By Ryan Skinner (email)
Shipbuilding's down cycles create a wealth of cheap engineering resources, R&D opportunities
You should listen closely to this; it may make your future. A couple of week's ago, I sat listening to Per Brinchman of Wilhelmsen Maritime Consulting (he's Wilhelmsen's chief newbuilding and shipyard resource) describe the challenges facing zero emissions shipping. Wilhelmsen's zero emissions Orcelle concept seemed stalled; little had happened. Alas, with the recession, things would surely go from bad to worse.
That's when Brinchman offered a few rays of hope.
What stuck in my memory was his remark that, now that shipyards and suppliers were struggling to maintain a respectable order flow, there was no better time to experiment, test, study and innovate. Those engineers and companies whose every waking moment was previously dedicated to how to turn out product quickly, now had time on their hands and one big worry: How are we going to win the few orders that are out there, and how are we going to win orders tomorrow?
Read any update from the shipbuilding industry and the picture is the same. Finland's mighty cruise ship yards face huge lay-offs. Korea's yards are diving into wind-mill fabrication. Japan's and China's yards are scrapping for whatever they can get.
I called up Brinchman to put more meat on this bone. "You see," he says, "only a year and a half ago, we couldn't get any yards interested in doing anything different. Even if we were willing to pay extra. They weren't interested. It was all about meeting a very tight production schedule.
"Now we see a change in attitude. Even on ships ordered a year ago, yards are willing to discuss special equipment and new solutions. Before, when we asked for more model basin testing, yards weren't interested. They did only what they had to do. Now that's all changing."
Asked which areas were getting the most interest from yards, Brinchman offered two areas: testing that related to hydrodynamics (hull shapes, rudders and propellors) and machinery optimization, including waste heat recovery and NOX reduction.
"Many yards will simply have to close, I think. But, for any who remain, the key will be to invest in R&D," says Brinchman. So the key is this: Hunt down whatever funding you can get. It will go far in this market. He pointed to the Norwegian maritime cluster as one that often succeeded at combining skilled manpower from different parts of the industry into research projects that result in innovations.
The picture for funding in Norway is surely similar to that in many other countries, if on a somewhat smaller scale. While the government hesitates to prop up shipbuilding (too many ships are entering the market already), it uses whatever funds it can to support R&D and new technology development. Norway's budget for 2010 contained nearly USD 25 million for maritime R&D (via the MAROFF programme), an increase of about USD 2 million on 2009. Additional funds have been set aside for any industry projects related to environmental technology.
Suddenly, shipyards need to become experts on seeking government funding for research projects. For those countries and yards that are able to find some capital to spend, they will find that their dollar goes far when engineers are on the cheap.
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