Page 10: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 1999)

Investment in Design has been completed for the Golden

Ocean Group. Fronting up a six-ship series from the Sakaide yard for the expansion-minded operator, the 300,000-dwt crude carrier embodies a patented concept aimed at reducing the multitude of conventional stiffeners on the webs. With the mandatory require- ment for double-hulling making for complex structures, Kawasaki's initia- tive actually simplifies and reduces the lightweight of the whole structure.

The term Apple Slot describes a spe- cially-devised weight-saving and work- saving connection between the longitu- dinals and transverse web plates, where- by the number of structural members is about 25 percent less than would nor- mally be required in a conventional approach to double-hull construction.

In addition to its impact on build eco- nomics, the system is claimed to markedly improve overall fatigue strength and long-term design integrity, given that the connection points for the stiffeners can be especially prone to stress concentration in double-hulled tanker structures.

In essence, the conventionally fitted stiffeners on the transverse webs have been replaced by apple-shaped slots.

Weld quality also benefits from the arrangements, observes Kawasaki, since automated welding can be more widely applied to the simplified hull structure.

Although originally developed for double-hulled VLCCs, the Apple Slot technique had its first application in the bottom section of a Sakaide-built Cape- size bulker, and is seen as suited for the gamut of large bulkers as well as Afra- max, Suezmax and larger crude carriers.

Scale is a necessary prerequisite for the efficient utilization of the idea.

The Golden Ocean tanker, which is understood to have attracted an initial two-year charter, has been dimensioned for a 2-million barrel-capacity, with the added advantage of a shallower-than- usual draft for a ship of her deadweight.

Nonetheless, high propulsion efficiency has been obtained by optimizing the vessel's lines and fitting a rudder bulb with fins. Powering by a Kawasaki- manufactured MAN B&W 7S80MC two-stroke diesel should ensure a com- petitive laden speed of 15.6-knots at the design draft.

Poles break new

Time was when the Norwegians auto- matically looked to the Orient when planning new investment in bulkers of the open-hatch type, a well-proven,

Norwegian-developed concept of lum- ber, pulp and container carrier distin- guished by its stow optimization and cargo handling efficiency.

Poland's resourceful shipbuilding industry, however, has provided a viable

European option for the construction of such tonnage, as soon to be demonstrat- ed by the delivery of the first of a capa- cious new breed from Stocznia

Szczecinska.

The fact that some of the leading lights in this specialized theater of oper- ations have put their names to the pro- ject is most definitely a solid testament to the Szczecin yard's international competitiveness in a field, which has been dominated by Far Eastern yards for the past quarter-century.

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