Marine Log - October 2008 - (Page 37)

COVERSTORY ECOSPEED CHINA Last year, the M/V Crown Breeze had its hull coated with Subsea Industries’ Ecospeed. After trading in both icy conditions and tropical waters, the hull remains fully intact and in excellent condition. Application of Ecospeed on its way to The success of Crown Breeze’ s coating led to the decision of coating the M/V Thea Marieke in addition to the first of three newbuilds in China. The Ecospeed Ship Hull Performance system is 100% non-toxic and environmentally safe. After coating, no repaint is necessary, reducing drydock time and paint costs. GMG building multi-purpose vessel The Guandong Machinery Import & Export Co. Ltd. (GMG) is currently building its 36 x 10.4 m multipurpose vessel. The vessel is fitted with a pair of Cummins KTA50 M2 main engines which each produce 1,600 hp at 1,800 rev/min. It’s electrical power is provided by a pair of Cummins powered 240 kW generators. www.marinelog.com expense of quality? Greek shipowners have been among some of China’s most enthusiastic customers. However, they have concerns that have led to Dean Tseretopoulos, Technical Department Manager at Thenamaris and Chairman of the Hellenic Technical Committee of Lloyd’s Register, to demand action. He has called on classification societies to help meet the challenges set by the Chinese industry’s meteoric rise. Tseretopoulos says the rapid expansion of the shipbuilding industry in China has meant that there are not enough skilled staff to manage shipbuilding projects and insufficient component producers that are able to manufacture quality machine parts for new vessels. “Many manufacturers’ licensees in the Far East are in turn sub-contracting work to many secondary suppliers and, as a result, the manufacturers are losing the quality control of their products, and the quality is being lost,” he says, noting that this is creating “a potential risk on the horizon” that could see machinery and equipment failures. “It’s a substantial risk, a notable risk, it’s hard to quantify but it is a risk to life and limb as well as to vessels and machinery,” says Tseretopoulos. Owners and classification societies have “a massive task ahead” to meet quality requirements, he says, and must pool their resources to monitor and exchange information. Chinese yards need to maximize productivity, but their labor costs are rising as are costs related to environmental protection and materials. “We need a more aggressive approach from class to allow the maximum innovation to cope with these problems,” says Tseretopoulos. Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. located in Shanghai, China, is part of the China Shipbuilding Group Corporation Under the new Common Structural Rules class societies have all agreed to only approve structures that meet certain common rules, like those for plate thickness. China has succeeded in pushing its fledgling ship building industry to take off. The challenge now, says Tseretopoulos, is to prevent the industry from crash landing as a result of poor quality, design or workmanship. GREAT AMBITIONS: WORLD’S NUMBER ONE Though many of the ships currently on Chinese order books are for export customers, a significant proportion of the cargo they carry will be generated by the demands of the Chinese economy. China has set itself the goal of being the world’s number one shipbuilding nation by 2015. The chief significance of this goal is that it has helped fuel a huge expansion in Chinese shipyard capacity. When we looked at this expansion in some depth last year (ML, Sept. 2007, p. 43), there were nearly 40 major shipbuilding expansion projects in the works, dominated by the state-controlled China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), China Shipbuilding Industrial Corporation and COSCO Shipyards. CSSC has set itself the goal of being the world’s number one shipbuilder by 2012, which will involve a hefty capacity increase. It’s far from alone in having such plans. Typical of the China’s ambitions is the just-stated objective of Dalian ShipOCTOBER 2008 MARINE LOG 37 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/sb/ml0907/index.php?startid=43 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/sb/ml0907/index.php?startid=43 http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - October 2008

Marine Log - October 2008 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Fresh Fuel Ferries Exhibitors Preview Ferries get "Smarter" China's Great Ambitions Newsmakers Tech News Contracts Events Website Directory ML Buyer's Guide ML Marketplace Shipbuilding History

Marine Log - October 2008

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