The world's mightiest ships and magnets for some forms of sea life a clinging
barnacle might be no bigger than a coin in your pocket but these tiny creatures
are public enemy number one for seafaring folk because a billion
blistering barnacles would destroy a ship's hydrodynamic shape massively
reducing speed and increasing fuel consumption but spring-cleaning the hull
of these ships is a huge and complicated job so much so they only do it once
every five years so how do they do it
7:55 a.m. Drydocks world Dubai the hub of the global oil industry
this is one of a handful of facilities large enough to cope with the world's
biggest heaviest supertankers Dubai's bicycling dock workers are about to face
one of their greatest challenges euro Navs very large crude carrier Antarctica
there's a reason she's named after a continent this beast is the length of
three football pitches the height of a 25 story building this vessel weighs in
at over 300,000 tonnes more than six times the size of the Titanic and it's a
pig to park the job of getting this beer moth in the
right place at the right time falls to veteran pilot captain Ravi Penn Amati
line up at the dock he has to guide the big ship through a
narrow deep water channel 385 metres wide without Ravi's knowledge
of these shallow treacherous waters there's a very real chance Antarctica
could collide with Arabia at the world's biggest dry docks time isn't just money
it's lots and lots of money every day these massive ships aren't working costs
tens of thousands of dollars
so while one crew of workers finishes one ship another crews preparing the
dock for Antarctica's arrival this ship is the mascot gun she's receiving the
finishing touches of a high-tech paint job costing nearly a million dollars
this silicon coating makes the ship's hull too slippery for any suckers to
cling to at the same time another crew is at work preparing the dock for the
next visitor the giant Antarctica getting the ship into dock safely and
supporting it without causing damage to the hull is a massive challenge as the
water is drained from the dock the super tanker will sink to support
her the dock crew is laying down a bed of concrete blocks
hundreds of them each lined with high-density rubber and weighing nine
tons there are already 279 blocks in position supporting the conquer
Antarctica is so much bigger another 142 will have to be added to
support her weight precision is vital the blocks must be laid out in an exact
pattern at 6 meter intervals corresponding to load-bearing supports
inside the ship a few blocks in the wrong place could rip a hole in the hull
and cause the ship to fall over and at over three hundred and fifteen thousand
tons it would be tough to pick her up again 9:15 a.m. the blocks are in place
but the clock is ticking every delay costs tens of thousands of dollars so
every detail of the operation is plotted out carefully the bottom of the Folies
must be the harbor master captain joseph Anthony is the man who must ensure
everyone sticks to the plan as soon as captain joseph gives the all-clear the
dock is flooded and the previous occupant is towed out to make way for
the mighty Antarctica
as if steering a 315 thousand ton ship down a narrow channel isn't tough enough
to enter drydock you have to do it backwards that means a full 180 degree
turn in a tight spot and there are no fenders on this thing super tankers
don't turn on a dime so Antarctica's going to need some heavy
weight help
these tucks have an impressive power-to-weight ratio
they're 4,000 horsepower diesel engines give them the grunt they need to push
around the world's bigger ships even so it takes six of these pint-sized
powerhouses to get Antarctica into position the turn is tough and
time-consuming but it's worth the effort going in Stern first
puts all the ships vital parts in easy reach of the heavy equipment at the back
of the dock a perfect three-point turn without so much as a look in the
rearview mirror so far so good Antarctica is facing the right way but
now comes the really tricky bit getting her into the dry dock itself is very
very 60 meters beam and 66 meters is the width of the dock so we have got only
three meter clearance on either side of the ship on wrong ready for push with
only three metres to spare on either side the tiniest error would be
disastrous
a single slip could cost millions of dollars
as the mechanized mules heave away the weight is agonizing for the team after
more than an hour of delicate maneuvering the Antarctica completely
fills the massive dock
12:15 p.m. with the ship finally in position it's time for the drydock to
start living up to its name a two and a half metre thick gate is mechanically
raised from the docks floor cutting it off from the sea if any of the
supporting blocks are in the wrong position it's too late to do anything
about it now the locked gates are designed to use the colossal force of
the seawater pressing in from outside to seal and shut as soon as the gate is in
place gigantic pumps force water out into the
sea at a rate of almost 25,000 litres per second the dock contains nearly
300,000 cubic meters of water equivalent to 120 Olympic swimming pools even at
this rate it takes over three hours to empty
once the ship is resting on the array of concrete blocks work can begin on the V
LCC Antarctica
high-pressure hoses bubble the 41 thousand square metres of Hull with
fresh water the blast scours every trace of marine life from
the hull restoring its sleek lines after the clean the mighty ship will get her
paint job according to the manufacturer the high-tech coating will keep a ship's
hull too slippery for suckers for another ten years