KOOLE Contractors - Salvage of 6,000 ton drydock

www.koole.eu
The floating dry dock, 165 x 35 meter in dimension, broke loose from its mooring at the southern quay of Oresund DryDocks premises in Landskrona Sweden on the 27th of November 2011. The dock drifted in an eastern direction towards bay of Lundåkra, due to the high sea water level occurring at that day it passed over the very shallow waters and stranded approximately 3 kilometres from its original position. The floating dock then came to a stop in a sensitive Natura 2000 area.
Unconventional method
Because of the very shallow water depth of 0.5 meter and the protected nature area, Koole Maritiem developed an unconventional method for re-floating. With a little help from an old friend called Archimedes, thinking out-of-the-box, actually resulted into thinking inside-the-basin.
Preparations
At the end of January 2012 and with the use of 200 cranemats and 175 steel beams, the Dutch company built an artificial basin with an area of approximately 28.000 m² around the dock, while at the same time three excavators were digging a 2 meter deep channel with a length of 1,8 km.
When the basin was finished, a gully with a depth of 2 meter was excavated as well inside of the basin, where the dock could stay afloat. All the preparations, operated during a very cold month, were finished at the end of February. Then it was time to wake up the sleeping giant, to return home.
First movement
When the basin was filled with about 60 million litres of water, the dock was refloated. At that point it was repositioned with the use of winches, anchors and cranes, and pointed in the direction of the newly formed channel, just above the deep gully.
Moving through the channel
With an alive, floating and repositioned dock, the basin was emptied and, the water level lowered to sea level again. At this point only the weather stood in the way of returning the dock. When the wind and tidal conditions were optimal, the dock was slowly but steady moving in the direction of open sea.
Returning home
When the dock left the temporary channel, it was towed with the use of two tugboats and assisted by a third tugboat, back to the original location at Oresund Drydocks on the 14th of March 2012. This was a sight to be seen and a crowd of spectators were witness of this unusual transport.
Operations
Koole Maritiem executed these operations with the utmost precision and care, minimalizing the impact on the environment and respecting the protected nature area. The operations were finished well within the required time schedule and with the dock returned, the environment is now being restored to the original state.
This film are made by
Björn Larsson Bjornfilm Sweden
with support of Oresund Drydocks and Alandia Marine
Contact: [e-mail]
Music: Roine Sangenberg
© 2012 Björnfilm Sweden All rights reserved

[@JimWhitaker]

I love the contrast between the clean tidy animations and then immediately the dirty, cold, muddy reality. Good storyboarding and excellent video.

[@MultiRedbug]

I'm a retired cameraman and every time I saw those bleak long shots and wind blowing the protective clothing around I shivered. Great job both shooting and editing.

[@TheAnalystradioprogram]

Probably one the most well made documentaries I’ve ever seen. The opening was perfect, the music was soft piano and melodic, the narration was also great. Good job whoever did this.

[@johnpoltz6875]

No stupid loud ridiculous overdramatic music, just an awesome documentary on the ability of man to overcome nature. Great job

[@JohnSmith-pd1fz]

Brilliant job carried out professionally, skilfully and without any helicopters, big mouthed people demanding things "right now" and best of all absolutely No Omygods!

[@TheKira699]

Very detailed and no 'short attention span' crap you find on American documentaries like repeating everything. Marvellous show. These guys are awesome.

[@carmelpule6954]

This is a miracle of salvaging, so simple and yet so grand. The gentleman giving a fluent and accurate account of the situation at 14:39 is not conscious of all the components that he is projecting but in fact he is representing the wonderful strength of character and courage and backbone of the whole team that did it. It is almost unbelievable that under those ardent difficult conditions, he is so pensive and he smiles while he speaks in short effective accurate penetrating concise sentences , telling us about him being tired and having slept to rest and wake up to proceed with the difficulties and to finish up so optimistically by saying, " Meanwhile we are enjoying the nice sun," giving such an happy radiant simile at 15:16 envizaging success in a few hours. A great leader indeed. That is what makes a man and his spirited team achieve such great wonders. All I can say is , congratulations to all the team to raise this floating dock which was grounded through the use of the immense power of flotation or Archimedes principle. In Malta there was a floating dock that sunk in the mud and though the water was taken out of it, the suction of the mud or the fact that the water could not get under the bottom of the floating dock , resisted the upward forces and they had to aeriate the bottom through using compressed air through long pipes where it shot up when the suction was eliminated and Archimedes took over. Congratulations folks, you all deserve a good beer. Well done.

[@lightninganth]

Great video!Great job!I'm retired from heavy industry myself-I miss the big jobs and being with the crew through the good and bad.

[@JimWhitaker]

Excellent film. Just the right mix of animations explaining what is going on and actual films. Thank you for the sub-titles as well. Well done.

[@jamesrivis620]

I have seen this several times and when the dock begins to move..it never gets old ! Awesome job !!!!

[@modelmode8]

I miss when documentaries were like this without the drama.

[@Engineer9736]

Much better than Discovery Channel documentaries indeed. When i watch one from them i'm always cringing every time the narrator speaks, so childish overdone :D This video was very interesting!

[@asArsenic]

It's the difference between american style 'Edutainment' and an actual classical documentary.

[@laurettedrolet4287]

Richard van Pukkem

[@Engineer9736]

Laurette Drolet Hi Laurette

[@kurtu5]

You mean the dramatic music? I could really do without all that crap too.

[@rocket007ist]

I enjoyed the video.I am older man now.This type of video is good for older men.It keeps a man thinking.

[@oceantrolls7332]

Never too old! God bless always.

[@charliebuckets8849]

I was just a boy then , Now i'm only a man posting on a 3 yr old comment what a stoner ... it doe's make a man think

[@LukeHealeyNZ]

Unlike the current trend of discovery channel bullshit infotainment where stupid details are repeated 13 times with really really annoying drama music in a vain attempt to create drama from literally nothing

[@SoldierofGodAki]

Are you still alive Beau?

[@christopherlovelock9104]

@@LukeHealeyNZ - Ah you forget though, the producers have got to stretch the program into an hour in order to get enough advertisers to pay all the "inflated" wages of the crew etc. and themselves.

[@pauloconnor2980]

I was glad to see that the drydock got a paint job in the end!!! I hate seeing vessels of any kind get into a state of disrepair. It seems that there was life in the old girl yet!!!!

[@jakekallenborn6732]

A perfectly executed film! What a nice job, pleasure to watch.

[@cromwellad]

why would people come here and then downvote such a well made doco...dont like it, dont watch it, baffles me

[@IrishEddie317]

Neat video. Love the music and the camera shots were great. I like the way the camera man took some beautiful shots of sunrise and sunsets.

[@Kevin_747]

Nicely done. Very interesting recovery and the film work and narration was first class, no fake drama.

[@michaelgardner5696]

How did the dock get to its stuck position please.

[@scottwall8419]

Anyone know how much this project costed?

[@ibelieveyou2066]

Love the way they add subtitles,over someone speaking perfectly good english,they would have been taught,30-40 years ago,have had at least 20 years to practice,but someone decided no it's just not good enough.Even though humans have been quite good at using their brains to work out communication,for thousands of years.

[@Geebeey]

Excellent, no fuss, just good commentary when required.

[@atlanticcoastexpress]

Many thanks...a most interesting documentary dealing with an unusual situation. I think the American TV documentary makers could learn something from the Dutch/Swedish approach! No shouting, no histrionics and loud shouting...instead we saw hard working staff working away (no doubt any shouting and 'inter-personal difficulties were 'off screen'!) to achieve their goal. However, I wonder what would have happened if the sand has been sticky mud? No doubt though they would have managed it whatever! An excellent video...my thanks to everyone involved. Rob.

[@catsandcrafts171]

@daniel bean Never been to Sweden then? Don't believe the crap you read in what passes for newspapers :D

[@Mercmad]

@@catsandcrafts171 An old friend of mine not only went there with her work, but got attacked when she went into a no go zone near malmo. And recorded it all on film. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpLSZaeGpdR4nqc

[@negergreger666]

@@Mercmad there are no “no go zones” in Malmö, that’s a made up rumour. I know since I live here.

[@FilipWahlberg]

Unusually ambitious cinematography for this kind of documentary... Kudos for that!

[@davidschwartz5127]

I guess you better know who to call when you have huge problems like a missing floating dry dock! Great video, I enjoyed it!

[@whorayful9361]

Beautifully edited video, very enjoyable to watch without any gung ho theatrics. Although you do have to wonder how do you loose a 6,000 ton barge, I know I left it here yesterday (-:

[@Sp1der44]

That was wild how much thought, time and energy went into getting that bad boy back where it belonged - a very Koole ;D documentary indeed!

[@lvn968]

When I see this, I’m proud to be Dutch ! Well done !

[@aukanmeister]

Very impressive work! Thank you for letting us in on it.

[@gnittu]

Dutch maritime salvage - arguably the best in the world. Good film.

[@petemoore5104]

I just knew that it would be a Dutch company, and it was.. Everyone is thinking, wait for Spring High Tides.. The Dutch say, let's build a polder and float it out..

[@cjhification]

Nations which focus heavily on maritime trade tend to be good at marine salvage.

[@avictorbell2835]

Typical Dutch understatement, just develop a plan and stick to it

[@christopherlovelock9104]

@@cjhification Except when they put a large mobile crane on a flat barge without tying it down, - take the whole lot up a canal and then are surprised when it tips over onto some houses beside the canal trying to lift something too heavy for it.

[@cjhification]

@@christopherlovelock9104 just sounds like another salvage opportunity!

[@thomasyarb2520]

It was surprising to see how quickly the salvage was accomplished, even in the dead of Winter. Tough men for a tough job. Great documentary.

[@wientz]

Well done in terms of execution and documentation. Coming from someone who works in the construction industry, it was interesting to watch as project manager Willem Olgers was transformed from a parachuted newbie, at 6:50 to a muddied up, hands on expert by 14:30 . It seems that this is usually how it works on a successful project.

[@sparky5543]

Very cool video to watch! Who in their right mind would dislike something like this?? Big thumbs up to the video crew, and all the hard working people who participated in this project! :)

[@jerryvandyke9216]

Sparky ,amen to that

[@JohnSmith-zv8km]

Loved this video, great to see a factual and well edited story. Also good to see a big project come good as this one did.

[@raymondwood1453]

GREAT WORK GUYS you did an outstanding job I enjoyed it very much .IM just grateful that I was not the one that had to sign the check for your great job you & your boys done.

[@konewone361]

I think they earned every cent/penny/ euro they got. Impressive recovery.

[@dorkuchotanihu9589]

THIS PEOPLE ARE PROFESSIONALS .THEY DID THIS WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS .I AM A SEAMAN I LIKE TO WATCH WORK LOKE THIS. BRAVO TO YOU ALL

[@thetessellater9163]

Superb video, Bjorn and a fascinating subject. These guys work so well.

[@kentbrochman4150]

Very good editing, none of this "Oh no this is so very dangerous people could die crap" Yes, we know people can die. Just stick to the subject at hand. You did that, Awesome!

[@MrKabDrivr]

+Kent brochman Exactly!

[@Sjanzo]

+Kent brochman indeed. These informative documentaries are so much better than the Discovery channel garbage from the loggers, the truckers or whatever they "docusoap"

[@ramonching7772]

+Kent brochman With this video, you gain knowledge. The other one you mentioned is for entertainment only. Much less value.

[@michaelcuff5780]

Kent brochman Oh my god! you guys are sooo right about discovery channel! It gets annoying as hell after a while! I always end up not watching the whole thing. Lol!

[@daleskidmore1685]

It was good not to see an animation of the dock turning turtle in 1 metre of water, lol.

[@JohanStrandberg]

Wonderful storytelling, in words, images, and music. Thank you.

[@theonlybuzz1969]

A job well done for all! Love seeing heavy steel being worked on, as Hannibal Smith used to say “I love it when a plan comes together “

[@physicsguybrian]

Infinite respect and admiration for all the people working on this project!!!! Your's is a company very much worth working for! Awesome job!

[@bernhardjanssen9284]

Hugh compliment for the Dutch company Koole they are thru professionals in this kind of work !!!

[@mannyfernandez7028]

ive had the chance to work under Swedish officers and they are a great people to serve under.Scandinavians in general are cool guys.Regards from the Orient.Gud Jul.

[@navigator902]

Well done, brilliant .... a feel the audience is not at the third grade level, makes the audience feel better at the progress seen on the video, makes us all feel like adults. Solving world problems as grown adults instead of making problems out of problems and having a self motivating ego to be the only and the best... we work together we are the best....

[@jimsvideos7201]

There's being cold and there's being wet, but being cold and wet is particularly unpleasant; good on everyone who put up with both to make this happen.

[@bassmith448bassist5]

Great camera work and editing here!!! Excellent production!!!!!

[@jamesgovett2501]

This is the outcome when you have a capable team with experts that know what they are doing! Especially working in those freezing conditions but l suppose they are used to working in adverse weather, l can only imagine what it would be like as l am lucky living in Australia with all its much warmer temperatures, well done to you all.

[@henkzaanstad2256]

GEWELDIGE BEDRIJF.. ik heb zelf 39 jaar in de gemeente Zaanstad gewoond, maar kon deze bedrijf... Levert klasse werk af.... Zijn ook hardewerkers

[@karlgilbert8255]

excellent video. what an incredible accomplishment of engineering.

[@teredude]

Just another day in paradise. Great job!

[@MrKabDrivr]

Dang, that was a lot of hard labour!... Congratulations to all those workers for a job well done!! Must be very rewarding to have been part of such an endeavour!... Good job, folks! Good job!

[@danpoleon]

Well done shooting and editing!

[@longrider42]

Top Notch, wonderful video about a most difficult salvage operation. Just goes to show you that people are capable of great things, under hard conditions. In the US, that dock would have been scrapped and some poor insurance company would have been stuck for the bill. Again, Very good work.

[@karlgilbert8255]

im not sure of its on youtube, but after hurricane Katrina, they had a show on discovery channel called ''deep sea salvage'' where they put sum enormous ships & barges back in the water in the gulf of mexico. i think there was only 4-5 episodes before it got cancelled, and typical Discovery Channel tried to focus on the drama, but the salvage engineers did an incredibly good job of moving some of these ships. look it up, its worth watching.

[@nicholasgabe6319]

James Hart ii8)7(7j

[@sonnylatchstring]

a contradiction in terms "poor insurance Ccompany"

[@scopex2749]

GREAT hard work to save the dock. Just thinking with a specially built submersible dock like this would it be possible to bring up the Titanic? Sink it to the bottom under the wreck and then pump the water out?

[@BennyCFD]

Great recovery......... I wonder what the cost of the recovery was and the cost of the dry dock was.

[@granskare]

when I was in Finland, I had many Swedish speaking Finns as friends. The only Finnish people I was with was my relatives. :) It is great to see how they fix problems with ease :)

[@mikenewcomb]

Highly Interesting - Well Done! Thankyou for downloading. Regards - Mike (in London)

[@nhdtegrdbf]

Great again to see this Film. I remeber that Project as well. I made the music/Soundtrack..

[@nhdtegrdbf]

THANKS!!!

[@michelebeck4311]

Good on ya mate!

[@thomream1888]

Very Nice Tunes!

[@joel1944]

Long Shot on this, but can you tell me the name of the song that played at 18:24? Thank You

[@Piratecapt8383]

Here in the US they would still be waiting for permits and nature studies even now 4 years later in 2018, well done!

[@dnomyarnostaw]

Huh? The Europeans are way more careful than the USA with environmental damage. Especially after four years of Republican millionaire governance.

[@jerryvandyke9216]

Ek89 ,why do you have to be so vulgar

[@myaccount2914]

EU is way more aware and careful of the environment, so your comment makes no sense 🤣

[@Utubin]

I enjoyed this film so much. Thank you. 2.3.23 Atlanta Ga

[@lynettemayhew1723]

What an amazing feat. Job well done by everyone 👌

[@theMekanik]

That was actually nice for a change, something that actually happened & handled calmly.

[@Blackcatholman]

A nice, informative, well made video. Very high quality, showing the difficulties involved in salvage work.

[@maxmoovin]

Well made video. Hard working, smart salvage team. Impressive.

[@MrMAlhassan]

This is a very inspiring video. Overall, it was a marvellous job by the team. A big kudos to you all.

[@ItsMeScareCro]

Very cool, y'all must have REALLY loved that drydock.

[@MolotovWithLux]

"Increase of water level in basin" is such a tense time #definingthebasin 'small' leakages are always expected because they are contained

[@OozoraKazuki]

People talk a little too much about video editing here, when the most important was a well done job. And the man we should congratulate the most is Willem Olgers-sama, for a clever idea to salvage such a huge floating dock without damaging the surrounding protected environment! ^^

[@woutzweers]

Good movie, really enjoyed it. Shared it as an example of good craftsmanship. I'll watch it later again.

[@terrystephens1102]

A great job completed under extreme weather conditions 😃👍👌👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@benji2363]

How chuffed was he that the dry dock was still there in the morning when he looked from his room. He made me lol

[@CraigLang]

I think when Brunel salvaged the Great Briai it was even more remarkable. Still a mystery how that was lifted over rocks!

[@stigbengtsson7026]

Landskrona got this big floating dock for their Repair Yard (hope i got the correct english) 😃 Well done great! job 😎👍

[@philiphorner31]

Nice to see folks working well together.

[@mattwilliams4222]

I agree.. well done. Just the facts, and the work. The job itself is dramatic enough, no need for the ridiculous fake drama, and the 5 minute recap after every commercial break.. that kills me too. Most American "documentaries" are garbage..

[@keessturm2804]

Salvaging?? bring in the Dutch! proud, beautiful project.

[@jerryvandyke9216]

Why would you say that lovelock mat

[@jerryvandyke9216]

Throughout this massive fantastic job ,I did not hear one cuss or swear word ,and then along comes Matt Lovelock

[@billadmond9450]

Nice story and very well narrated.

[@ramblingrob4693]

+Bill Admond no it wasn't... they hardly said anything

[@wolfganghuhn7747]

This is great, not a single question how the salvage master felt, I want facts not feels

[@brickleyyard4966]

Great to see a new lease of life for something lefted to rot we need to more of this good job everyone

[@johnsomerset1510]

These are the sort of unsung heroes in life that should be honoured, rather than popstars and footballers.

[@Utubin]

Damn right. Life's priorities are f-uped.

[@richardmackow6990]

you dutch know how too salvage ,and recycle .the best in the world,by far!shame the rest of the world wasn't.like you ,or as good.the worlds oceans wouldn't be littlered ,with wrecks and stuff.nearly everything ,at the bottom ,is recycable,its mostely made of metal.well done guys,keep up the good work.theres a lot too salvage!id love a job,in salvage!dutch the best !

[@3fus]

En op het einde in de kantine een lekker bakkie koffie om even bij te praten. Goed werk geleverd allemaal.

[@JaymesEaston]

This video is like watching an Ingmar Bergman movie. Excellent cinema!

[@robertmccully2792]

Some serious money was spent on this. Serious money means well done job.

[@OOpSjm]

floating dry docks are pricey to replace.

[@avictorbell2835]

There's probably not that many of these things around so it had to be salvaged not scrapped in situ

[@rswow]

More money doesn't necessarily translate to good work. And less money given to tasks doesn't necessarily equate to shoddy work, esp. in labors of love for work the helper(s) see as vital but are left to do it in exploitative conditions.

[@robertmccully2792]

R S lots of words that say nothing but suggest many things. And these big jobs everything is inspected,, materials, labor, everything. If shoddy work is allowed it’s the state paid inspectors allowing it.

[@rumanda36]

That was way better than Discovery channel.

[@TimC_1964]

Well done, good job. Nice video and wonderful music.

[@davidhohlen310]

What an undertaking, and the cost, had to ouch! Job well done though with no damage to the environment!

[@ericcorse]

It is nice to see a boss not afraid to get dirty.

[@mr.heineken5770]

Another Dutch engineering at it's best!

[@LarryTait1]

Very impressive and patiently executed works

[@oldcheese91]

Wat zou Ome Koos hier trots op zijn geweest Paul... wij sloopte en ruimde branden op toen in mijn periode. Als je dan ziet wat er nu staat...Ongelooflijk. Ik ben er trots op als oude werker van een super bedrijf toen in Nederland. en nu even dit uit de grond trappen toppie.!

[@trevorpeauk3931]

Fascinating, and inventive. Thanks from UK.

[@lopikosmusic9354]

What a relaxing and wonderfully made video.

[@granskare]

it is nice to see KONE there. They are here in the Quad Cities area, building elevators & escalators :)

[@Cyba_IT]

The description says it was an unconventional method. I wonder what the conventional method would have been.

[@2adamast]

Digging out, instead of creating a dock for the dry dock

[@josephdeffendoll3056]

Great video!!!! And a great salvage crew.

[@williambtm1]

An excellent presentation, no doubt there were a few minor setbacks. Most importantly there was no melodrama, no distractive bull-schitt, just follow the plan and stay on target the best way possible. Incidentally, I guessed at the strategy to return the drydock to the ocean. Maybe something to do with my place of birth, yep, Holland back in 1948.

[@nigel900]

Sheer determination and perseverance. Excellent!

[@Sterlingjob]

Great film minus the dramatics of discovery type documentaries!

[@gabrielsunrise164]

This is epic. Great job boys. Congrats!!!

[@desdicado999]

very impressive thank you for the up load

[@davidhamilton1446]

All this effort for a ship gone adrift. Was it the new home that spurred this concerted response?

[@henryt9254]

It all boils down to knowledge and know-how. These jobs always have risks, but knowledge overcome any unforeseeable circumstance to resolve it. Just like space mission, knowledge is the foundation of any conquest. Of course a little prayer never hurts when all else fails.

[@jerryvandyke9216]

Henry Ting and the Dutch know how to do both very well

[@jerryvandyke9216]

Henry Ting and the Dutch know how to do both very well