When the shipyard was built in 1835, today’s Óbudai Island consisted of two islands. The shipyard bay was created by connecting the two islands. The Óbuda branch of the Danube did not lose its importance either as it was used as a winter port by merchant ships and later by warships of the river flotilla. The inner shipyard bay has an area of 8.6 ha, and the outer, Danube branch has an area of 15.6 ha. Before World War I, approximately 100 steamships and 250 barges could winter in the two places together, but a passageway was left for the icebreaker-docking ship. We have data on two icebreaker-docking ships: the DDSG NYÍL (1910) and the TAVASZ (1951).
Their role has significantly decreased as the last time the Danube froze over was in the winter of 1963.