DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — Every winter, neighbors gather outside the Fincantieri Bayship Building in Sturgeon Bay, curious about what goes on inside.
NBC26 got a closer look at what actually happens when these massive ships come in for their seasonal maintenance.
Watch below as we got to go inside Fincantieri Bayship Building to learn more about the layup:
“There’s a huge following with shipbuilding- with shipping in general. They’re thousand-foot, 800-foot. They’re big. They’re majestic," Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding Vice President Jeff Frank said.
Massive ships from across the Great Lakes are arriving at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding as the winter layup season gets underway. Frank says the season officially began Monday.
The vessel that arrived is expected to remain in dry dock for the next three weeks while undergoing routine maintenance and inspections.
“This is when our fleet comes in for a multitude of different repairs, anywhere from hull plating renewal to different machinery," Frank said.
It is one of the three thousand-foot ships scheduled to come into Bay Shipbuilding this season.
“We’ll have a little less volume than we had last year in the number of ships, but overall the same amount of work," Frank said.
NBC26 reporters were allowed to ride the crane for a full, bird’s-eye view of the ship.
These ships are brought into dry dock during the winter months to undergo required maintenance and inspections.
“Steel rusts, these vessels flex, so it’s important that they come in. They do these five-year surveys to repair those things," Frank said.
Frank says winter is also the ideal time for these repairs, as shipping slows while the Great Lakes locks are closed.
“But there’s also a lot of ice on the Great Lakes. As the ice gets thicker, that becomes more problematic," Frank said.
Additional fleets are expected to arrive later in the winter and into early spring. The next fleet scheduled for the winter layup is expected within the next few days.
While Fincantieri does not release a public schedule for incoming ships, neighbors often use apps like Marine Traffic to stay updated.
