Dry dock parked in wet city

The giant dry dock to be dedicated Friday at Todd Pacific Shipyards is more than a tool for repairing huge vessels such as the M/V Wenatchee, one of the largest in the Washington State Ferries fleet. "This is a very serious reinvestment by us in the business," said CEO Steve Welch. "It demonstrates a sense of commitment that we've got after having made it 90 years. We're looking forward."

The Seattle company, founded in 1916, employs between 700 and 1,000 people, depending on its workload. Todd is leasing the World War II-era dry dock from the U.S. Navy. The dock's platform can be submerged under a ship, which can then be hoisted out of the water for work on the hull.

Too wide to pass through the Panama Canal, the dry dock was shipped 12,500 miles from Norfolk, Va., to Harbor Island by way of the southern tip of South America. Todd has been upgrading the new dock, one of three at the shipyard, since August.