Float-out

Float-out is the operation that floats a newly built ship off the blocks by flooding the building dock, replacing the gravity launch used on inclined ways. The dewatered dock is flooded slowly until the hull lifts off its keel and bilge blocks under its own buoyancy; the ship is then towed clear to a fitting-out quay. Float-out is gentler than a launch because there is no slide, no sudden buoyancy transition, and no risk of the hull running across the waterway, so it suits the largest vessels. It usually marks structural and watertight completion of the hull, with most outfitting still ahead at the quay.