Yellow floating dry dock with cranes in a harbour

Representative photo. Your order is made to your specification by a verified seller. Photo: “Kaohsiung Taiwan Floating-dock-Jong-Shyn-01” by CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Bicycles, vehicles and ships · Ships and boats

Pontoon and floating dock manufacturer in Bangladesh

Need a pontoon and floating dock manufacturer in Bangladesh? Tell us the use, the deck load and the site. We source the unit from a verified yard, check its stability record, surface preparation and paint system, and arrange the tow to your site.

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Delivered by Roptan

Prefer to deal with suppliers yourself? Post it on the requirement board

Buying pontoons and floating docks in Bangladesh

A pontoon is a floating steel unit that carries a deck, a jetty or a load; a floating dry dock is a pontoon that lifts ships out of the water. In Bangladesh, river terminals, dredging contractors and repair yards buy them. BIWTA is reported to have developed 292 ghats and to oversee 380 launch terminals, and Bangladeshi yards build pontoons.

A pontoon and floating dock manufacturer in Bangladesh needs to know the load, the site and the kind of unit before drawing a line. Roptan turns your use into one specification and sources from verified yards, then checks the stability record, coating and ballast systems before the unit leaves the yard.

Kinds of pontoon and floating dock

Floating jetties and landing stages

A light quay or jetty floating on pontoons that rises and falls with the tide and with passing ships. Choose one for launch ghats, ferry landings and river terminals.

Pipeline floaters

Floats that carry the discharge pipe of a pipeline dredger across the water. Choose them with the dredger, sized to the pipe diameter and the length of the line.

One-piece floating dry docks

A single U-shaped pontoon with floodable buoyancy chambers, built new or converted from an obsolete barge. Choose one to lift smaller boats for hull work.

Sectional floating dry docks

Several rectangular sections that combine for different ship lengths, each with its own ballast pumping equipment. Choose one for larger vessels.

How to specify a pontoon or floating dock

Kind of unit: Say which you mean: a floating jetty, a work or pipe pontoon, or a floating dry dock. The words floating dock cover all three, and an impounded dock as well.
Deck loads and their height: Give the deck load in tonnes per square metre, any crane or ramp point load in tonnes, and how high each load sits above the deck. A large side force can capsize a top-heavy pontoon without much warning.
Site and water level: Describe the berth, the current and how far the water rises and falls in metres between seasons, so moorings and the access ramp can follow it.
Ship to be lifted: For a dry dock, give the length and breadth in metres and the weight in tonnes of the largest vessel to be docked.
Ballast control: For a dry dock, ask for the ballast pumps, valves, level gauges and alarms in writing. Unscheduled sinkings and off-design dives can happen on floating docks.
Pipe string: For dredger floaters, give the pipe diameter, the pipe material and the number of floats per length of pipe.

Coating, surface preparation and stability

ISO 12944: The series on corrosion protection of steel structures by paint systems. Name the paint system in the order, since the unit sits in water for its whole life.
ISO 8501-1:2007: Rust grades and preparation grades of uncoated steel, usually used to state how clean the steel must be before the first coat. Name the grade in the order.
Inclining test and stability record: Usually applied to newly built ships over 24 metres long. No rule was found that a non-propelled pontoon needs one, so ask for a stability record in the contract.

What moves the price of a pontoon or floating dock

Size and rated deck load: a larger deck and heavier loads usually need more steel and stiffening.
Kind of unit: a dry dock carries floodable chambers, pumps, valves and controls that a landing pontoon does not.
Number of sections: in a sectional dock each section usually has its own ballast pumping equipment.
Coating: a higher surface preparation grade and a longer-life paint system usually add work and material.
Fittings: access ramps, fenders, bollards, cranes and railings are each priced on top of the hull.

Lead times and delivery

We give no typical build time for a pontoon or floating dock. Steel supply, the coating schedule, the yard's order book and the number of sections set the date. Roptan confirms the dates and the minimum order in the quote.

Pontoons and floating docks float, so they usually reach the site under tow, and a large dock can be assembled from sections, with a bow section added to ease towing. At handover in Bangladesh, ask for the drawings, the stability record, the coating inspection report and the ballast system test record. A VAT invoice (Mushak 6.3) follows where the law requires one.

Buying pontoons and floating docks for export

Under the HS, floating docks fall in heading 8905 and landing stages in heading 8907, floating structures. EPB records small exports under line 890790, floating structures such as landing stages and buoys, but does not split pontoons or floating docks out. A foreign buyer agrees the tow or shipment and the papers in the contract; Roptan confirms them in the quote.

What we check for this order

Kind and loads in writingWe check that the order names the kind of unit, the deck loads and their height above the deck.
Stability recordWe check that a stability record covers the loads you named, so a top-heavy load is not left to chance.
Steel and coatingWe check the surface preparation grade and paint system against the order before the unit is launched.
Ballast system testFor a dry dock, we check that each section's pumps, valves and alarms are worked and recorded before acceptance.

Questions buyers ask

What exactly is a floating dock?

It can mean three things. A floating jetty is a light quay on pontoons that rises and falls with the tide. A floating dry dock is a pontoon that sinks to take a ship in and rises to lift it clear. An impounded dock is held near high-tide level by pumps or river flow.

Floating dry dock, shiplift or slipway: which do I need?

It depends on ship weight. As a first filter, a marine railway serves ships up to about 3,000 tons, a shiplift from about 800 to 25,000 tons, and a slipway smaller boats.

Why can a pontoon capsize?

Because of the pontoon effect: a large force on one side can capsize a pontoon-type craft without much warning, particularly when it is top-heavy. Name every load and its height, and ask for a stability record.

Why choose a floating dry dock over a fixed dry dock?

A floating dock suits sites where porous ground rules out a conventional graving dock, it can be towed to where it is needed, and it can be sold on. The trade-off is that unscheduled sinkings can happen, so ballast control, alarms and trained operators matter.

How soon will I hear back about ships and boats?

Within 48 hours of a complete requirement, with a price and a delivery date. A requirement is complete when it has the quantity, where it is needed and by when.

Who do I deal with?

With Roptan, when Roptan manages the order: we buy from the verified seller and deliver to you. With the supplier directly, when you post on the requirement board and choose a quote yourself.