Page 81: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 1997)

Q&A With ABS

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) President and Chief Operating Officer Robert D. Somerville spoke with

Maritime Reporter recently in regards to ABS'par- ticipation in a conference on advanced materials for marine construction which was scheduled to be held in New OWn^ns from February 5-7. Mr.

Somerville was to aSs«etsupporting remarks during the event's opening semffcajiThe following has been exerpted from a transcript o?"Tf*«^onver- sation with MR I EN Associate Editor BriSget

Murphy.

MR/EN: What prompted ABS to sign on as a major sponsor of the International Workshop on

Advanced Materials in Marine Construction?

Somerville: ABS is a proponent of technology development and technology transfer. We commit significant resources to internal research and development and also fund substantial external

R&D both independently and as a member of sev- eral consortiums. We hold seminars throughout the year on subjects which we feel will be of tech- nical benefit to our clients in the shipping and off- shore sectors. ABS supports workshops, like one on advanced materials for marinep*rt£truc- tion, which are relevant to our artj>i*Ies. It must be remembered that ABS dogs-lTot merely concern itself with the desigj^nmarine structures. It must also typea^sffrove all the machinery and equipmentwktch goes onboard vessels. Although thqjiaefc^riajority of marine structures are still primarily constructed from carbon manganese steel, the industry is using an increasing number of alloys, specialty steels and composites in both hull and equipment applications, and for some of the specialized new technologies being applied in the offshore sector. As one of the leading classifi- cation societies in the world, ABS must not only keep abreast of these new materials but, wherev- er possible participate in and even lead the research which is being undertaken in their devel- opment.

MR/EN: In your opinion, what are some of the ,more significant barriers to widespread use of aHramced shipbuilding materials? Examples could incluHecosts, lack of fabrication expertise and dif-_ ferencesxl^lesign philosophy.

Somerville?NChe major roadblock is opWIomics.

As a general ruR?^dvanced matftjpWs are more costly to manufacture^jMcur^rffa fabricate than traditional materials suc^^^Tmild steel. A real payback must be den^ffstrateaTs^fore owners nor- mally considei^jdfnmitting to a newtetechnology which invpKes higher capital costs. TTtB^narine indu^ryis also inherently conservative anc

Ss in an environment which can impose sign if? cant risk. It is understandable that owners seek assurances that no surprises await them if they incorporate advanced materials into their vessels or structures. Unforeseen failure could mean sig- nificant financial losses and even the risk of loss of human life. The capabilities and the limita- tions of advanced materials must be clearly understood, especially their effect on service per- formance. Overcoming these roadblocks is one of the objectives of this workshop and thus in line with the ABS policy of supporting technology transfer.

MR/EN: How is the use of new, advanced ship- building materials affecting the process of classi- fying ships and marine structures to ABS stan- dards? Are any new standards being developed for structures built with state-of-the-art materials and, if so, has there been any cooperation with other classification societies?

Somerville: As with mogt--rt6w concepts in design, both adyanged-lliaterials and advanced f iln ii il iiiji lii 11 fTTTilii pose new challenges for >S is willing to review novel approaches and, when they are found to be technically sound, approve them for construction and service. This continuing improvement of design, in materials and of fabrication benefits the industry and ABS.

But the singular approval of a newly developed material or technique is distinct from the formal development of a standard. The latter is pursued when the improvement is likely to be implement- ed by the industry on a wider scale. As greater icceptance is gained, standards are submitted to tnN»^nternational Association of Classification

Societi^^ACS) for their adoption as Unified

Requirement

As an example, ^SS^ias approved several moor- ing systems that usea^sfoidless mooring chain.

This type of chain is now Bfcfcajjjing increasingly popular for use. This spread in itsapplication has encouraged ABS to consider incorporating what is currently a project-related approval into our exist- ing standards for moorings.

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