Table of Contents:
Pacific Northwest |
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Northern
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Canadian
Atlantic |
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Table of Contents:
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Pacific
Northwest Section On February 21, 2004 the Pacific Northwest Section held a technical meeting in conjunction with the Vancouver Branch of the Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering at Cheer’s Restaurant in North Vancouver, BC. One hundred people turned out for what was to be an excellent meeting. The meeting consisted of four technical papers in the morning followed by a buffet lunch. Mr. Rollie Webb of Washington Marine Group presented “A Pacific Northwest Perspective on Shipbuilding and Repair.” Mr. Webb is uniquely positioned to discuss this topic having held top-level management positions at shipyards in both British Columbia and Washington State. The underlying message of his presentation was how closely tied are the economies on both sides of the border. He first recounted how Seattle-built submarines were bought by the BC government in the lead up to World War I. Following other historical marine anecdotes, Mr. Webb then did a SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the marine industry in the Northwest. He closed his presentation by emphasizing that although we are two countries, we are one industry.
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The second presentation was given by Mr. Francis Lin of International Marine who entitled his paper “Lessons Learned During the Construction of the Pacificats: Techniques, Planning and Accuracy.” Mr. Lin took us through the early project stages of researching designer and builder team selection. He then discussed the many lessons learned during the construction phase, emphasizing the high level of skill achieved in working with aluminum. The project resulted in three state-of-the-art fast ferries. Mr. Lin noted that the project largely met its original mission: it revitalized the shipbuilding industry and it created worldwide interest in BC shipbuilding capabilities.
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