March/April 2014
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ThePort of Baltimore
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it inservice twoyearsaheadof new federal
and state regulationspertaining to surface
water,” saidCary.
The new drydock measures 114 feet
by 75 feet and allows repairs on multiple
vessels simultaneously when paired with
the original dock. The drydocks are built
to accommodate tugboats, passenger
vessels and the myriad of other vessels
that keep the Port working. These steel
vessels require routine maintenance that
includes removingoldpaint and recoating
them toprotect them from rust.Whena tug
arrives for this “shaveandahaircut,”paint
is removed with an ultra-high-pressure
water blaster.
“We are very cognizant of our location
here, and how it has changed since our
grandfather started the business,” said
Mike Lynch. Key Highway was once the
center of ship repair in the Port. Today,
condos, restaurants and offices line the
harbor. “We do no sandblasting on the
drydocks at all.”
Inaddition to thedrydocks, theshipyard
has a machine shop capable of repairing
the tail shaft of a large tugboat. There is
also a fabrication shop that can quickly
produce a replacement part for a ship.
Even though today’s ships are far too
large tocome to the InnerHarbor shipyard,
the yard goes to the ships, performing
“downriver” ship repair, sending skilled
workers to make repairs so the customer
canget right back towork.
“Recently, we were called to replace
an 18-inch sea valve on a shipwith a tight
schedule,” said Derick. “We had divers
down to secure the sea chest. Our team
arrived only to find the spare valve on the
ship was inoperable, so we found a new
valve, picked it up inRichmondand,within
thespaceof hours insteadof days, theship
was underway again.”
Derick added, “Everyone who works
here takes pride in being able to keep
the vessels moving.” He noted that the
front-line supervisorsmeet with the Lynch
brothers each morning at 7 a.m. to plan
theday. This teamhasworked together for
many years and the meetings reflect the
General Ship culture.
On this day, dockmaster RickRappold
is training a young naval architect in the
safemethod tooperate thedrydockso that
a vessel canbe floated onto it.
“Wearecommitted toserving thePort’s
needs for ship repair ina safeand sustain-
ablemanner,” saidCary.
