Tenerife Shipyards Commission New Floating Dry Dock in Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 27 September (Europa Press) – Tenerife Shipyards, part of the Hidramar Group, has successfully completed the technical immersion of its new floating dry dock, the Hidramar Ultra 22000, at the East Dock of the Port of Santa Cruz. This dock is set to serve as a permanent operational base.
Jonathan Pérez, CEO of Hidramar, highlighted that this operation demonstrates the effort and competitiveness of Tenerife’s ship repair industry.
The process involved a controlled filling of ballast tanks, resulting in the dock’s immersion to a predetermined draft level for operations. Throughout the operation, naval engineers and safety technicians monitored the structure, checking the watertightness and its hydrostatic response to water pressure.
A crucial part of the day was assessing the pumping system, which includes eight high-capacity redundant centrifugal pumps to remove water and raise the structure. Measurements on Saturday confirmed that the equipment can complete immersion and elevation maneuvers within two hours, reducing docked ships’ downtime during technical stops.
The dry dock is expected to create over 150 direct jobs and 300 indirect jobs in Tenerife, with positions available in welding, metalwork, industrial piping, naval electricity, mechanics, and hydraulic systems.
The Hidramar Ultra 22000 will enhance ship repair capabilities in the Canary Islands. At 240 metres long and with a lifting capacity of 22,000 tonnes, it allows Santa Cruz to service Panamax vessels such as container ships, product tankers, medium-sized cruises, cable ships, and offshore industry support vessels. Previously, larger vessels had to divert to northern European ports or the west African coast for mandatory inspections and below-water repairs.
With this certification, Tenerife Shipyards can now undertake these operations within Tenerife’s port, enabling complex mechanical and structural interventions. Planned maintenance includes steel replacement on the hull, checking shaft lines, servicing rudders and propellers, changing underwater valves, and high-pressure cleaning of hulls before applying marine paint.
Following the immersion, the shipyard’s technical team has begun adjusting the supports on the dry dock floor and checking the alignment systems for securing vessels. After completing the necessary administrative inspections, Tenerife Shipyards will announce the date for the first commercial vessel to be docked soon.
