It is unfortunate that I was not born twins and, therefore, am unable to be in two places at once, likewise, unable to attend all of the SNAME AM technical sessions within my interests including those conflicting one with another. This, incidentally, reinforces the value to any company that sends not just one but several of its employees to the AM. Your organization could gain double or more of the content brought back home – plus added camaraderie among your employees – not to mention the undeniable market exposure of your organization.
Friday opened with a variety of technical and Ship Production Symposium (SPS) papers. I was gratified to witness the research and results of part of my Company’s parent, Ingalls Shipbuilding, in developing and joining large pultruded composite vessel superstructure components at low cost. While further research is proposed, the Navy has endorsed and continues to support this work going forward. Demonstrated cost and labor savings of up to 88% compared with vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) with competitive strength characteristics are surely prime motivators.
An experimental study in ship resistance and propulsion prediction in pack-ice-covered waters, for which few model tests and no reliable correlative methods exist, addressed a key element of my background and work with a new twist. Current and forecast increased navigation in polar waters north of Canada brings added challenges as demonstrated by this topic. In fact, this was an excellent follow-on to the Arctic oil-recovery barge concept session I’d attended the previous day.
Yet more cutting-edge interests were addressed by the Development of a Short Sea Intermodal LNG Carrier namely, environmentally-friendly operation, cost-effective coastal cargo carriage relieving the burden upon land-based transportation, especially highway trucking, and support to an LNG marine fuel infrastructure. The articulated tug/barge (AT/B) vessel, transporting ISO-type tank containers (LNG tanks fixed in a framework sized as standard ISO 20-foot containers), could operate on LNG-only or dual-fuel propulsion. Moreover, the transport scheme simplifies distribution and startup for an LNG fuel transport infrastructure and is scalable to medium- and large-scale product models.
The increasing need for remote collaboration among designers, builders, project managers and vendors has resulted in a proliferation of electronic and Web-based tools, one such being 3D-PDF. PROSTEP, the provider of this tool, has demonstrated its value with prominent customers and exposure among international aircraft, automotive and other industrial customers. In addition to current shipbuilders Myer Werft and Thyssen, PROSTEP now seeks to add value to others in the maritime market with collaboration tools presented in an SPS paper to the SNAME AM today.
Being the son of an electrical contractor as well as employee of a wholly-owned subsidiary of a major U.S. shipbuilder, with attendant crucial safety issues, I took interest in the SPS presentation on a Shipyard Electrical Safety Awareness Program. This presentation fleshed out the dangers of shock, arc flash and arc blast prevalent in shipyards and industrial facilities which injure and kill even seasoned trades people each year. Many misconceptions were dispelled regarding underestimation of the risks involved with the “common” voltages and currents encountered in household applications compared with industrial facilities. The appropriate OSHA and NFPA reference standards and documents, as applicable for shipyards and for general industrial facilities, were introduced, with locations cited for specific topics in alternate sources where one particular source is silent. I would consider this paper a “must-read” for any ship or boat yard, large or small, naval, commercial, yacht or recreational boat builder.
The 2011 AM Proceedings closed out with the final two of four panel sessions, these today being:
- LNG Fuel for Ships – Engineering and Regulatory Issues
- Public Vessel Acquisition in the 21st Century
These two selfsame topics being featured at last year’s AM in Bellevue, WA, today’s panels gave those who attended last year an opportunity to keep up on progress in these realms. The ever-developing LNG marine fuel use model being elemental in several of my office’s projects, I continued to gain exposure and feedback by attending that panel again. This followed both on my attendance at last year’s panel, plus yesterday’s LNG T&R session and the short-sea transporter paper from this morning. As in those panels, it was reinforced by presenters and attendees alike that safety, in regard to operation and fuel handling at all supply chain stages, would need to be demonstrated and ensured for market and public acceptance. A 52-year record of safe maritime transport of LNG was cited by one presenter, while another, referencing the gasoline-fueled automobiles aboard an LNG ferry – and everywhere else on the planet – reinforced the notion that any safety challenges posed by LNG were surmountable by technology and all due care of stakeholders and operators, as is the case with many commonly-used combustibles in the culture.
The closing of the final day’s proceedings of the AM has been somewhat of a melancholy moment for me in years past. As people file out of the room, some to ready for one of the Alumni dinners, others to prepare to return home, there’s always a small group hanging out, networking with the presenters and with one another. While I use the opportunity to continue making quality contacts, I also get the feeling that others there are, like me, just not yet ready to say goodbye. While the AM shines as a venue for education, training and business transaction, there is truly a fellowship and camaraderie among all of us who attend, who reinforce existing friendships and nurture new ones, even as we conduct our business and bone up on our industry.
Thankfully, that fellowship was able to continue awhile longer. SNAME’s First Annual “Footy” Design-Build Competition and Regatta, held at the Hyatt’s swimming pool immediately following the last proceedings, showcased the talents of participants who crafted small, radio-controlled sailing yachts and those who raced them around the buoys in the pool. Build rules include the requirement that the hull’s entire keel depth and width fit inside a box 12 inches long, 12 in. deep and 6 in. wide, with essentially no restrictions on sailing rig. Footy is a racing class for these types of boats, with all the SNAME-participating boats registered with the Class. While providing an additional outlet of creativity, fellowship, training, education and friendly competition for SNAME members, it is anticipated that SNAME’s Footy regatta activity will also serve as a springboard for outreach to high schools and colleges for drawing talent to the marine field. Having arrived rather late at the pool to witness the competition, I’ll defer reporting of all the final results – of races, prizes for best designs, etc. to others more in-the-know than I. Finally, I was gratified, once again, to meet still more of the contingent of some 200-plus enthusiastic student Members who attended this year’s AM, as well as to offer my parting good-byes to others I’d met over the past three days.
And, yet, I suspect many of these good-byes will be short-lived, would be better termed ’til-we-meet-agains. Very likely, many of us will be encountering one another in the upcoming year – provided we and our companies are willing and ready to be innovative and to accept new challenges with calculated risks – as we go forth as business partners to address the ever-pressing needs of our clients for reliable, sustainable marine transportation, defense and recreational solutions that only our industry can provide. We must all be most thankful to those at SNAME HQ, all on the Annual Meeting Planning Committee, the Technical Papers Committee, the Education Committee and all who volunteered time, effort, personal and corporate resources to make SNAME AM 2011 the successful education and networking event that it has been.
While I could wish “smooth sailing and fair seas” to all who read this, the technical and economic realities of our day will flatly preclude that – but it is the harshest conditions in which the ships, boats and systems that we design and build most often prove their value. So, too, I expect with those of us who resolve to continue to succeed – and I’m grateful for the tools to that end available via SNAME and the Annual Meeting.