By
Laura Hyde |
BLRT Grupp has commissioned the construction of a new floating dock for its Western Shiprepair yard in Klaipėda in Lithuania.
The new dock will measure 200 metres by 35 metres and will have a lifting capacity of 15,000 tonnes. It will replace one of the docks currently used for the yard’s ship repair operations, as well as the servicing of Panamax-type vessels.
Hat-San Shipyard in Turkey will build the new dock, which is part of an ongoing investment programme by BLRT Grupp to expand its ship repair capabilities across its yards in three countries: Tallinn Shipyard in Estonia, Turku Repair Yard in Finland and Western Shiprepair in Lithuania. Over the past five years, the group has invested more than €100 million ($115 million) into its repair operations with the new floating dock representing a further $43 million investment. The expanded capacity will enable BLRT Grupp to service more vessels, including larger-tonnage ships, increase the overall workflow volume, and support the creation of additional jobs, both directly and across related service chains.
“In August 2024, a new dock built by the same shipyard was commissioned in Tallinn; 180 metres by 30 metres, with a lifting capacity of up to 10,000 tonnes, it was accompanied by the full renovation of the surrounding dock infrastructure,” said Fjodor Berman, chairman of the management board of BLRT Grupp. “In 2020, the largest floating dock in the Baltic States, measuring 235 metres by 45 metres, and with a lifting capacity of 33,000 tonnes, entered service in Klaipėda, enabling the repair, modernisation and maintenance of larger vessels. In addition, in the summer of 2025, a 101-metre-long, 22-metre-wide dock with a lifting capacity of 4,500 tonnes in Tallinn was fully modernised.”
The new dock is scheduled to be operational by autumn 2027.