April 6 - The end of era is truly at hand, with the UK's Port of Tyne witnessing the final departure of the Swan Hunter floating drydock, which Fairstar Heavy Transport, working with Offshore Heavy Transport AS (OHT) successfully loaded at the weekend, al

The drydock, which is bound for India was loaded onboard OHT's semi-submersible heavy lift vessel, Osprey, in an operation which involved submerging the main deck of the vessel some 3m below water level, leaving only the accommodation and forecastle superstructures above the river to allow the drydock to be floated into position ready for lifting as the Osprey rises.

Vanguard Shipping has been project managing the transfer of equipment to Bharati Shipyards in India in a project which began in 2007 and has involved dismantling, packing and shipping all of the associated items from the Swan Hunter shipyard to Dahbol in India.

Philip Adkins CEO of Fairstar comments: "We are pleased to report the operation went extremely smoothly and without incident. Fairstar, working closely with OHT, Vanguard Shipping, representatives of Bharati Shipyards and the local Port Authority successfully loaded the drydock within a very narrow tidal window. There was very little room for error."

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