Floating Dock Lifts FRB Safety
01 Apr 2008
The dangerous operation to manually attach a swinging hook to the FRB is replaced by a simple drive-in manoeuvre to the MSS system, which adds no more than 400mm to the overall breadth and 300mm to the length of the FRB. The system that can be easily adapted to fit other types of boat.
It is designed to be lightweight for easy deployment. The framework of the dock is made of aluminium or fibre composites, while the pontoons are made of fibre reinforced plastic completely filled with closed cell foam. These pontoons are additionally fitted with fenders as well as optional lifelines. An additional net turns the dock into an efficient means of rescue.
The system works by pulling the floating dock alongside the mother vessel. A permanently connected forward painter, joined to an adjustable painter boom, provides a safe distance to the hull side.
The FRB is then easily and safely driven into the MSS docking system until the stem of the boat enters a cone in the fore end of the dock. A pair of locks, one on each side, fits into a recess in the pontoons. For enhanced security there is a secondary lock consisting of two flaps connected behind the transom.
With the FRB in position, the dock and the boat form one single, controllable unit with good stability and buoyancy. The MSS dock is then pulled towards the hull and is optionally connected to the mother ship by a vertical guide wire along the ship's hull, hence reducing the swinging motion even further. In the event of the FRB slamming into the ship's side, as can happen in extreme seas, the boat is protected by the dock.






