DRY DOCK
VS TRAVEL LIFT

THE QUESTION

Dry dock or travel lift?

Two ways to bring vessels ashore, with different infrastructure, capacity and investment needs.

KEY FINDING

They serve different operating needs.

Established yards can use both systems for different vessel sizes and jobs. The choice depends on the customers, site and work the yard expects to handle.

Pendennis lists a 150 m dry dock and an 800 t travel hoist among its facilities.

HOW EACH SYSTEM WORKS

Different ways to expose the hull

CAPABILITY COMPARISON

Capacity and the site shape the choice

• A dock can be designed for large vessel dimensions, but holds the chamber while work is underway.
• A travel lift is suited to repeat haul-outs, storage and refit, within its rated capacity and site limits.
• Both systems need supporting infrastructure, safe access and space for work and storage.
• Lift selection also depends on vessel displacement, beam, draft and support points, not length alone.

CAPITAL COST CONTEXT

Published estimates cover different scopes

HANDLING RATES

The lift is one part of the service bill

Published 2026 rates from a French yard, excluding VAT:

Storage, pressure washing, blocking and specialist labour can add separate charges. These published examples do not give an exact rate for a 150 t lift.

TRAVEL LIFT BREAK-EVEN CHECK

Equipment cost alone implies 203–439 full cycles

Dividing the approximate €1.29 million equipment estimate by €6,360 or €2,940 gross revenue per 30 m lift-and-relaunch cycle gives about 203–439 cycles.

At 50 cycles a year, that is roughly 4–9 years just to match the equipment purchase price. It excludes operating costs, financing, downtime, site works and taxes. Handling fees are gross revenue, not profit.

DRY DOCK BUSINESS CASE

Utilization drives the return

A WSP model for a Port Alberni floating dock and shore complex estimated C$34.3 million in capital cost. Its base case used 10 orders a year, C$7.5 million annual revenue and C$1.125 million operating income.

A simple capital-cost-to-operating-income check is about 30.5 years. The model estimated about 29 years with financing. This is a floating-dock case study, not a budget for a fixed graving dock.

Anchor customers, confirmed schedules, repair rates, seasonal utilization and the cost of capital all affect the outcome.

YARD REVENUE

Haul-out can lead into a wider service cycle

ZERO TO YARD: A PHASED APPROACH

Prove demand before buying major infrastructure

• Map target vessels by length, displacement and beam. Speak with owners, captains, brokers and contractors.
• Start through an existing yard or infrastructure partner. Record real rates, schedules and job types.
• Consider a travel lift after repeated demand and a suitable hardstand are confirmed.
• Study a dry dock only after confirming major-vessel demand, an approved site, engineering and anchor contracts.

The €250,000 Phase 1 target supports early site search and launch preparation. It is not a budget to build a dock or buy a 150 t lift.

DAY 007 VIDEO

Two parts: dry dock, then travel lift

The reel introduces the haul-out question, shows dry-dock footage, then moves to travel-lift footage. It ends by asking which system a new yard should explore first.

The displayed cost examples need their year, project scope and exclusions. They are not comparable quotations.

ENGLISH VOICEOVER

Day 007 script

“A dry dock works by bringing a vessel into a watertight chamber. The gates close, the water is pumped out, and the yacht rests on supports. The team can then inspect and work on the hull. Building a new dock is a major construction project. One 2018 estimate for a 170-metre dock was about 50 million Canadian dollars.

A travel lift works above water: wide slings lift the yacht and move it onto a prepared service area. A 150-tonne lift was budgeted at around 1.45 million US dollars, before the yard infrastructure. For Zero to Yard, our first step is to prove demand and work with an existing facility. Which system would you choose for a new yacht yard?”

EDITORIAL NOTES

Keep the comparison clear

• Show live footage of the relevant equipment and process.
• Label each cost with its source, date, scope and exclusions.
• Describe the travel-lift example as preliminary equipment pricing, not a complete yard budget.
• Explain that the dry-dock estimate and travel-lift estimate describe different projects.

For the current Day 007 video, the travel-lift shot shows yard equipment; it does not show a yacht being lifted.