Bringing Vessels Back to Glory: Precision Recovery & Structural Revival
unprecedented operation has turned the Port of Augusta into the stage of a true test of extreme engineering. Cantiere Navale Noè of Augusta, a historic shipyard founded in 1890, succeeded in raising the GO53, a 6,000-ton floating dry dock, 152 meters long and 30 meters wide, previously sunk and acquired through a public procedure from the Italian Navy.
When it was taken over, the GO53 was in severely compromised condition: damaged compartments, widespread breaches, unstable internal volumes, and degraded structures. Bringing it back to the surface was not a simple recovery, but a race against time to prevent further failures, stabilize buoyancy, and keep the structure afloat throughout the entire operation.
The divers of Worksub, together with colleagues from Social Work, worked in extremely dangerous and hard-to-reach environments, intervening on the most deteriorated areas and securing critical points. Structural assessments by Studio di Ingegneria Nattero made it possible to define the operational limits within which the team could proceed, while the pontoon Ardito executed the mooring plan required for the transfer. Port technical services—tugboats, mooring crews, and pilots—handled the dock’s movement with precision, ensuring maximum safety within the water area under concession to the shipyard.
The most delicate moment was the lifting phase: every centimeter of ascent was monitored with continuous checks on internal pressures, external forces, and overall trim, because the structure, though resurfaced, still contains areas that require immediate intervention to prevent new risks. It was an extremely complex phase coordinated by engineer Emanuele Noè Illuminato, who managed the synergy between divers, engineers, and shipyard operators, turning a borderline situation into a concrete result.
The operation was also made possible thanks to full institutional cooperation: Marisicilia Command, the Augusta Naval Arsenal, the Port Authority, Maristanav, and the Eastern Sicily Port System Authority ensured oversight, authorizations, and constant supervision, guaranteeing strict compliance with maritime, environmental, and safety regulations.
“Bringing the GO53 back to the surface was a demanding and unique intervention, made possible above all by the tireless work of our teams,” states Maurizio Illuminato, CEO of Cantiere Navale Noè. “The dock’s condition required maximum attention: it was the people in the yard—skilled, determined, and present at every critical stage—who made possible what, on paper, was a razor-thin margin between success and failure.”
With resurfacing completed, the GO53 now enters a phase of structural and functional restoration, during which the most serious damage will be addressed and the planned testing and certification processes will begin. This is an essential step toward returning the dock to full operational capability.
This achievement marks a historic moment for Italian and Mediterranean shipbuilding and reaffirms the strategic role of the Port of Augusta and Cantiere Navale Noè in managing highly complex interventions, setting a new standard of industrial and technological excellence in the Mediterranean.
Information:
Floating dry dock: GO53
Original owner: Italian Navy
Current owner: Cantiere Navale di Augusta Srl
Length of the platform: 140.40 m
Internal construction beam: 21.60 m
External construction beam: 29.60 m
Maximum dock height: 12.40 m
Platform height: 2.20 m
Maximum draught (submerged dock): 14.70 m
Lifting capacity: 6,000 tonnes
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