Choosing a shipyard on price alone is one of the most common causes of a docking that runs late or over budget. These ten questions cover what actually determines how a docking goes.
Capacity and technical fit
Does the dock actually fit the vessel with working margin, not just on paper. Ask about dock length, width, and lifting or crane capacity relative to the vessel's dimensions and the heaviest single lift expected in the job list, since a tight fit slows staging, crane access and every trade working around the hull, and it rarely shows up as a line item until the delays start piling up.
Has the yard handled this vessel type and this kind of scope before. A yard strong on tankers is not automatically efficient on a gas carrier or an offshore support vessel, so ask for recent, comparable references and, where possible, speak directly to a previous customer with a similar vessel rather than relying on the yard's own description of its experience.
It is also fair to ask what happens if the vessel arrives and does not fit as expected, whether due to a measurement error or a change in the job list, since a yard's contingency plan for that scenario says a great deal about how it handles problems generally. A yard that answers these questions readily and specifically is usually the same yard that communicates well once the vessel is actually alongside.
Track record and certifications
What class societies and flag administrations does the yard regularly work with. A yard unfamiliar with the vessel's class society or flag can slow survey coordination and paperwork, particularly for special survey items tied to steel renewal, and this is worth confirming before booking rather than discovering once the surveyor is already trying to schedule an attendance.
What safety and quality certifications does the yard hold, and can it show a recent audit or accident record. This is a reasonable, direct question, and a yard confident in its safety record will usually answer it without hesitation, while reluctance to discuss it is itself a useful data point.
Beyond certificates on paper, it is worth asking how incidents, near misses in particular, are reported and reviewed internally, since a yard that treats a near miss as a learning opportunity is usually a safer place to have a vessel and a crew working for several weeks. These are not box-ticking questions, they are a reasonably reliable indicator of how the yard will behave under pressure.
Scheduling and commercial terms
Can the yard commit to a firm docking slot and a realistic duration for the confirmed scope, and what happens commercially if the vessel arrives late or work is delayed on the yard's side. Getting this in writing before booking avoids disputes later, when memories of what was verbally agreed tend to differ.
How does the yard price and approve variation orders once the vessel is in dock. Since some scope, especially steel renewal, is only confirmed after thickness measurement, a clear, pre-agreed process for pricing and approving extra work protects the budget from surprises and gives both sides a shared reference point when new work is found.
Payment terms deserve the same scrutiny as the technical scope, staged payments tied to milestones are generally easier to manage and audit than a single lump sum due on completion, and they also give the owner some practical leverage if a dispute arises partway through the job. Getting these terms agreed in writing before the vessel arrives costs nothing and prevents a great deal of friction later.
Scope handling and communication
How does the yard handle scope that expands once tanks are opened or coatings are removed. A yard with a responsive engineering and procurement team can absorb unexpected renewal without derailing the whole schedule, while one without that capacity turns every surprise into a delay that ripples through every other trade waiting its turn.
Who is the single point of contact for the vessel during the docking, and how often will progress be reported. Daily or near daily communication from one accountable coordinator, rather than a different contact for each trade, keeps small problems from becoming large ones, and it also means the owner is never chasing several people for the same answer.
It is reasonable to ask for a sample progress report from a previous job, since the quality and clarity of that document says a lot about how well informed the owner will actually be once their own vessel is the one sitting in the dock. These questions are really about one thing, whether the owner will be treated as a partner in solving problems or simply informed after the fact.
Safety, environment and location
What environmental controls does the yard have for blasting waste, tank cleaning residues and other repair waste. This matters for compliance and, increasingly, for owners' own environmental policies and charterer expectations, and it is a fair question to ask directly during the yard selection process rather than assuming it is handled correctly.
Is the yard's location practical for the vessel's trading pattern and for owner-furnished spares and personnel to reach it. A technically excellent yard in an inconvenient location can still add cost and time through longer positioning voyages and harder logistics; yards in an established repair cluster such as Tuzla benefit from a dense local supply chain, which shortens the answer to several of the questions above and reduces the number of things that can go wrong in transit.
Finally, it is worth walking the dock in person if at all possible before committing, since housekeeping, how tidy the staging is, how waste is stored, how clearly walkways are marked, tends to be a fairly reliable proxy for how the whole operation is actually run day to day. Taken together, these ten questions cost little to ask but can save a great deal of time, money and frustration over the course of a docking.