Guam floating dry dock self-submerges

Floating dry docks are supposed to submerge. But only when intended to. Guam Shipyard’s floating dry dock was being dewatered Monday after an unscheduled submersion after what shipyard President and CEO Mathews Pothen called “inclement weather” caused the unit to partially sink.

Now called “Big Blue,” the dry dock is the former AFDB-8 Machinist once in service at the U.S.Navy’s Subic Bay facility in the Philippines. Built in 1980 in Germany it has a length of 825 ft and breadth of 175 ft.

Local media quoted Mr. Pothen as saying that once dewatered a comprehensive assessment will be conducted to determine if any there were any damages to the dry dock.

A 150 gallon diesel tank that was floating from the dry dock area was recovered. There was no oil spill and no one was injured.

Local media quote the U.S. Coast Guard in Guam as saying that it was conducting an investigation and that at one time the dry dock was two-thirds submerged.