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Vessel and Ship Launching/Docking Airbags in Shipyards

General Introduction                                                                                            

Vessel and ship launching/docking airbags are widely used for ship launching and docking in shipyards, specially medium and small shipyards alongside rivers and seasides in Asian and American countries. Marine airbags are often called ship launching airbags that indicate the most popular application of these heavy duty airbags is for ship launching. It is estimated that more than 80 percent new built ships who's DWT below 60,000 are launched by marine airbags.

Launching with marine airbags is flexible. Any flat ground with a little declining angle can be taken as a slip way. Airbags can sucessfully launch a ship even on a bank 1 or 2 meters over water level.

General Introduction                                                                                            

Marine rubber airbag typically has a body of cylindrical shape and two conical heads, one at each end. At each head end, there is a metal bushing as a mouth for air inflation and the plug with a ring.

Please refer to the drawing of a typical marine airbag and its accessories below to know the structure and accessories.

Key Features of Marine Airbags                                                                            

1. Flexible in various launching projects: Airbags can be made to be specified sizes and layers as per the requirement of different launching projects.

2. Easy Operation: The operation of launching vessels with rubber airbags is releatively easy, just laying out and inflating the airbags to lift the vessels and roll them to the water.

It has not strict requirement on slipway conditions. Ship launching can be executed even in tough conditions.

3. Durable and recycled: Marine Airbags can be used many times repeated.

4. High economy: As marine airbags can be used repeatedly and its cost is not high,  launching or docking ships with marine airbags can save much cost for shipyards or ship owners.

How to Select Marine Airbags for Launching and Docking Certain Vessels         

Ship launching airbags can be made into various sizes and layers accoding to the ship size and weight and the launching or docking conditions.

-Effective length:

The effective length should be same as the ship breadth, or 1 meter shorter than the breath.

We can make airbags in length from 5m to 24m.

-Diameter:

Select diameter based on the ship size and work requirement. Select bigger airbags for large ships, but smaller airbags for small boats. In case the ships need cleaning or repairing bottom, choose bigger airbags so that workers can work in a more comfortable posture under the ship. Diameter of 1.5m, 1.8m, 2m or 2.5m are all suitable and available for large ships.

-The number of layers

The more layers the airbag has, the bigger bearing capacity it has. To lift a ship to a certain height, enough airbags with enough layers are needed. Generally speaking, airbags with 6 layers are enough for most engineering works. Only in some rigorous situation, airbags will need 7-8 layers to enhance its performance. For example, if people use airbags to lift heavy caisson but their contact area is limited, and then airbags will need higher pressure and more plies to ensure the safety. 

Good selection of marine airbags is vital for the success of marine projects. Get basic knowledge of marine airbags selection then consult with manufacturers can help people complete projects in shortest time.

Below is a chart for the bearing capacity of several sizes                                      

Model	Dia	Effective Length	Overall Length	Cord Layer	Rubber Plate	Thickness	Working Pressure	Bursting Pressure	Lifting Height	Bearing Capacity
	M	M	M	Layer	Layer	mm	MPa	MPa	M	Ton/meter	Ton/airbag
LH-6	1.2	12	14	6	1	7.2	0.17	0.75	0.90	7.85	94.20
									1.00	5.23	62.76
									1.10	2.62	31.44
LH-7	1.5	15	17	7	1	8.2	0.16	0.70	1.00	12.21	183.15
									1.10	9.77	146.55
									1.20	7.33	109.95
									1.30	4.89	73.35
LH-8	1.8	18	20.5	8	1	9.2	0.15	0.67	1.20	13.96	251.28
									1.30	11.63	15.12
									1.40	9.31	167.58
									1.50	6.98	125.64
									1.60	4.65	83.70
LH-10	2.0	20	23	10	1	11.2	0.17	0.75	1.30	18.32	366.40
									1.40	15.70	21.98
									1.50	13.09	261.80
									1.60	10.47	209.40
									1.70	7.85	157.00

In case you are not sure of the suitable sizes and sufficient layers of a launching project or ships, you are welcome to consult us for information. You need provide us with following information:

-Ship size: breadth (width) and Length

-Ship weight: weight of vessel without cargo is better

-Lifting height: the maximum height to lift the ship from the ground

-The slipway condition: the declining angel, the ground condition etc

Please do not hesitate to drop us a message if you have any questions or demand.

We carry on to build and style and design remarkable quality items for both our outdated and new clients and reach a win-win prospect for our clients at the same time as us for Salvage and Dry Docking Marine Air Bags for Float and Refloat. With the business philosophy of 'Quality determines development, service makes the future', our company provides high-performance products to meet the needs of users. We look forward to receiving your enquires soon and hope to have the chance to work together with you inside the future.