1. A place where a ship can be moored. A wet dock is a port area isolated from tidal water movements by a lock gate.
2. A place where a ship can be built or repaired. Dry docks can be pumped dry to enable hull repairs and maintenance. They are commonly served by gantry cranes capable of handling units of several hundred tonnes weight.
A floating dock can be ballasted to submerge and receive a floating ship, and then debalasted to bring the ship out of water. It functions as a dry dock for ship maintenance while remaining afloat. The main requirement of a floating dock is an adequate depth of water for submerging.
