The Suez Canal Authority has achieved the biggest qualitative transit operation in the canal’s history with the transit of the floating dock Dourado through the Canal's new waterway in the northbound convoy.
According to the SCA, the 90-metre-wide dock was towed from the front by two escorting tugs, while being piloted by five of the authority’s tugs and a team of its senior pilots and tug masters during its voyage from Singapore to Türkiye.
“The successful transit of the floating dock Dourado is the biggest qualitative transit operation in the canal's history for a towed marine unit with a beam of 90 metres,” SCA chairman Ossama Rabiee said.
The authority said the transit of the floating dock was also considered to be one of the most non-conventional transit operations, as it was the largest floating unit to transit the canal by towing, with a total transit length (including the dock and tugs) of 450 metres, a width of 90 metres, and a tonnage of 91 000 tonnes.
Its transit required complex navigation arrangements due to the nature of the floating unit, which relies solely on tugs for steering and requires precise manoeuvring and careful monitoring of the directions of air and water currents to maintain its navigational axis in the canal throughout the voyage.
Rabiee said the transit had taken nearly 24 hours and had required several pre-transit procedures, starting with a navigation plan prepared by the authority’s Navigation Monitoring Centre. This was followed by discussions and the analysis of safety measures at the SCA's Simulation and Maritime Training Academy. A working group of pilots and tug masters then conducted an initial inspection of the dock at the Suez anchorage area.
He said these preparations had commenced in coordination with the dock's owners before the start of the voyage.
Rabiee added that the floating dock would not have been able to transit without the completion of the canal's expansion project as part of the southern sector development project.
Before expansion, the maximum allowable beam to transit was 70 metres, as per navigation regulations. The expansion added 40 metres to the canal’s width on the eastern side, reducing water current effects and enhancing navigation safety in the southern sector. It has also improved the waterway’s efficiency and capacity to accommodate floating units that previously could not transit.
