Rigger

The Riggers Department is responsible for the handling of material, equipment and machinery which serve and support various trades at the drydocks, ship construction areas and piers. The apprentice rigger is trained in the safe operation of the shipyard's numerous cranes, derricks, forklifts and mobile handling equipment. The rigger is also taught proper methods of attaching lifting equipment to both the crane and the load to be lifted. Riggers also build all staging and scaffolding required for the completion of work on ships in drydock and at the outfitting piers. Apprentices receive instruction in the fabrication and installation of all wire and rope rigging on surface ships and submarines. The department is also responsible for the docking, mooring, drydocking and undocking of all ships. As a part of this process, the apprentice is taught to set the keel and side blocks along the drydock floor in preparation for the drydocking of a ship. Riggers handle all mooring lines and maintain the ship's position as the dock is pumped dry and the ship settles onto the blocks. During drydock pumping and flooding operations, the precise rate of flow is controlled by the riggers.