Designing shipyards is a complex task due to the diverse nature of vessels being built, ranging from simple to complex. The optimal layout and design of a shipyard depend on various factors, including the type and size of ships, the specific construction methods used, and the overall workflow, according to Marine Insight.
Feasibility Study
The very first stage in the design of a shipyard is analyzing the requirements as follows:
- Type of vessels to be built
- Size of the vessels to be built
- The maximum deadweight of the vessels to be constructed
- Nature of the work order requirements.
Optimizing all the above, the feasible size and complexity of the shipyard to be built is decided.
Costing, Budgeting, and Planning
At this juncture, the costing and budgeting part, considering the profit-loss estimate cycles and worth assessment metrics, comes into play where an estimated plan is proposed for the entire project along with man days, resourcing, and the average time expected to be required as per the valuation framework.
Deciding the location
Shipyards always need to be situated at strategic locations.
Once the area limits are decided, the next stage is to zero down on the location. Selecting the location takes into consideration important factors about vessels plus some other ambits.
The aforesaid parameters related to the vessels to be produced determine the heads such as:
- Depth and bathymetric considerations (for draft allowances)
- Waves and tidal variations
- Sedimentation and other coastal processes affecting the launching and repair of ships
- Underwater geography and topology
- Nature of currents
The commercial factors that are considered are:
- Proximity to supply chains (for raw material procurement)
- Railroad and roadway connectivity
- Vicinity to any trade or commercial hub such as a big city, port, or special economic zone.
- Convenience of manpower allocation
Preliminary Design
After assimilating the primary data about feasibility studies, requirements, size, and location, the next very important step is preparing a primary tentative plan or initial layout of the facility. This includes a rough blueprint in terms of how the shipyard is supposed to appear such that it is capable of not only catering to the requirements but also reducing production downtime in the best way. In the commercial shipping industry, time is money, and in the defense sector, time is security and power.
This is a complicated and iterative process that is based on the optimization of the inputs in the best manner possible. Often large shipyards in the past and present have relied on traditional numerical methods based on first principles and complex logic to come up with the maximum optimized plan.
Basic, Detailed and Contract Design
After the preliminary design is finalised, the next phase is the basic design. At this stage, the concept design is further refined to have a clearer picture of how the intended design is to suit the objectives of best practice in terms of production volumes, lowest cost indices, least downtimes, minimal bottlenecks in the workflow, safety of personnel, and of course, the desired benchmarks of quality that is the primary goal of any shipbuilding facility.
The following stage is the detailed design stage when the definition of the shipyard is done at a granular level.
These include activities like:
- Designing each unit and space at a detailed level (size, number, layout).
- Layout the configuration of each production and assembly line.
- Define the final location of all sections ranging from a small paint shop office to the modular hull units.
- Determine the proper equipment and systems required like cranage types, automated machines, welding lines, painting devices, etc. along with their specific particulars and dispositions.
- Prepare a proper plan for the typical sequence of workflow and the downtime each segment is required to take till the launching of the vessel.
Did you Subscribe to our daily newsletter?
It’s Free Click here to Subscribe!
Source: Marine Insight
