The backbone of KBS Maritime’s operations in His Majesty’s Naval Base Portsmouth, is the Waterfront activity, which provides the support to ships. Within the Destroyer/Frigate Centre of Excellence at 14 & 15 Dock, HMS Dauntless has been in dry-dock for the past couple of months for scheduled maintenance.
Ahead of the Christmas break, the maintenance on HMS Dauntless was finalised and she was successfully undocked which enabled the docking facility to be then used for the docking of HMS Diamond for scheduled maintenance over the Christmas period and into early 2023. Docking and undocking a Royal Navy vessel is a major undertaking and requires multiple professional stakeholders working in tandem.
Within the Naval Base lies a subterranean network of saltwater culverts, with large valves (penstocks) and pumps to lift the thousands of tons of water to enable the docking and undocking to allow for maintenance a large number of the Royal Navy’s Surface Fleet.
James Davis, Managing Director at KBS Maritime said, “Dry-docking is a highly planned and detailed process. The quick turnaround of the Destroyers in the docks before Christmas is testament to the hard work of the KBS Maritime and the Naval Base teams. By ensuring HMS Diamond is docked means her scheduled repairs can be undertaken to enable her to redeploy as soon as required in the New Year”
The physical docking of a 152 metre Type 45 Destroyer involves over 30 skilled team members over 2000 manhours. During 2022, the KBS Maritime teams have undertaken over 900 ship movements as part of the Future Maritime Support Programme (FMSP) contract.
On behalf of the Royal Navy and HMNB Portsmouth, KBS Maritime operate dry docks across the Base capable of docking anything from the Destroyers, through Frigates to Minehunters.
