Could the inspection be done by divers?
Since JRtI is idle on the West Coast, maybe they would send her up to Oregon first, then send her around to the Cape before sending OCISLY off to drydock, thus maintaining barge ops at the Cape without interruption, but that's only speculation on my part about how SpaceX might minimize impact to Cape ops.
I'm curious what kind of timeframe/deadline the CG wants for these inspections? And is there really nothing wide enough on the East coast?
Since the wings are well above water, could they remove the wings, do the drydock inspection, add the wings back, and get those separately inspected? Yes, would be an enormous pain in the ass, but probably better than the next best option if no EC drydock big enough can be found.
This generates a WTF for me... what is the value add of this requirement by the USCG? And why now?
QuoteCould the inspection be done by divers?Negative, must be drydocked.Imaginary tweet from Elon: "@USCG, WTF???"
Quote from: Lar on 06/09/2016 03:10 pmThis generates a WTF for me... what is the value add of this requirement by the USCG? And why now?Just a wild guess, but perhaps somebody put a bug in the USCG's ear regarding the hole punched in the deck earlier this year.
Quote from: Kabloona on 06/09/2016 01:55 pmQuoteCould the inspection be done by divers?Negative, must be drydocked.Imaginary tweet from Elon: "@USCG, WTF???"There was an image somewhere of a barge on a bunch of rollers.Is that an option?
Quote from: meekGee on 06/09/2016 03:28 pmQuote from: Kabloona on 06/09/2016 01:55 pmQuoteCould the inspection be done by divers?Negative, must be drydocked.Imaginary tweet from Elon: "@USCG, WTF???"There was an image somewhere of a barge on a bunch of rollers.Is that an option?That was one of the Marmacs under construction or being launched, on airbag (?) rollers. Wings were added while in the water. Don't know if extra weight of wings now rules out haulout on rollers. Also, clearance/accessibility beneath may be an issue.
Something seems "off" with the Coast Guard requiring a dry dock for inspection. They could ask for out of water inspection, but I haven't heard of Inspectors requiring a dock. It's a barge for gosh snakes; no machinery or tanks other than ballast water. They could pull it out of the water with lift bags an couple semi trucks.
But TBH sounds like the CG being a PITA. Given the numbers of wrecks pretending to be seaworthy ships around.
I wonder if we're getting related issues confused in our game of telephone here. What if SpaceX wanted to do a "major" refit of their fleet, that would require a dry dock for inspection *after the modifications were made*. Then we'd hear roughly the same story: barge owners looking for a dry dock to enable coast guard inspection (...after modifications).EDIT: on the other hand, this seems to indicate a dry dock inspection is a normal occurrence every 2.5yrs of salt water service:https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/46/31.10-21
QuoteGiven how busy the barges are, we might see the next big thing happening on a third vesicle, though who knows what that will be.Well, things may have to slow down soon.I'm told by a reliable source that USCG is requesting *drydock* inspections of both barges for permitting. Which means a drydock wide enough to accommodate both barges, with wings, must be located, which won't be easy.One drydock big enough is rumored to be in Oregon. No word on whether a closer drydock can be found for OCISLY. If she has to go to Oregon for a drydock inspection, that's probably at least 3 months out of action.Since JRtI is idle on the West Coast, maybe they would send her up to Oregon first, then send her around to the Cape before sending OCISLY off to drydock, thus maintaining barge ops at the Cape without interruption, but that's only speculation on my part about how SpaceX might minimize impact to Cape ops.
Given how busy the barges are, we might see the next big thing happening on a third vesicle, though who knows what that will be.