Conrad Building Drydock For Biblia Inc.

JMS Naval Architects reported February 10 that it designed a 500-ton-capacity floating drydock for Biblia Inc. Marine Towing & Transportation of Savannah, Ga. The drydock is currently under construction at Conrad Shipyard, Morgan City, La.

Biblia owns and operates a fleet of tugs and barges, providing marine transportation, bed-leveling, agitation dredging and dragging services on the East Coast, Gulf Coast and Western Rivers of the United States. Biblia will use the drydock to service its own tugs and offer similar repair and maintenance services to other vessel owners in the area from its Savannah River facilities.

The new drydock, which will replace Biblia’s existing drydock, is 120 feet long, 60 feet wide, has a 6-foot-deep pontoon and 14-foot-tall wing walls. The dock will primarily be used for hauling tugs with a maximum length of 120 feet and draft of 10 feet. The drydock design incorporates a shore power connection, onboard generator and individual pumps. One end of the dry dock is raked to facilitate towing the dock.

JMS developed a complete engineering and design package including all structural design, stability and outfitting meeting the requirements of the ABS Rules for Building and Classing Steel Floating Dry Docks. Systems include the ballast system, sea-chest arrangement, electrical and pump and discharge piping. JMS also designed the power system including generator arrangement, fuel tank arrangement and electrical and piping system one-lines.

The dock, which is partially funded by a $1.3 million Small Shipyard Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, is scheduled to arrive at the Biblia Inc. Shipyard in the spring of 2021.

JMS Naval Architects is headquartered in Mystic, Conn.