Drydocks World – Dubai, a leading ship repair, conversion and new building company under the Drydocks World group, has carried out its first operation on the advanced 6000-tonne ship lift.

The inauguration took place at the industrial precinct in Dubai Maritime City (DMC), which also has another ship lift with a capacity of 3000 tonnes, which is operational already.

The operation involved the lifting of M Y Bart Roberts, a mega pleasure yacht weighing 2,310 tonnes, and transporting it safely to one of the 11 dry berths in the 6000 tonne ship lift facility.

'This is a milestone event that will significantly enhance our current vessel handling capabilities,' said Hamad Al Maghrabi, director of the Jadaf facility and DMC – ship lift.

'The Middle East's largest computerised ship lift is now operational and we are very proud of this achievement. This new development will further support and reinforce Drydocks World – Dubai's position as one of the most prolific shipyards in operation. The 6000 tonne ship lift will now enable the yard to handle larger vessels, workboats and yachts which will tremendously sharpen our competitive edge,” he added.

Ali Al Dabood, the deputy executive director of the DMC Authority, and chief operations officer at DMC said: “One of our priorities as a maritime authority in Dubai is to support the existence of a strong ship maintenance and support infrastructure in Dubai.”

“The successful operation and testing of the 6000 tonne ship lift in DMC will certainly help position Dubai and the UAE as a main player in the global shipping repair and servicing industry.”

The ship lift is 130 metres long, 35 metres wide and has the capacity to lift vessels weighing up to 6,000 tonnes. The newly operational ship lift is the larger of the two ship lifts, built recently to boost vessel handling capabilities of the ship repair yard.

The first ship lift, 90 metres long, 25 meters wide and 14 metres in depth, is already operational with the capacity to lift vessels weighing up to 3,000 tonnes with 33 dry berths.

Manufactured by world-renowned ship lift specialist company Hydraudyne Rexroth, both the ship lifts are capable of 14 metre vertical travel with platforms and vessels.

Last year, DMC signed a contract with Drydocks World – Dubai giving the latter exclusive rights to run and manage all components of DMC’s  Industrial Precinct, including wet berths, dry berths, workshops, warehouses, the 3,000-tonne and 6,000-tonne ship lifts, the ship lift control building, central administration building and covered yacht repair area, among other areas. – TradeArabia News Service