Simplified Dry Dock Project Workflow

Making life easier with a simplified dry dock project workflow

What if the time spent vetting, contacting, negotiating and building trust in shipyards around the world for multiple dry dock requirements, repairs and routine maintenance, as well as larger, more complex jobs like LNG retrofitting, could be condensed into a much simpler, shorter, online exchange?

The work involved in building trusted ship manager and supplier relationships cannot be underestimated. You want to select a shipyard based on its credentials and quality standards but, depending on where your ships are, that could mean literally sifting through hundreds of contenders before you can even start picking up the phone to speak to them or their brokers.  

Then, you need to get your own people on the ground to check things out and ensure you get the best possible deal and the highest levels of service and workmanship. Even after all that due diligence, when it comes down to the job itself and your ship is in the dry dock, you are reliant on the yard to keep to its promised schedule and performance. These are risks that need to be minimised at every opportunity.

The power of the network in ship maintenance

A pre-vetted, global network of shipyards that have been carefully selected based on their standards of performance, quality of workmanship, reliability and customer experience could be a game changer for technical managers tasked with managing the busy maintenance schedules of multiple vessels. 

Relying on a trusted partner to take some of the project management risk, obligation and general project strain sounds ideal, but in reality, what value does that bring to the fleet manager’s day-to-day operations and how does it weigh up against the traditional way of doing things?

Priority access to ship repair yards

With multiple vessels to manage, fleet managers need a clear view of shipyard availability and viable alternatives to still get the best deal if plans need to change. Priority access to suit your schedule is paramount, so working together with a trusted partner with the right access to yards and the knowledge of how your company prefers to operate, would save a lot of time and eradicate the associated headaches. If that partner can also open the door to a global network of pre-vetted ship repair yard partners, with no exclusive arrangements or preferences but only what is best for your ships in mind, life would be a whole lot easier.

High quality workmanship for vessel maintenance

We have all experienced productivity being stifled by micro-management. The same applies to shipyards that spend too much time dealing with paperwork, calls and visits from ship managers and are therefore less able to focus fully on getting the job done on time and to the highest quality standards. Both sides ultimately lose. The value of having a trusted partner on the ground means you do not have to keep chasing for updates - they come to you proactively. Fleet managers are therefore able to keep track of multiple projects simultaneously, without the pain of micro-managing each one of them.

Standardized, stable and instant pricing for ship repairs

Getting a final price for ship repair projects can be a time-consuming challenge, so having instant, online quotes for standard ship repair and maintenance tasks is a huge benefit for technical managers with multiple assets to consider. When working through multiple layers of brokers, the first price is rarely the final price; discounts may be negotiated, credit and payment terms may have an effect and the whole process can drag on interminably. Condensing that process is key to your productivity. A platform that can roll the multi-layered process of quoting projects into one, quickly, efficiently and based on regularly-updated price lists from yards around the world, gives transparency and peace of mind to ship management teams and their leaders.

All of these factors contribute to a greater level of reassurance for the people that bear the high risks involved in dry dock projects, enabling them to manage their fleet’s repair and retrofitting workflows efficiently and effectively with complete control that is backed up by trackable, auditable processes.