Shipping Corporation of India is the Indian government owned public sector organization servicing the national and international trade by operating and managing vessels. With its headquarters in Mumbai, over the years SCI has turned out to be lifeline of the nation delivering uninterrupted supply of crude oil.  SCI - India’s premier shipping line drives the economy operating around one-third of the Indian tonnage. SCI being largest Indian Shipping Company delivers a wide range of services to the overseas trade.

Let’s have a look at Dry Docking:

What is Dry Docking?

Dry Docking refers to a process where vessel is taken to the service yard to clean and inspect the submerged portions of the ship. The ship is taken to the dry land to repair or replace the defected portions of the hull. Dry Docking is carried out every 12 months to 24 months.

What are the Phases of Dry Docking?

Dry Docking being non-spontaneous process involves months of planning and preparing the dock considering the meticulous details of the ship.
A.Pre-docking Preparation: 

The dry docking procedure is planned meticulously. The dock master prepares a docking plan considering the minute details of the ship structure a few days before the ship is to be dry docked. The details involve hull structure of the ship, echo sounders and locations of the drain plugs ensuring these parts aren’t damaged while dry docking.

B.Prepare a Docking Plan:

The dry docking process is carefully planned to be executed with ease. Designers and Dock Masters take assistance from the series of sketches and detailed calculations of the ship’s height, weight and structure. The docking plan consist of successfully docking a ship and easily undocking, reducing the risk of ship capsizing while undocking.
C.Understanding the Stability Conditions:

It is essential for the ship to be stable while docking. The weight distribution is calculated accurately before the ship is taken for docking. The entire weight of the ship is tolerated by keel blocks, the smallest error in calculations of the stability conditions might lead to accident. Thus, the stability condition of the ship to be docked is analyzed properly before the actual process begins.


The ship should adhere to all the predefined stability conditions when it arrives to the docking port. The propeller of the ship to be docked should be immersed and it needs to have the least weight. In case of the rough weather conditions dry docking should be avoided. The dock master and cleaners later board the vessel.

E.The Actual Docking:

Post the ship satisfies the pre-docking conditions, it is tugged into the dock due to unavailability of the engine. While the ship is tugged into the dock it is moored and secured. Later the crew takes over and begins pumping the dock water, running the ballast pump and eliminating the drain plugs during the cleaning procedure.

Wrap Up:

Shipping Corporation of India delivers a wide range of services to the national and international services. It delivers exuberant dry docking facility to the ships that need to be cleaned and inspected for repairing the submerged portions.