NASSCO invites public to launch of huge ship
A huge containership will glide “down the ways” on Saturday as General Dynamics-NASSCO uses an ancient technique to launch its newest vessel into San Diego Bay.
The 764-foot long TOTE 2 will move along a pair of inclined and heavily greased ramps, or ways, at 8:15 p.m., during a ceremony that’s open to the public.
The technique dates back thousands of years, and NASSCO is the only shipyard in the country that has the capacity to launch vessels stern-first into the water.
Earlier this year, NASSCO used the technique to launch Isla Bella, the first containership in the world that is powered by liquid natural gas. TOTE 2 is her sister ship. In December, Seacor 1, a product tanker, will be sent down the ways.
NASSCO is relying heavily on the technique because the yard is booming with business. It has a limited amount of room to build ships in docks that can be flooded with water, allowing a new vessel to simply float into the bay.
The “old school” technique is fine with Larry Duby, the “launchmaster” for Tote 2.
“It’s a tried and true way of launching ships,” Duby said this week, as workers hustled to make final preparations.
NASSCO is in the midst to handling 10 commercial ship contracts, and it will build a fourth Navy Mobile Landing platform ship, and possibly a fifth.
LAUNCH SCHEDULE
Tote 2 will be launched at the NASSCO shipyard on East Harbor Drive in Barrio Logan, San Diego on Saturday night. The main gates open at 6:30 p.m. The launch ceremony begins at 7:30 p.m. The ship is scheduled to slide down the ways at 8:15 p.m.
BUILDING A GIANT
To create TOTE 2, workers pieced together 60 sections of ship that came together on supports known as cribbing. The cribbing was composed of 125 stacks of wood that were strategically placed to handle the shape of the vessel, and its weight, which is roughly 15,000 metric tons.
This week, workers have been removing the stacks so that TOTE 2 can slowly settle on to the sliding portion of the “ways,” or the ramp that guides the ship into the bay.
NASSCO began preparing for the launch before it even started building the ship. Workers first applied 4,800 pounds of wax to the two permanent, parallel wooden ramps that make up the ground portion of the ways. Then they added 5,000 pounds of grease. Then they placed the “slider” on top. The slider acts as a pair of skis or wooden sled that carries the ship.
On Saturday, the trigger to release the slider will be pulled by a shipyard honoree, enabling TOTE 2 to slide down the ways, which have a 2.4 degree incline. It will take about one minute for the entire ship to enter San Diego Bay. TOTE 2 will move about 15 mph as it travels down the ways.
