Page 100: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1998)

VESSEL FOCUS: CONTAINERSHIPS sufficient power could be delivered to the shaft. Fortunately, the stern tube could accommodate a stronger shaft. But even more for- tunately, there was a vast open space just above the engine room where the booster power plant could be installed. Three decks high, the space was designed for special cargo, and indeed once had been used to carry the animals for a traveling circus. It became the supplementary engine room.

The last step in the conversion project would be securing plan approval in time, which, consider- ing the complexity and uniqueness of the project, was a source of con- cern at Sea-Land. The time-line was considerably shortened by cooperation between the U.S.

Coast Guard Marine Safety

Center, B+V, ABS and Sea-Land, using what they called the "Tiger

Team" approach.

Representatives of these groups, along with the major equipment suppliers, met at ABS headquar- ters in Houston. With ABS carry- ing out most of the approvals on behalf of the USCG, and Sea-Land making design changes on a CAD system it had installed on ABS premises, the bulk of the initial plan approvals were completed within a week.

Comparison shopping for ships

Long before the SL-31 project,

Sea-Land was known for its innov- ative ships. The SL-7 series, histo- ry's fastest containerships, is the high point in the company's design tradition. When R.J. Reynolds purchased Sea-Land in the early 1970s, the nine-ship program to build the SL-7s had just begun. As it was full of technical advances, the realization of this advanced vessel design was an immensely expensive endeavor. So Reynolds representatives naturally wanted to examine the technical and financial studies that determined the need for the ships. As the story goes, they requested to see capital authorization for the project and were handed the following: a sin- gle 8-V2 x 11-inch piece of paper bearing a sketch of the SL-7, a list of primary characteristics, and the signature of company founder

Malcom McLean accompanied by the words "Buy nine."

Things have changed a great deal since then. In September 1997 Sea-Land completed another nine-ship building program, known as the Champion class, when it took delivery of the last ship from Japan's IHI.

This series took a different route to existence. From Sea-

Land's various revenue divisions came a set of requirements matched with projections for expanding service. The division planners determined the number and type of boxes to be carried, the average weight per box, and the desired speed of the vessels. The technical division's job was to put the figures into physical reality.

The increase in the number of ships to nine vessels illustrates the changing nature of the con- tainership industry, from individ- ual competition to competition amidst alliances. Originally, Sea-

Land's planners determined a need for four ships in a two-stop trans-Pacific service. As market opportunities emerged, the compa- ny added two ports to that service and, in order to maintain weekly sailings — timeliness being the

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