Heavy industry at the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife has reached a turning point in its operational capacity. Tenerife Shipyards, part of the Hidramar Group, completed the technical immersion maneuver of its new floating dry dock, named Hidramar Ultra 22000, at the East Basin, Europa Press reports. The on-site validation test paves the way for the facility to begin operating permanently as the largest dry-docking infrastructure installed on the island to date.
The operation involved the controlled flooding of the ballast tanks and the progressive submergence of the structure’s floor until it reached the draft required to maneuver large vessels. Throughout the exercise, naval engineers, port-maneuvering specialists and safety technicians assessed the platform’s hydrostatic behavior, its structural response to pressure on the hull and the complete watertight integrity of the sealed compartments.
One of the most significant parameters of the technical operation was the performance of the main pumping system. The facility has eight redundant, high-performance centrifugal pumps, whose function is to remove accumulated water from the internal tanks and raise the structure with the vessel inside it. Data collected at the East Basin confirmed that the technical team can complete the full immersion and lifting sequence within two hours. This interval reduces commercial vessels’ time in dry dock, optimizing the operating costs shipping companies incur during scheduled dry-dockings.
The commissioning of this naval giant strengthens the competitive position of the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Middle Atlantic shipping routes. The structure, measuring 240 meters in length and with a lifting capacity of 22,000 deadweight tonnes, enables the Tenerife port to accommodate Panamax-sized vessels in dry dock. This category includes container ships, refined-product tankers, medium-sized cruise ships, cable-laying vessels and units specializing in servicing the offshore oil and gas industry.
Historically, the lack of a facility of this kind in the Canary Islands forced vessels requiring hull repairs or periodic classification inspections to divert to shipyards in northern Europe or along the West African coast. Certification of the floating dock allows Tenerife Shipyards to capture that market share on the Atlantic transit route itself, retaining technically complex work that had previously passed the archipelago by.
The shipyard has designed the floor of the Hidramar Ultra 22000 to undertake marine engineering projects on vessels’ underwater hulls. The facilities are equipped for the large-scale replacement of steel plates on hulls, the alignment and repair of shaft lines, comprehensive maintenance of rudders and propellers, the replacement of sea valves and paint removal using ultra-high-pressure water blasting (Ultra High Pressure Hydroblasting) before marine coatings are applied.
After successfully completing the immersion process, the shipyard’s production team began work on leveling the wooden keel blocks on the floor and calibrating the guiding towers used to secure vessels. The deployment of this infrastructure will have a direct impact on the island’s labor market. Hidramar estimates that the dock’s continuous operation will generate more than 150 direct jobs and approximately 300 indirect jobs on the island. Demand for skilled professionals will cover highly qualified industrial specialties, including certified welders, boilermakers, industrial pipefitters, marine electricians and mechanics specializing in hydraulic power systems. With this maneuver, Tenerife gains a strategic tool for competing in the heavy ship-repair business across the Atlantic region.
The article The scaling up of ship repair in the Canary Islands with the arrival of the Hidramar Ultra 22000 dock was first published on canarymaritime.com.
