Page 45: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 1996)

Japanese Marine Technology

SKISGIWW

Shipbuilder Hitachi Zosen

Ship Owner Golden Bayshore Corp.

Ship Type VICC

Ship Name Navix Astral

Navix Astral from Hitachi Zosen is a 259,987-dwt, 1,062.6-ft. (323.9-m) long VLCC delivered to Golden Bayshore Corp.

Navix Astral, a 259,987-dwt VLCC, has been completed at the Ariake Works of

Hitachi Zosen. This tanker, under

Panamanian registry, was delivered to the owner — Golden Bayshore Corporation — in

March. The features of the vessel include:

Super Stream Duct, a nozzle developed by

Hitachi Zosen, located in front of the pro- peller and fitted with a large bulbous bow below the fore waterline; a low-speed, long- stroke, static-pressure supercharged engine; cargo oil and ballast tanks with remote-con- trol level gauges, for oil monitoring in the cargo control room; and wheelhouse opera- tion of the main engine through a microcom- puter-equipped remote-control system. In addition, Hitachi Zosen has completed Far

Eastern Auspice, a 72,171-dwt bulk carrier, at its Maizuru Works. This is the 80th

Hitachi Panamax and the second vessel of the Hitachi Panamax Optima class in which several improvements have been made to the original version. These include a larger pro- peller, as well as increased tonnage and cargo capacity.

For more information on Hitachi Zosen

Circle 8 on Reader Service Card

Navix Astral Main Particulars

Length (o.a.) 323.9 m

Breadth 56.6 m

Depth 28.6 m

DWT 259,987 metric tons

Main engine Hitachi Zosen MAN B&W 6S80MC

Speed 14.8 knots

Classification LR

World-Class Ariake

Works Gets Even Better

Hitachi Zosen's Ariake Works is a shipyard with world-class productivity rates. The

Works is also a leader in the CIM network systems for shipbuilding, in which automat- ic cutting and welding robots are operated with increased accuracy using data from

Hitachi Zosen's original three-dimensional

CAD system, HICADEC. This automation contributes to the improved productivity.

The value of the program is illustrated by the fact that nearly 95 percent of total weld- ing length can be completed on the ground and a double hull VLCC can be built in 82 or 83 blocks. A welding robot for curved sec- tions and painting robot, the first such robots in the world, are now under development.

Ariake Works has a backlog of shipbuilding orders that includes six VLCCs and three

LPG carriers. In addition, Ariake Works received an order for a FPSO, reportedly the largest type of marine structure in the world, as of November 15, 1996. The Works will be operating at full capacity until the end of 1998. The new Ariake Machinery Works will be completed at the same site in October of next year for the manufacturing of such products as prime movers, and press machines for automobile production. the world's largest containerships.

The new ships will each have a capacity of 6,674 TEU, greater than any containership currently in ser- vice, and each will be driven by one of the most powerful marine diesel engines ever built. When the ves- sels are delivered in 1998, it is expected that they will join the

Grand Alliance operation between

Europe and the Far East.

IHI and Sumitomo Heavy

Industries Ltd. were said to have hatched a plan to exchange ship- building design data online to help significantly reduce the costs associ- ated with the design of VLCCs. The costs of designing this type of ship (at 200,000 tons or more) is estimat- ed to constitute from seven to eight percent of overall costs. IHI has reportedly set up 40 terminals run- ning the Ajisai CAD system at its shipyard; while Sumitomo appar- ently has introduced an upgraded version of Ajisai at its yard in

Kanagawa Prefecture, and planned to apply the system in building two supertankers in November.

Sumitomo Heavy Industries deliv-

December, 1996

Circle 287 on Reader Service Card 47

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION -

Why we do what we do as well as we do it

X • T • Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. SHIPBUILDING & OFFSHORE

H I HEAD OFFICE ANNEX: Tokyo Chuo Bldg., 6-2, Marunouchi 1 -chome, Chiyoda-ku, TOKYO 100 JAPAN llli Tel: Tokyo 03-3286-2319 Fax:03-3286-2435

State-of-the-art double-hull structure

IHI double-hull VLCC "SUPER ZEARTH," the first double-hull VLCC delivered to a Japanese shipowner