U.S. Coast Guard assists with drydock recycling project

The U.S. Coast Guard enforced a safety zone for a project that involved the shipment of a large San Francisco drydock to China for recycling. The safety zone was set up around the heavy-lift vessel the M.V. Tern, which helped ship out a drydock used by the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1999 from the Port of San Francisco to a ship recycling facility near Shanghai.

Drydock #1, which weighs around 4,200 tons, was lifted by the M.V. Tern, a semi-submersible heavy-lift vessel that partially sinks itself so cargo can be floated over its cargo deck. The Tern then de-ballasts to lift the cargo out of the water to complete the heavy-lift operation.

The San Francisco-based drydock is 128-feet wide and is slightly wider than the Tern. The Coast Guard enforced a 500-foot safety zone to ensure the vessel was effectively able to conduct its heavy lift operations.

The Tern was expected to depart San Francisco by the end of October and is destined for a recycling facility near Shanghai.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Port has attempted to sell the drydock several times since it was deemed unfit for service in 1999.

The project to ship the drydock to China was subsidized by the U.S. Department of Defense and cost $6.8 million--$1.5 million less than the original estimates.