"SHIPBUILDING IN THE MODERN ERA"

14/12/2016

On Wednesday 14th of December, SNAME NTUA Greek Student Section held its first technical presentation for the year 2016-2017 titled ‘’Shipbuilding in the modern era’’. Our speaker was Mr Charilaos Petrakakos, Senior Consultant in P&P Marine Consultants. The presentation was hosted in the Multimedia Amphitheater at NTUA Library and was moderated by Alexandros Senteris. The lecture had rich participation, including members and students from NTUA and TEI of Athens.

In this presentation Mr Petrakakos focused on the present situation as well as the future changes in shipbuilding and ship repair industry. He gave an overview of the ship production ideal goals and the shipbuilding major works in order to understand the entire shipbuilding process and the flow of material from the stockyard to the end of product. Rather than first having an aerial view of the shipbuilding process he discussed each process and ship work in detail; as per the sequence followed in the industry.

The second day started with presentations early in the morning that brought into focus the different types of services that SNAME provide and the ways that the members could full use of them. At later stage, small working groups were created , each one sharing its ideas and reasons on WHY SNAME exists and HOW it can become a successful organization. In the evening a cocktail reception was held at the Tide Lock Park, where everyone enjoyed their drink while socializing with other colleagues.

At the beginning, explained the various stages that are involved in a shipbuilding process. Per him, one of the most important steps is the ship design. The design is basically done in three sub phases namely the basic design, detailed design and production design which are different in details and refinements. The hull form and arrangement of ship are determined at the design stage. Research and development are also conducted at this stage.

The next step is the production planning. He pointed out that working and production schedules are developed considering the efficient production. Afterwards, having prepared the design and the material for the ship is ordered a large percentage of outfit items are also placed by the shipyard, so as to keep the hull fabrication and outfit installation processes in parallel.

In addition Mr Petrakakos   referred to his explanation in another crucial steps: plate assemply and mounting of blocks. He explained how the cut steel plates as well as the processed components are assempled in order to ensure manufacturing efficiency. Especially  assemply is carried out phase by phase starting with small scale assemply, the mid scale and in the end large scale assemply is performed. Then, the blocks joined or installed using rigs and cranes.

Consequently, he mentioned the operation of quay and the sea trial where all the ship instruments and components are checked and verified to ensure that everything is at the right place and in the right size.

In conclusion, he pointed out that this process involves a lot of hard work but every day all the shipyards and shipbuilders around the world are making efforts to deliver ships which meet the demand of shipping regulating authorities of being sustainable, energy efficient and eco-friendly.