Syncrolift

The Syncrolift shiplift is a piece of equipment for lifting boats, ships and vessels onto land and back at sea for maintenance work or repair.

The vessel is maneuvered over a submerged cradle, which is then lifted by a set of synchronized hoists or winches.

[2] Because of this capacity, shiplifts have almost completely supplanted the older dry dock systems, most of which could handle only one vessel at a time.

[3] The Syncrolift shiplift was invented in the mid 1950s by Raymond Pearlson when he was working as Chief Engineer for Merrill Stevens, a small Miami shipyard.

In 2002, Raymond Pearlson was awarded the Elmer A. Sperry Award for the "invention, development and worldwide implementation of a new system for lifting ships out of the water for repair and for launching new ship construction.".