The 91st SNAME Annual Meeting A Special Post-Meeting And Exposition Report

The 91st Annual Meeting of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, held on November 9-12 at the New York Hilton Hotel, again drew a large attendance at the banquet, technical sessions, and at the expanded Second International Maritime Exposition, which this year saw 139 companies occupying more than 22,000 square feet of exhibit space in the hotel.

Presiding over the President's Luncheon and the Annual Banquet was SNAME president C.

Larry French, president of National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego. Mr. French was elected to head SNAME at the 1982 Annual Meeting, and will serve as president until the end of 1984.

Officers Elected The SNAME Council met at the beginning of the Annual Meeting and elected a number of new officers and honorary members.

Elected honorary vice presidents (for life) were Capt. Perry W. Nelson, USN (Ret.), executive vice president of M. Rosenblatt and Son, Inc., New York naval architects and marine engineers; and George A. Uberti, program manager with National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego.

Five new vice presidents were elected. Of these, the following four will serve for a term of three years: Robert Herbert, president, Herbert Engineering Corporation, San Francisco; Dr. James A. Lisnyk, deputy director, Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C.; Capt. Thomas A. Marnane, USN, commander, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Honolulu; and Donald E. Ridley, vice president, Bird-Johnson Company, Walpole, Mass. Serving a one-year term is Malcolm I. Comyn, naval architect, Esso Resources Canada, Ltd.

Re-elected as SNAME officers for one-year terms were: Robert G. Mende, secretary and executive director; Robert Axelrod, treasurer, and Donald M. Birney, assistant treasurer. Mr.

Axelrod is vice president of J.J.

Henry Co., Inc., and Mr. Birney is assistant vice president of the American Bureau of Shipping, both in New York City.

In addition, the Council elected as honorary members (for life) Robert P. Giblon, recently retired president of George G. Sharp, Inc., and Capt. Henry P. Rumble, USN (Ret.), senior developmental engineer at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, San Diego.

The Awards Large audiences at the President's Luncheon and the Annual Banquet witnessed the presentation of coveted awards and prizes to prominent members of the Society.

At the banquet in the Grand Ballroom on Friday, November 11, SNAME's highest awards were presented to Jens. T. Holm, retired professor of marine engineering, Webb Institute of Naval Architecture; Edwin M. Hood, president emeritus of the Shipbuilders Council of America; and Joe W. Key, president of Key Ocean Services of Houston.

The prestigious David W. Taylor Medal "for notable achievement in naval architecture and marine engineering" is given annually. The recipient, Professor Holm, holds degrees from Webb Institute and from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.

He was for 34 years a member of the Webb faculty, teaching in the disciplines of marine engineering and thermodynamics. He also authored some important SNAME publications.

Edwin M. Hood, who received the annual Vice Admiral "Jerry" Land Medal "for outstanding accomplishment in the marine field," retired in June 1983 as president of the Shipbuilders Council of America. For the 24 years prior to his retirement he was the national spokesman to the public and to Congress on behalf of the U.S.

shipbuilding industry. Mr. Hood still serves the SBA as president emeritus and consultant.

The Blakely Smith Medal is awarded biennially "for outstanding accomplishment in ocean engineering." It was presented to Joe W. Key, who for the past 25 years has been engaged in the application of engineering science to the solution of naval and industrial problems in the oceans.

At the President's Luncheon held on November 10 the following awards were made: The Captain Joseph H. Linnard Prize for 1983 was presented to John P. Breslin, Carl-Anders Johnson, Justin E. Kerwin, and Robert J. Van Houten for their paper, "Theoretical and Experimental Propeller-Induced Hull Pressures Arising from Intermittent Blade Cavitation." This prize is given to the author or authors of the best paper contributed to the Transactions of the Society at its Annual Meeting the preceeding year.

The best paper delivered before a Section of the Society gets the Vice Admiral E.L. Cochrane Award. This went to Watt D. Burton Jr., for his paper, "A Survey of Marine Steam Propulsion Plants for Commercial Ships in the 1980s," delivered at the Hampton Roads Section on April 14, 1983.

The Graduate Paper Honor Prize for 1983 was awarded to Jonathan J. Shields for his paper, "Containership Stowage: A Computer- Aided Pre-planning System," presented at the April 14, 1983 meeting of the Northern California Section.

The Undergraduate Paper Honor Prize for 1983 was awarded to Tamara S. Upham for her paper, "Analysis of Japanese Ship Contract Price Data from 1975 to 1979," given before the Great Lakes/Great Rivers Section on January 21, 1983.

The Graduate Paper Award was given to George Triantafyllou for his paper, "Behavior of Elastic Membranes in a Current for Applications in Uranium Extraction," presented on January 27, 1983 at the New England Section.

Hendrik F. Van Hemmen received the Undergraduate Paper Award for his paper, "The Monoform Slip Concept: Design Principles and Preliminary Performance Characteristics," delivered at the Chesapeake Section on May 25, 1982.

A Certificate of Appreciation was given to Monroe D. Macpherson for his outstanding service as chairman of the Sections Committee from 1970 to 1982, and the Society's most immediate past president, John J. Nachtsheim, received a Presidential Certificate of Appreciation. The President's Luncheon awards ceremony concluded with the presentation (in absentia) of Golden Award 50-Year Membership Certificates to Capt.

Oscar Stiegler, USN (Ret.), and Edgar Svikis.

The President's Address In his annual address delivered at the President's Luncheon, Mr.

French gave some observations on National Defense and the changing views our government has had on what is required as a government-funded national defense program. He also proposed a program that he thinks would improve our national defense capabilities, aid our maritime and "smokestack" industries, and improve the tax base.

To begin with, Mr. French offered a different view of what national defense is: "The first concept most people have of national defense is the armed forces. We have become used to thinking of the three branches of our national defense—Army, Navy, and Air Force. Those of us in the maritime industry have tried to emphasize the thought that there is a fourth branch or leg of national defense— the maritime industry. We include ships, crews, and at least those of us in the business of shipbuilding as components of this fourth leg.

"I would suggest that we revise this concept and recognize a fifth leg, the industrial base, and I would also suggest that shipbuilding is a part of the fifth leg, not the fourth leg.

"Let's look at changes in the relationship of the government and various legs of national defense under this five-leg concept. First consider the armed forces, the first three legs. If my recollection of American history is correct, the creation of a standing army was a development taking many years.

Militia or reserves, unpaid by the Federal Government, existed before the standing army. Paid mercenaries were also part of our national defense in earlier days.

"The first naval vessels were not government owned and crewed but were privateers, owned and crewed by civilians. Even after a Navy using government ships and crews was created, privateers were used to supplement the nucelus Naval force.

"The fourth branch, or maritime industry, has also seen significant changes, just as drastic as the armed forces. In the early days we were a maritime country; most of our population and our cities were situated on the coasts. Our early economy depended on imports from Europe and exports of our agricultural endeavors. A maritime industry developed based on the American-developed and built fast clipper ships, and our merchant marine and shipbuilding industries were both financially sound industries; the assets of these private enterprises were available to the country when needed for national defense.

"As our country expanded, more of our economic strength was devoted to developing our land between the coasts, and the maritime industry was not as critical to the economy of the country as it had been. Other countries whose economies continued to be mainly driven by international trade filled the voids created when our economy turned heavily to domestic interests.

The international trade of the United States changed from a trade dominated by U.S. vessels to one primarily carried in foreign ships. The net result was a greatly decreased privately financed U.S.

merchant marine industry. We never have recovered from this condition, as other maritime nations have defended their maritime industries from any attempts that the United States private firms make to recover any large amount of our international trade.

"Our fifth leg of defense, the industrial base, is in even graver danger than our fourth leg, the maritime industry. The first settlers of the colonies depended on imported material for both survival and defense. Early in the colonial days, blast furnaces, foundries, forges, and other industries were developed. These industries were needed to produce plows, stoves, shovels, hunting rifles, knives, etc. They were private enterprise.

In times of war these industries were converted to producing cannon shot, powder, military rifles, etc.

"If we do not have an industrial base we cannot maintain a viable national defense even if three or four other legs of defense are maintained. Now is the time when we must recognize that public support of our national defense industrial base is again needed.

Mr. French's Proposal "I would like to offer a concept of how our fourth and fifth legs of defense could be strengthened in a manner which I believe would have minimal cost and possibly a reduction of cost to the taxpayers.

My proposal involves shipbuilding as a key element, to the surprise of no one here I am sure. Actually, my proposal is a modification or extension to the Boggs Bill (HR- 6979). This Bill proposes that cargo reservation on bulk shipments be invoked in increasing amounts.

The current percentage of bulk materials imported and exported by the United States shipped in U.S.-built, owned, and crewed ships is less than five percent.

"The Boggs Bill proposes this percentage be increased at the rate of one percent a year until a maximum of 20 percent is reached.

HR-6979 also proposes that ship construction and crew costs be reduced in order to minimize the cost differential between U.S. and foreign-built ships. The proponents of this Bill estimate that more than 250 ships would be built in the 15 years of the program.

"What I propose is that ships built for the cargo preference trade be built with American components.

I also propose this requirement be a true Buy American Law. If shipbuilders have to buy American-manufactured equipment but the equipment manufacturers buy foreign-made castings, forgings, or steel, or steel mills roll plate from imported slabs, we do not maintain a viable industrial base and in times of emergency ships and other defense equipment could not be built by domestic industries. A study to determine what minimum industrial base is required to insure an ability for rapid expansion of our industrial capabilities in time of emergency should be made.

"Another approach would be tax breaks given to shippers which would reimburse them for the additional shipping costs charged by U.S. operators. I am sure that there are no end of ways our bureaucrats in Washington can devise to resolve this problem once the concept of general taxes being used is accepted.

"I personally believe that the actual costs to the taxpayers would be little, if anything. The jobs created by the program plus the other jobs created in the general economy as a by-product of the program would generate taxes and reduce government support program costs in many ways. A program which improves our national defense and creates jobs in the population levels and the geographic areas where they are needed is certainly desirable. Government assistance for our industrial base is again needed just as it was in the late 1930s. I think this program is the answer as to how the government assistance can best be given. I ask your support for this concept." The Banquet Speaker Ralph L. Lewis Jr., corporate communications coordinator for Gulf Oil Corporation, was the principal speaker at the 91st Annual Banquet held on Friday evening, November 11, in the Grand Ballroom of the New York Hilton.

A retired vice president of Gulf Oil, Mr. Lewis spoke on the subject of energy, an issue that is still with us. His topic covered a wide range of social, economic, and political activities that surround the worldwide search and development of energy sources.

During his 31 years with Gulf, Mr. Lewis has served in 10 domestic locations, handling either staff or line assignments in oil, gas, and chemicals. He also has served in Gulf's coal, shale, geothermal, solar, nuclear, and uranium operations.

Technical Sessions Chairman Jack A. Obermeyer and his Papers Committee again produced a lively and informative technical program, with distinguished SNAME members and guest authors presenting 12 papers on topics ranging from a computer program for recreational powerboats to predicting ship performance in ice.

One presentation in particular generated more comment and controversy than any paper in recent years. It was titled, "The Jones Act: Foreign-Built Vessels in the Domestic Shipping Industry," by Warren G. Leback, Mar Ad's deputy maritime administrator, and John W. McConnell, who is with the Washington office of the law firm of Haight, Gardner, Poor & Havens.

The essential thrust of the Leback-McConnell paper was that with introduction of foreign-built and foreign-rebuilt ships in U.S.- flag liner trades, vessels constructed or reconstructed in shipyards abroad should be permitted in U.S. domestic trades. They propose amending the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (the Jones Act) to provide eligibility in domestic shipping for: re-flagged, U.S.-built vessels; U.S.-built, foreign-rebuilt, U.S.-documented vessels; new foreign- built, U.S.-documented vessels not less than three nor more than 10 years of age, U.S.-owned for not less than three years; U.S.- flag vessels built with construction- differential subsidy (CDS), without repayment of CDS but subject to "charge" levied on basis of estimated foreign cost used in determination of CDS.

The authors would also repeal the Jones Act restriction on foreign- built, U.S.-documented vessels transporting passengers in U.S. coastwise trades, and the 50- percent ad valorem duty on foreign repairs to U.S.-flag vessels.

Among the dozen or more attendees who spoke in opposition to the Leback-McConnell paper were: M. Lee Rice, president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, who called it "a travesty of fundamental national policy"; David H.

Klinges, vice president of Bethlehem Steel's Marine Construction Group; Edward Renshaw, chairman of the St. Louis Ship Division of Pott Industries; D. Ward Fuller, president of American Steamship Company; James E. Turner, vice president of marketing, Newport News Shipbuilding; and Gerald Seifert, counsel of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee.

The other distinguished authors and their papers included: • Dale E. Calkins, "An Interactive Computer-Aided Design Synthesis Program for Recreational Powerboats;" • Petros A. Lalangas and Panayiotis L. Yannoulis, "Design and Construction of a 25-M High-Speed Aluminum Motor Yacht;" • Ake Williams and Hans Liljenberg, "Revival of the Flettner Rotor—Beneficial or Not for Merchant Vessels, Fishing Boats and Recreational Craft?;" • Yung-Kuang Chen, Lembit M. Kutt, Christopher M.

Piaszczyk, and Maciej P.

Bieniek, "Ultimate Strength of Ship Structures;" • Miro Kresic and Bruce Haskell, "Effects of Propeller Design Point Definition on the Performance of a Propeller/ Diesel Engine System with Regard to In-Service Roughness and Weather Conditions;" • Richard J. Baumler, Toshio Watanabe, and Hiroshi Huzimura, "Sea-Land's D9 Container Ships—Design, Construction and Performance;" • N. Pharr Smith, David B.

Lorenz, Carl A. Wendenburg, and John S. Laird, "A Study of Drag Coefficients for Truss Legs on Self-Elevating Mobile Offshore Drilling Units;" • Frank S.F. Chou, Susobhan Ghosh, and Edward W.

Haung, "Conceptual Design Process of a Tension Leg Platform;" • Joseph D. Porricelli, J.

Huntly Boyd, and Keith E.

Schleiffer, "Modern Analytical Techniques for Salvage Engineering Using Portable Computers;" • Thomas V. Kotras, Andrew V. Baird, and John N. Naegle, "Predicting Ship Performance in Level Ice;" and • Alexander C. Landsburg, James C. Card, C. Lincoln Crane, Jr., Philip R. Alman, William R. Bertsche, John W. Boylston, Haruzo Eda, Virgil F. Keith, Ian R.

McCallum, Eugene R. Miller Jr., and Abraham Taplin, "Design and Verification for Adequate Ship Maneuverability Second International Maritime Exposition As mentioned briefly at the be- ginning of this article, the Second International Maritime Exposition that ran concurrently with the SNAME Annual Meeting was again a huge success. The number of exhibitors grew to 139 and the area covered by the exhibits expanded to some 22,000 square feet—about 8,000 square feet bigger than the first exposition held in 1982.

The companies exhibiting were a "who's who" of the maritime industry; included were many naval architecture firms, shipyards, engine manufacturers, and suppliers of all kinds of marine equipment and services. While most of the exhibitors were American companies, there were quite a number of firms from abroad represented.

Any exhibition is only as good as its attendance, and the traffic in the Rhinelander Gallery at the Hilton was brisk. More importantly, it was "quality" attendance, with few if any teenagers or boys in short pants filling shopping bags with literature from every stand.

For information on exhibiting and other details on the Society's Third International Maritime Exposition, which will take place November 15-16, 1984, Write 60 on Reader Service Card