Top Dry Docks in the World

Top 10 Dry Docks in the World

Dry docks are essential facilities for shipbuilding and repair. Naval vessels are transported to shipyards, where their underwater components (such as the hull) undergo inspection and maintenance, which is crucial for extending the ship's service life.

With the emergence of new maritime technologies, efficient and sustainable ships are being built to reduce shipping pollution.

Let's take a look at the world's top 10 dry docks and their characteristics.

1. CSBC Shipyard, Kaohsiung

Founded in 1937, CSBC is Taiwan's largest shipbuilding company, offering a wide range of services, including the construction of commercial and government vessels, naval vessels, marine steel structures, machinery manufacturing, marine engineering , equipment assembly, and maritime transportation .

Over the past three decades, the company has built various types of vessels for domestic and international clients from Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The company was a state-owned enterprise until its privatization in 2008.

CSBC, formerly the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, is currently headquartered in Kaohsiung and has a regional office in Taipei to answer customer inquiries. The company owns two major shipyards: the Kaohsiung Shipyard in southern Taiwan, home to the world's largest dry dock, and the Keelung Shipyard in northern Taiwan.

The Kaohsiung dry dock is 950 meters long, 92 meters wide, and has a draft of 14 meters. Located near Taiwan's largest port, it is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and equipment, including advanced facilities for building efficient and durable ships. The dry dock can simultaneously build and repair four vessels exceeding 10,000 tons.

2. Hyundai Heavy Industries - Gunsan Shipyard

Hyundai Heavy Industries , a subsidiary of the Hyundai Group, is a leading global shipbuilding company with a 15% global market share. The company's Gunsan Shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea, is one of the world's largest shipyards, stretching four kilometers along the Mipo Bay coastline.

The shipyard is a leading manufacturer of marine propulsion systems. Since its establishment in 1974, it has delivered 2,151 vessels of various sizes to 321 shipowners in 50 countries worldwide. In 2017, its total production reached 200 million deadweight tons, and in 2018, it delivered the world's largest container ship, the COSCO Globe.

The shipyard boasts ten dry docks, each 700 meters long and 115 meters wide, equipped with large cranes, enabling the construction of vessels of various sizes and types. The shipyard occupies 1,780 acres and also boasts extensive storage facilities covering 395 acres. The shipyard is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and equipment, including an automated steel cutting line, a paint shop, a metalworking plant, and a crankshaft workshop.

With convenient transportation, the shipyard specializes in building bulk carriers, container ships, oil tankers, product tankers, multipurpose cargo ships, car carriers, ro-ro vessels, chemical tankers , offshore drilling platforms, and barges. The shipyard also provides shipping and marine engineering services.

The shipyard closed in 2017 due to a slump in the shipbuilding industry , but according to news reports, it will reopen in January 2023. Authorities plan to transform it into a major environmentally friendly shipbuilding base and increase China's share of the growing global market for low-carbon vessels, such as ammonia- and hydrogen-powered vessels. 3. Dalian COSCO Shipyard

3. Dalian COSCO shipyard

Established in 2007, Dalian COSCO Shipyard is a joint venture between China Shipping Group and Kawasaki Heavy Industries. The shipyard, also known as DACKS, is located in Dalian, a hub for the marine industry and technology in Northeast China.

The shipyard covers an area of over 1.89 million square meters, has a 2,500-meter coastline, and features two dry docks, one of which, at 700 meters, is the longest in China. The shipyard also features a 180,000-ton floating dock, three outfitting berths, a 250-meter-long ramp, Asia's largest final assembly shop covering 125,000 square meters, three workshops, a pipe fabrication shop, and three paint shops. The shipyard employs 2,000 highly trained employees, including 300 engineers and technicians.

Upon completion, the shipyard will have two drydocks and four piers.

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The company builds large bulk carriers, very large crude carriers (VLCCs), container ships, car carriers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, and merchant ships. It also provides ship conversion services, including the conversion of very large crude carriers (VLCCs) into floating offshore platforms (FPSOs), very large crude carriers (VLCCs) into floating offshore platforms (VLOCs), and single-hull tankers into double-hull tankers. Currently, the company repairs over 200 vessels of all types annually.

It builds vessels of various types and sizes equipped with innovative ship technologies for leading shipping companies .

4. Reliance Marine and Engineering Limited (R-NAVAL) - Pipavav Shipyard

Reliance, formerly known as Pipavav Shipyard Limited and Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Limited, was acquired by the Reliance Group in 2016. This Mumbai-based Indian shipbuilding company boasts one of the world's largest shipbuilding and offshore engineering infrastructures and is the first Indian private sector company to receive a license to build warships.

Located in Pipavav, Gujarat, the shipyard spans over 500 acres and boasts a 750-meter-long promenade. The shipyard features a 640-meter-long, 65-meter-wide dry dock that can accommodate vessels up to 400,000 deadweight tons. It also has a 100-meter-long paved ramp for unloading machinery and other equipment from ships and barges using a large crane. The shipyard also has two mobile cranes with a total lifting capacity of 1,150 tons.

The shipyard offers floating repair facilities and a 250-meter-long dry dock equipped with a flat-bottom crane.

A few kilometers from the dry dock lies a 95-hectare special economic zone dedicated to block manufacturing. The dry dock houses several workshops, factories, and other facilities, providing ample space for repair, maintenance, and assembly. The shipyard is renowned for its construction and repair of bulk carriers, barges, naval vessels, platform supply vessels, and offshore units. It also has a facility for converting mobile offshore production units into mobile offshore production platforms.

5. Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. - Geoje Shipyard

Samsung Heavy Industries is one of the largest shipbuilding companies in South Korea and globally. Its operations span the shipping and transportation sectors, including digital R&D for port projects. Samsung Heavy Industries provides marine engineering, shipbuilding, and delivery services, including the construction of deck units, drilling rigs, floating platforms, and ship control systems, with manufacturing facilities in South Korea and overseas.

The company's Geoje Shipyard is the largest shipyard in South Korea and boasts the highest dock turnover rate globally. The Geoje Shipyard boasts five floating docks and three dry docks, the third of which is 640 meters long, 97.5 meters wide, and 13 meters deep. The yard can accommodate the world's largest bulk carriers, very large crude carriers (VLCCs), and can also build highly efficient supertankers.

Founded in 1977, the facility covers 4 million square meters and can repair, build, and refit 70 ships annually. Its offshore facilities have an annual throughput of 250 million tons.

The Geoje Shipyard primarily builds special-purpose vessels such as crude oil tankers, LNG carriers, oil drilling vessels, floating offshore storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs) and floating offshore storage and offloading vessels (FSOs), container ships, passenger ships, and Arctic shuttle tankers. The shipyard currently focuses on contracts for LNG carriers and drillships. These vessels are built on floating docks using innovative methods such as Terra Block technology to shorten construction time.

6. Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.

Headquartered in Yeongnam, South Korea, Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. is the world's fifth-largest shipyard. The company has expanded its business from shipbuilding to offshore manufacturing. The company built the world's first LNG-powered crude oil tanker and is a leading manufacturer of green energy vessels. It has built numerous LNG carriers, container ships, and bulk carriers equipped with carbon-reduction technologies. Its facilities can build approximately 40 ships annually.

Hyundai Samho Shipyard, located in South Jeolla Province, South Korea, boasts one of the world's largest dry docks. The facility, covering approximately 3.3 million square meters, consists of two dry docks and has an annual construction capacity of 3.7 million gross tons. The facility is equipped with five giant gantry cranes and two mobile cranes. In addition, the facility houses a workshop and automated shipbuilding and repair facilities. It can build approximately eight LNG carriers annually.

7. New Era Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.

New Era Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. is a Chinese shipbuilding company located in the Xingang Industrial Park in Jiangsu Province, China. Jinjiang New Era Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.'s shipyard covers over one million square meters and has a 3,200-meter coastline. The shipyard houses a design institute, supporting facilities, two workshops, two supply berths, and three dry docks, the largest of which is 588 meters long and 106 meters wide.

The shipyard builds, maintains, and repairs bulk carriers, barges, oil tankers, cargo ships, Panamax tankers, and chemical tankers, as well as manufactures ship spare parts and control systems.

The shipyard can build aircraft carriers ranging from 100,000 to 300,000 tons, with an annual production capacity of 5 million deadweight tons. Currently, the company specializes in the construction of Aframax, Panamax, and Capesize bulk carriers. The shipyard has a professional team of 5,000 engineers and well-trained staff, providing efficient service.

8. China State Shipbuilding Corporation (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd.

China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSIC) is located in Jiangsu Province, a renowned commercial and financial center in China. It is one of China's most renowned ship repair and maintenance companies. To date, it has successfully built over 90 highly efficient vessels for its clients. The company has achieved significant growth, focusing on the production of environmentally friendly liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered vessels, outperforming its Japanese and South Korean competitors.

The company's shipyard, which commenced operations in 2007, enjoys a prime location adjacent to Jiajiang River. The well-preserved natural coastline on both sides of the Yangtze River, with a water depth of 3,500 meters, is an ideal location for shipbuilding. The shipyard covers 1,780 hectares and houses four workshops, two floating docks, three administrative buildings, and two dry docks, each 530 meters long, 136 meters wide, and with a draft of 14 meters.

The shipyard employs 2,950 employees and 29 engineers, specializing in the construction of container ships, tankers, non-submersible equipment, drilling platforms, and construction machinery.

9. Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (SCH)

Shanghai Jiangnan Changxing Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., established in 2006, is a leading shipbuilding company. The company's shipyard, originally located south of downtown Shanghai, relocated to Changxing Island near the Yangtze River estuary in 2009. The shipyard builds containerships of various types and sizes (5,000 to 10,000 TEUs), bulk carriers with a capacity of approximately 175,000 TEUs, large gas carriers , LNG carriers, offshore equipment, floating platforms, and steel mills to the standards of leading classification societies.

The shipyard also undertakes conversions for both civilian and military vessels.

Jiangnan Shipyard covers an area of 1.48 million square meters, has eight berths, and a total length of 1,870 meters. The shipyard also features five supply berths and a 580-meter-long dry dock equipped with two large gantry cranes with a lifting capacity exceeding 500 tons, three mobile sectional cranes, and a plate rolling machine. The shipyard also provides a paint shop and sandblasting services.

Due to its focus on building world-class container ships, the shipyard is known as China's container shipbuilding center.

10. Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.

Founded in 1999, the company, affiliated with the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, has approximately 5 million square meters of construction and repair space and a 4-kilometer-long quayside. The shipyard also features three outfitting berths, a 700-ton gantry crane, four cranes with a lifting capacity exceeding 500 tons, extensive sandblasting facilities, eight paint shops, and two dry docks.

The shipyard recently delivered a 210,000-ton Newcastlemax bulk carrier to the New York-based Foremost Group. Since 2013, the facility has built 500 commercial vessels, with an average annual delivery of 499 deadweight tons.