Admiralty Floating Dock No. 8 – From Kiel to Corradino

From time immemorial, marine craft requiring painting, repair, careening and demolition have been pulled ashore on sandy beaches. As ships got larger, they were keeled over to port and starboard by shifting ballast to one side. Later, the Chinese invented the first graving dock (grave: from old French greve, shore, the process of cleaning a ship’s bottom by burning off accretions and then tarring). The term ‘graving dock’ continues to be used, albeit superseded by the modern ‘dry dock’. In the construction of harbour facilities a choice has to be made between graving docks or floating docks. This article is part of our premium content. Full story is available on Times of Malta Premium.