Page 8: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 15, 1971)

American Bureau Of Shipping Reports

Growth Of 40 Percent In Tonnage Classed

Andrew Neilson

The year 1970 was of great sig- nificance to the American Bureau of

Shipping. Reporting to the annual meeting of the classification socie- ty, held in New York on March 16,

Andrew Neilson, the retiring chair- man and chief executive officer, said that in gross tonnage classed there had been an increase over 1969 of approximately two-million tons, a growth of about 40 percent.

Vessels under contract to be built to Bureau classification of

December 31, 1970 were 1,729, with a gross tonnage of 17,741,000—-a tonnage increase of 13 percent over 1969. On January 1, 1971, there were under Bureau classification 2,846 active seagoing and Great

Lakes vessels over 1,000 gt, for a grand total of 47,200,000 gt.

Saying that the new generation of vessels were far more complex than their predecessors, Mr. Neil- son continued: "The whole classi- fication world is changing. This makes necessary increased educa- tional and experience qualifications for the younger men who are com- ing into our organization, and the continuous introduction of new techniques in the handling of our plan review processes. A great deal of the responsibility for this lies on the shoulders of our technical staff, and particularly, the Research and

Development Division. This depart- ment has been greatly strength- ened. "Several years ago, we instituted a feasibility study for the hull structure of large tankers, particu- larly those of '500,000 deadweight tons. The scope of this project has recently been altered to include a 750,000 and a 1,000,000-dwt design, as it is very likely that these may be the next steps which the indus- try will take in its constant effort to develop the most economical ship."

Mr. Neilson said that in mid-1970 the Bureau had received a request for classification for the world's largest tanker, a 367,000-dwt ves- sel for Tokyo Tankers. Since then, classification requests had been re- ceived for two 469,000-dwt tankers to be built in Japan for Globtik

Tankers of London. "In addition, there is a strong possibility that two 500,000 tonners will be built to Bureau classification. Plans are now being considered by owners for tankers in the 750,000-dwt class.

The Bureau has had the honor of being the pioneer in the classifica- tion of ships of ever-increasing size, and it is a source of great satisfac- tion to us that owners of vessels in this category are still looking to us for classification services."

Vessels, which are in some re- spects even more complicated than the very large tankers, are the new large high-speed container vessels building for Sea-Land Service, Inc.

The Bureau, with the cooperation and assistance of Sea-Land, is en- gaged in examining the problem of torsional characteristics of the hull at sea, using the most advanced methods of analytical calculations, model testing, and instrumentation of the ship itself. A 17-foot model, to be tested at the University of

California, will be subjected to com- bined longitudinal and torsional loads, and will be analyzed by the finite-element method. This will provide the results for a three- point attack on the hull-strength problem : (1) sophisticated compu- ter analysis, (2) model testing, and (3) instrumentation of the ship it- self. "One of the most interesting de- velopments in the contemporary picture," said Mr. Neilson, "has been the increased demand for liq- uefied natural gas carriers. Of the 11 vessels now in existence, nine are classed by the American Bu- reau of Shipping. The Bureau staff last year reviewed designs for LNG carriers totaling more than twice the existing tonnage. The largest

LNG vessel in existence has a ca- pacity of 71.000 cubic meters, but the Bureau has already reviewed and approved proposals for vessels up to 160,000 cubic meters."

On invitation from the National

Aeronautics and Space Administra- tion, the Bureau was represented at two Space Station Utilization

Conferences. The Bureau is par- ticipating with other non-Govern- ment organizations in considering the features that should be includ- ed by NASA in planning the Space

Station so that there will be a high degree of flexibility for accommo- dating research experiments in space.

On the Great Lakes, a tug-barge combination, in which a pusher- type tug is rigidly attached to the barge, has been designed for con- struction at Erie Marine to Bu- reau classification. It has a com- bined length of 1,000 feet, the barge being 960 feet by 104 feet by 46 feet for the carriage of ore and other bulk cargoes. This will be the largest operating barge on the

Great Lakes, and may be the larg- est anywhere.

The container certification pro- gram, initiated by the Bureau some time ago, continues to grow at a gratifying rate, said Mr. Neilson. A total of 34,000 containers have been built or contracted for, rep- resenting an increase of 19,600 units over the total at the end of 1969. Authority to conduct Cus- toms certification was granted to the Bureau in July 1970 by the

United States Coast Guard, and an additional 14,600 units, represent- ing 36 different designs, have been ordered for this certification under

Bureau survey. In view of the large number of containerships sched- uled for delivery, the Bureau in- tends to expand its work in the container field.

In 1970, the Bureau opened ex- clusive offices in Caracas, Vene- zuela ; Valparaiso, Chile; Seoul,

Korea; Galatz, Rumania, and now has offices in 94 countries. A de- velopment instituted some time ago was that of assigning surveyors to carry out surveys while a vessel continues her voyage. This option was particularly welcomed by own- ers of tankers, with which in-port time is greatly restricted.

One of the topics on which the

Internationa! Association of Classi- fication Societies, of which the

American Bureau of Shipping is a member, has concentrated recent- ly, is the maximum size of cargo tanks for tank vessels. Mr. Neilson commented: "It was the position of the Bureau that we should be very careful about establishing lim- its on tank size which might in- hibit technological development.

The other members of IACS had come to the conclusion that a rea- sonable tank size would be 50,000 cubic meters for the center tanks and 30,000 cubic meters for the wing

Dravo Corporation has an- nounced the appointments of How- ard H. Hobson as assistant chief engineer, Robert C. Brossart as principal mechanical engineer, and

David S. Heindel as principal struc- tural engineer in the engineering department of the company's Engi- neering Works Division.

Mr. Hobson, who joined Dravo as a junior engineer in 1962, previ- ously held the post of project en- gineer with the division. He holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from Union College and is attend- ing Carnegie-Mellon University's

Graduate School.

Mr. Hobson is a member of the

American Society of Civil Engi- neers and the American Society for

Testing and Materials and is a reg- istered professional engineer in the

State of New York.

Mr. Brossart most recently served as project engineer with the divi- sion. He joined Dravo as a junior engineer in 1964, after graduation from Purdue University with a tanks, and we agreed to this tank size limitation as an interim meas- ure. Last month the Subcommit- tee on Design and Equipment of

IMCO tried to resolve this problem on the basis of the possible outflow of oil rather than tank size, but were unable to agree and have re- ferred the matter to the Maritime

Safety Committee, the major tech- nical committee of IMCO, which is meeting this week in London. "While the Bureau continues to feel that technological develop- ment should ideally be allowed to proceed at its own pace, it is also convinced that a hands-off attitude on our part would be a disservice to the maritime community. As in the past, we are working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard, the

State Department and industry in formulating our national policy on this sensitive and important sub- ject."

Two Appointments

At General Steamship

General Steamship Corp. of San

Francisco, Calif., has named Mi- chael P. Williams, who has been manager of operations, to the new position of manager of administra- tive services.

Also announced was the appoint- ment of Karl Minnigerode as con- tainer control department manager.

Mr. Minnigerode was formerly with States Marine Lines.

B.S. degree in mechanical engi- neering.

Mr. Brossart is an associate member of the American Society of

Mechanical Engineers and is a reg- istered professional engineer in the state of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Heindel holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from the Uni- versity of Illinois and an M.S. de- gree in civil engineering from Car- negie-Mellon University. He joined

Dravo as a junior engineer in 1958 and most recently held the post of computer engineer with the divi- sion.

Mr. Heindel is a member of the

American Society of Civil Engi- neers and an associate member of

The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. He is a reg- istered professional engineer in

Pennsylvania.

Dravo's Engineering Works Divi- sion designs and builds inland and coastal waterway marine equip- ment, heavy bulk materials han- dling equipment and specialized heavy machinery and equipment.

Dravo Names Three To Engineering Posts

Howard H. Hobson Robert C. Brossart David S. Heindel 10 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News