area of 220 feet by 62 feet, has been positioned at Everett Ship Repair’s Port of Everett facility.
The repair facility is also adding a 150-ton capacity floating crane to service both of the yard’s dry docks. Currently, ESR operates the Faithful Servant, a 430-foot by-110-foot dry dock with 8,000-ton capacity; with the new acquisition, the company said, it will be able to offer services to a wider range of vessels.
“The combination of the two dry docks lends itself well to serving (articulated tug barges) as it can now serve both tug and barge in the two dry docks simultaneously,” the company explained in a statement. “The Emerald Lifter will provide services to both the Commercial and Government market segments with a focus on tugboats, fishing vessels and other workboats.”
The Emerald Lifter was put into service in early spring to serve the dry-dock needs of vessels on the U.S. West Coast. The expansion significantly enhances ESR’s capabilities as well as creating new jobs within the region, the company said.
“The expansion of capacity at Everett Ship Repair allows us, in combination with (sister company) Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, to provide unparalleled services to the marine industry in the Puget Sound and surrounding areas,” CEO Gavin Higgins said.
The drydock addition follows the mid-March news that Everett Ship Repair has purchased two new 40,000psi ultra-high-pressure (UHP) water blasting systems. Both systems have been delivered to the shipyard and put into production.
UHP water blasting is considered a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative to abrasive solid blasting material, Everett Ship Repair explained.
The systems, capable of standard surface preparation and specialty applications, ESR has said, allow the company to deploy up to four water blasters simultaneously in a wide variety of applications. They include internal tank hydro blasting for cleaning and coatings removal.
“The UHP water blasting system minimizes labor and waste stream produced by traditional grit blasting,” the company explained in a statement. “The system robot is capable and reduces the need for manlifts and scaffolding to access and remove coatings from a ship’s hull and other structures. These robots have an additional benefit of reducing risk of injury and fatigue of personnel.
“By using a UHP water blasting system ESR is reducing impact on the environment and the health and safety of personnel. Water blasting is an environmentally responsible process that produces no air pollution and creates significantly less waste disposal over solid grit blasting.”
When water blasting is performed, the water is reclaimed through a separation system and leaves an inert and non-hazardous sludge behind for disposal, as opposed to sandblasting, which can generate sizable amounts of spent material, including paint chips, silica and heavy metals. Water blasting also creates less noise compared to sandblasting and mechanical coating removal methods.
The firm also plans use its UHP system outside the shipyard, and is offering surface prep for removal of unwanted or contaminated surface materials. The services, according to the company, include pipe cleaning, tank cleaning and UHP surface preparation for marine and industrial customers.