HQS Wellington, London, 11/10/2019
On Friday the 11th of October 2019, the SNAME Student Section of the University of Strathclyde attended the 9th Annual Western European SNAME Symposium, which took place on board HQS Wellington in London. The group consisted of the following committee members: Dimitrios Tsevdos (Chairman), Markella Pikouni (Vice-Chairwoman), Charalampos Agapiou (Secretary), Charalampos Dimitriou (Treasurer), Catalina Francu (Communication Officer), Sebastian Fulger (Web Master), and Nikolaos Koutsodontis (Advisor). The symbosium was also attended by other student members of the Section: Kritonas Dionysiou, Liatsos Nikolaos, Kornilios Ioannis, Lim Alan Kah Yong, Pomonis Timotheos, Michalaros Christos, Michail Antonios and Goulart Rafael.
The group met at Glasgow Central Train Station at 15:00 on Thursday the 10th of October and boarded the train to London Euston where they commenced their journey at 15:40. The majority of the group stayed at Royal Imperial Hotel in Bloomsbury which was selected by the committee since it was conveniently close to the Euston station and the event venue. Early on Friday morning the students walked towards river Thames where HQS Wellington was moored alongside the
Victoria Embankment, at
Temple Pierbetween the Blackfriar and Waterloo Bridges. On their arrival at the mooring location, the students boarded the ship and were greeted by Keith Lilley and Nina Lilley, the Chair of the Western Europe Section and the Junior Vice President of SNAME, respectively. After signing the attendance and safety lists, the group had the opportunity to introduce themselves and mingle with other SNAME members. They also learned the history behind HQS Wellington which served as a
convoy escort ship in the
North Atlanticduring the
Second World War, whilst after World War II, it was converted from being her Majesty’s Ship Wellington to Headquarters Ship of the
Honourable Company of Master Mariners.
Figure 1 - Presentation room on-board of HQS Wellington
The Symposium started with an introductory speech from Keith Lilley together with a safety briefing. The first technical presentation of the day was given by Dr. Raouf Kattan, a Principal Consultant of the Safinah Group. The presentation was about Drones and emphasized on health and safety issues associated with current inspection regimes in enclosed spaces on board marine structures and the risks they pose to human life during survey, operation and repair and maintenance activities. After that, Mark Tipping and Vincent Doumeizel from LR presented ‘Providing end to end Assurance Solution for Offshore Fish Farms’. The next presentation was given by Prof. Blanca Parga Landa, from the technical University of Madrid, titled ‘Some Considerations on the Impact of the Agenda 2030 on new Technologies Applied to Naval Architecture and Engineering’. Prof. Blanca discussed very briefly the history of naval architecture and engineering with analysis of some important milestones for naval architecture and its repercussion on history and old testament.
The Symposium was paused for one-and-a-half-hour break where a buffet lunch was served for all the Symposium attendees on-board the HQS Wellington. During the lunch break the students had the opportunity to network with professionals as well as student members from different SNAME sections while enjoying their lunch. The kick-off for the second part of presentations was given by Fotios Stefanidis and Konstantininos Tsitsilonis, from the University of Strathclyde, with their presentation titled ‘Mega Cruise Ship: Design for Safety’. They investigated, by considering the current trends of the industry, a techno-economic feasibility for a 12,000 passenger mega-liner, with a significantly increased safety level.
Figure 2 - President of SNAME with the UoS student section committee
Afterwards, the presentations from the two winners of last year’s SNAME Paper Competition took place. The first prize winner was Ines Simic, from the Rotterdam University, with a paper on ‘Marine Situational Awareness Solution: Smart Sensor Fusion’, while the second prize winner was Kritonas Dionysiou, from the University of Strathclyde, with a paper on ‘Analysis of Safety Implications for the Power Auxiliary Systems of Cruise Ships’.
The day concluded with a brief presentation for the future of SNAME by its president, Suzanne Beckstoffer, and the closing remarks from the Chairman Keith Lilley. Continuing professional certificates were then distributed to all attendees. Finally, members of the Strathclyde section had the opportunity to express their gratitude to SNAME WES for organizing the event and giving them the opportunity to attend and took several group pictures with all the participants.
Figure 3 - UoS SNAME members with SNAME WES committee and SNAME president
When the Symposium came to an end, the group decided to explore the city centre of London. The students had the time to visit main landmarks of the English capital such as the Big Ben, London Eye, Tower of London and London Bridge. Some of the group members grasped the opportunity to enjoy the view of London from the top of skyscrapers like the Shard and 20 Fenchurch.
On Saturday morning a trip to Thames Barrier was organized by SNAME and RINA. The students travelled with the tube to Stratford Station where they met with other SNAME members. They were then transported by coach to the location of Thames Barrier. The visit included a tour guide that through a presentation showed the necessity and scope behind the creation of this barrier. The Thames Barrier prevents the floodplain of most of Greater London from being flooded by exceptionally high tides and storm surges moving up from the North Sea; it’s in operation since 1982. The Thames Barrier is one of the largest movable flood barriers in the world and with appropriate modification, it will be capable of providing continued protection to London against rising sea levels until at least 2070. After the end of the presentation, the members were able to see a working model of the Barrier and videos of its construction. They were then taken as close as they could to the actual Barrier to witness the enormous structure from close proximity. When the visit came to an end, the members took group photos and then boarded the coach to head back to Stratford station. The students were free to make their own schedule and enjoy their last day. Even though the rainy weather of London was discouraging, that did not stop some students to attend to world class shows, such as Ballet and Musical Theater Performances. Others preferred to go for relaxing walks in the city center for site seeing and last-minute shopping.
The next day, the members of UoS Student Section boarded the train for their return journey to Glasgow feeling privileged to have participated in the trip and understanding the advantages of being a student member of SNAME.
Sincere thanks to Nina Lilley and Keith Lilley for their hard work in organizing and running the Symposium as well as SNAME’s support to UoS Section.