Cruise ship Carnival Vista will undergo a dry docking whilst it is resting on Boskalis' semi-submersible heavy lift vessel Boka Vanguard. This world first will take place in the coming weeks in Freeport, Bahamas.
The Carnival Vista is the second largest cruise ship in the Carnival fleet with a capacity of nearly 4000 passengers and a length in excess of 300 metres. Due to technical issues with the ship’s azipods, the ship’s main propulsion system, the vessel must be repaired in a dry dock, which is currently not available in the region.
Loading and Lifting
Boskalis will facilitate this dry dock repair by deploying the Boka Vanguard, which is the world’s largest semi-submersible heavy lift vessel. The Carnival Vista will be loaded onto the Boka Vanguard off the coast of Freeport. This loading and lifting operation is planned to take place between 12 and 14 July. It will then transport the Carnival Vista to a nearby shipyard facility where the repairs will take place while still resting on the Boka Vanguard. Upon completion of the repairs, the Carnival Vista will be offloaded in time for its next cruise voyage later this month.
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Watch an animation of the operation below.
Boka Vanguard
The Boka Vanguard can lift and transport extremely heavy cargoes. It can transport large offshore oil and gas structures, but can also carry other vessels and act as a floating offshore dry dock facility. The Boka Vanguard is unique in that is has an open and flat stern and bow-less deck measuring 275 by 70 metres allowing the vessel to lift and transport cargo’s longer and wider than these deck dimensions.
By filling its ballast tanks, the ship deck is submerged in a controlled manner, allowing it to lift deep draught cargoes. This creates an alternative for dry docking allowing inspections and repairs to be safely and efficiently conducted at a location where traditional dry dock alternatives are not available.
