Page 10: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2011)

10 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News

NEWS POSTS FROM MARITIMEPROFESSIONAL.COM

With shipping well on its way to recovery, much of shipbuilding activity in India is on an expansion mode.

However, the immediate hurdle faced is the shortage of talent and trained work force that can assure pro- ductivity. Though poaching and lucrative offers have become the order of the day, a few builders have sought to train their staff to meet their own require- ment and this is proving to be better option on the long run. Medium and small players have different business model to that of the big players. “All fabrication work is contracted out,” informs a spokesman of Modest

Infrastructure Ltd, which falls in the medium category. “No one in ship building can afford to have their own workforce. If they do employ people on a per- manent basis, the production cost is bound to go up and productivity will suffer as workers tend to make demands for better wages, join labor unions, etc. Al- ready Mazagon Dock Limited, India’s premier ship- yard constructing warships as well as offshore platforms is facing labor problems because they have their own manpower.” But manpower development in green field shipyard has been no big deal for Cmde Ji- tendra, chief executive officer of the newly set up Pi- pavav Shipyard which is the largest ship building facility in India. Having served in both state owned ship yards and private ones he finds there being intrin- sic advantages to getting talent from outside and grooming for one’s own requirements. “Earlier as chairman of Cochin Shipyard we found a lot of skilled people available in the vicinity but it was a question of trying to garner the skills. Unlike all other shipyards in the country, Pipavav Shipyard produces ships by the “block construction” method, wherein the entire multi- deck segments of the hull or superstructure are build elsewhere in the yard and transported to the building dock or shipway, then lifted into place. Being totally different there is no reason for us to ever poach talent from other yards.” On the other hand Rear Admiral B.

Varadarajan, Head Ship Design & Engineering, Larsen & Turbo, stresses the need of having a special work force for design construction, maintenance and opera- tion of marine vessels and structures. “Success of a shipyard critically depends on its design and engi- neering edge” he says. He advocates the need for qual- ity equipment and trained hands. “Design officer should be equipped with the right tools and manned by adequate number of experienced and skilled man- power.” As the demand for workers goes up, Pipavav

Shipyard has well laid out plans for manpower devel- opment. Offering a multi-level higher education sys- tem, workers at the yard get their skills honed to fit the shipbuilding’s requirements. “We have safety training, behavior training, software training, fire fighting, etc.,” says Cmde Jitendra. “We have created equal opportunities for women in nearly all fields including welding, designing, marine fabrication, etc. Our strategy aims to nurture the skills required for the company to remain competitive and operate successfully over the next decade and beyond.”

Posted by Joseph Fonseca — Mumbai

Hunt for talent grows as

Indian Shipbuilders Expand

To maintain the competitive edge ship builders focus on acquiring trained and skilled workforce to feed their expansion plans

Bulk Carriers 02/21/11 SIBEL DEVAL 16,750 74(37) $2 02/01/11 TRIUMPH 27,386 78(33) $3.4 02/01/11 ENTERPRISE 27,499 78(33) $3.4 02/01/11 EFFORT ONE 28,234 83(28) $4.3 02/01/11 CAPETAN MICHALIS 29,003 81(30) $4.2 02/07/11 F & K 32,942 98(13) $18.8 02/07/11 GOLD STAR 36,850 84(27) $6.4 02/14/11 BULK ISLAND 37,687 84(27) $6.4 02/17/11 AVENIR 42,842 85(26) $7.8 02/01/11 GYN YOH 43,117 88(23) $8 02/01/11 DIXIEMAIDEN 44,679 91(20) $10 02/01/11 KEN UNITY 48,913 99(12) $21 02/14/11 SAFFRON 50,341 04( 7) $3 02/01/11 GECON 1 52,458 05( 6) $28 02/09/11 IOANNA L 69,346 89(22) $14.5 02/01/11 SARAJI TRADER 169,963 97(14) $24 02/21/11 IRON YANDI 169,963 96(15) $14 02/17/11 BLUE EVEREST 180,000 10( 1) $62.6

Chemical Carriers 02/01/11 CRYSTAL GRACE 5,807 96(15) $4.4 02/01/11 GOLDEN ASIA 6,312 94(17) $4.2 02/07/11 BOW DE JIN 11,752 99(12) $10.3 02/14/11 CHEMSTAR KING 19,508 98(13) $13.3 02/01/11 JOSE BRIGHT 32,442 93(18) $6.5 02/21/11 TAUNUS 38,100 04(7) $25 02/01/11 CAPE BILBAO 40,327 06(5) $ 27 02/14/11 NORTH POINT 50,930 05(6) $ 30 02/14/11 EAST POINT 50,930 06(5) $ 30

Containerships 02/01/11 CAROLIN SCHULTE 10,935 99(12) $10.3 02/21/11 ROTHORN 14,600 96(15) $9 02/21/11 WEISSHORN 14,600 96(15) $9 02/01/11 FOREVER PROSPERITY 22,148 96(15) $9.5 02/17/11 MSC SIERRA 27,900 77(34) $7 02/17/11 MSC NAMIBIA 27,900 75(36) $7 02/17/11 MSC SUDAN 27,900 77(34) $7 02/01/11 ORANJE 29,651 91(20) $7.5 02/09/11 MAERSK MARYLAND 31,829 91(20) $10.5 02/09/11 MAERSK MAINE 31,829 92(19) $10.5 02/09/11 MAERSK VERMONT 31,829 91(20) $10.5 02/07/11 OOCL MELBOURNE 43,093 03( 8) $27.5 02/09/11 NEWPORT BRIDGE 47,384 93(18) $18.5 02/07/11 CMA CGM MARLIN 65,950 07( 4) $52.5 02/07/11 CMA CGM KINGFISH 65,950 07( 4) $52.5

Gas Carriers 02/07/11 ATLAS STAR 3,751 07( 4) $27.5 02/21/11 KESWICK 8,700 03( 8) $22.5 02/21/11 KENDAL 8,700 03( 8) $22.5 02/09/11 GAS MIRACLE 50,400 92(19) $23

Passenger Ferries 02/01/11 LONG JIE 3,202 72(39) $12.9

Tankers 02/14/11 MISTRAL 5,215 95(16) $3.8 02/09/11 HARTAMAS 6,320 91(20) $1.8 02/09/11 SAINT MARY 39,645 95(16) $4 02/14/11 LEPTA MERMAID 45,908 99(12) $15.5 02/21/11 FIDELITY 71,049 05( 6) $34 02/14/11 MILKYWAY 93,662 91(20) $9 02/14/11 GENMAR CONSTANTINE 102,335 92(19) $7 02/21/11 PACIFIC IVY 104,280 11( 0) $48.5 02/01/11 OKEANIS 106,547 97(14) $19 02/14/11 MONTE UMBE 107,222 97(14) $21.7 02/07/11 OLINDA 149,258 96(15) $19 02/14/11 GENMAR GULF 149,803 91(20) $11 02/01/11 TAJIMA 265,539 96(15) $28.1 02/17/11 FORMOSAPETRO EMPIRE 299,170 04( 7) $74.5

Tweendeckers 02/01/11 F BLUE 9,370 94(17) $5.6 02/01/11 F SPIRIT 9,370 95(16) $5.6

Recent Ship Sales (Source: Shipping Intelligence, New York, NY)

Date Name DWT YB(age) Price Date Name DWT YB(age) Price

SS Great Eastern

A huge and revolutionary ship too far ahead of its time

When launched in 1858, the SS Great Eastern was by far the largest ship ever built. Its cast iron hull was 692 feet in length and had a beam of 82 feet. Designed for carriage of emigrants from Europe to America, it could theoretically carry 4,000 passengers. Like today’s very large container ships, it was intended to make a profit based on the economies of scale – it taking fewer crew members to operate one large ship than multiple smaller vessels. In addition to its size, the Great Eastern, de- signed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, had other revolu- tionary features. It was the first ship built with a double hull. It was heavily compartmented, with two longitudi- nal bulkheads and various transverse bulkheads, divid- ing the ship into nineteen separate compartments. Its 56-foot diameter side paddlewheels were powered by four steam boilers. Its 24-foot diameter four-bladed screw was powered by a separate steam boiler. The ship was also fitted with six masts, theoretically capable of carrying more than 18,000 sq. ft. of sail. The ship had a maximum speed of 13 knots and seldom utilized its sails.

Due to financial difficulties and to a boiler explosion on its first sea trial, the Great Eastern never carried a signif- icant number of passengers. In 1864, the ship was sold and converted into a cable-laying vessel. It laid the first lasting cable across the Atlantic Ocean in 1866. Work- ing steadily through 1878, she laid over 30,000 miles of submarine telegraph cable, mostly in the Atlantic Ocean, but also in the Indian Ocean. Late in its career, the ship was used as a showboat, concert hall, and gymnasium.

Its final owner used the ship as a floating billboard on the River Mersey in Liverpool. It took 18 months to scrap the Great Eastern in 1889-1890. The ship’s designer saw almost nothing of this. Isambard Brunel died in 1859, before the ship made its first transatlantic voyage.

Posted by Dennis Bryant