Floating dry dock

Okay kiddo, have you ever seen a big ship being repaired or painted on the land? Well, sometimes, the land where the ship is parked is not big enough to do all the work needed to be done. That's where a floating dry dock comes in.

Imagine a big boat made of steel, with no motor, and no paddles. This floating dry dock is like a big bathtub that can be filled with water and sunk deep into the sea. When the water level is high, a ship can sail into it and then the water is pumped out, which makes the dry dock sink slowly to the seabed until the ship rests on top of it, high and dry.

And now, the ship is in a safe and stable home where workers can fix, clean or paint it, because it is outside of the water! But when the work is done, the water is again pumped into the dry dock, making the dock rise to sea level, and the ship is launched back into the sea.

Isn't that cool? A floating dry dock is like a giant bathtub that turns water into land, so ships can be repaired or painted!