Halong Cruise ship drydock and things you might not know

The same as your car needs to be maintained on a regular basis, a ship needs to be checked so often in a pre-defined time. Cruise ship dry docks can mean new things about the ships you already know. 

What is drydock?

“Dry docking is a term used for repairs or when a ship is taken to the service yard. During dry docking, the whole ship is brought to a dry land so that the submerged portions of the hull can be cleaned or inspected” – The Economic Times.

What do we do during drydock?

The cruise will need to stop operation. The time for drydock varies among different types of vessel and its conditions but it last 3 weeks on average. Usually, in Halong dry docking is done every 12 months for wooden boats and in 24 months for steel ships.

While the ship is in drydock, many contractors will come onboard to do their work. Basically, it is divided into two parts, the machinery inspects and cosmetic upgrades. An extensive inspection of the ship’s machine, electrical system, in-cabin and restaurant facilities is conducted including parts that are unreachable while the ship is cruising. The ship is not only a waterways vehicle but also a hospitality property so amenities and the vessel itself is refined with new carpets, new beddings… the whole vessel is repainted with anti-corrosive and anti-fouling paints.

During the drydock period, most of the crew members will get offboard. Some can take their days off, other can move to another cruise to support crew there. Captain and technical team will go to the shipyard and monitor the drydock procedures.

By thorough maintenance, we are proud and confident that our cruise fleet is always at the best condition for smooth Halong Bay discovery. To make sure you have a perfect cruise, Bhaya Group staffs and mechanics keep working hard under the dry dock as schedule every year.

Bhaya Group fleet’s drydock schedule for 2017 is available here. Some cruises have already finished and been ready for new epic voyages.