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6Maritime Reporter & Engineering News EDITOR?S NOTEFor pundits who label the maritime industry conservative and behind the curve technologically, I invite them to thumb through this edi- tion, Maritime Reporter & Engineering News? annual Marine De-sign Edition, which is produced the same time every year in step with the Society of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (SNAME) Annual meeting and exhibition. (This year, SNAME is taking up residence in Houston for three days in November. Turn to page 68 for details). The Marine Design Edition is one of my personal and perennial fa- vorites, as it serves as a showcase for the multi-faceted talent and dedica- tion of maritime professionals from around the globe. To be succinct, it affords us the opportunity to catalog and present, reflect and look ahead on some cutting edge de- velopments for future generation vessels. One design that is a real eye-catcher is that of Utopia, an innovative self-propelled floating struc- ture, a collaboration from Yacht Island Design and BMT Nigel Gee presented at this year?s Monaco Boat Show that first came to my attention when Keith Henderson wrote about it via our MaritimePropulsion.com . The cutting edge design ? which is more reminiscent of ?The Jetsons? rather than a real-world marine structure ? brings to mind the futuristic designs presented annually at automobile shows around the world: Will it ever be built? Probably not. Will it spur innovations that will be incorporated into future commercial vessel design? Absolutely yes.As many readers of Maritime Reporteralready know, the lion?s share of true technological strides in this industry are the ones you can?t see (at least while a vessel is working in the water), such as the innovative hull designs, the cutting edge propulsion advances, and the futuristic coatings technologies, to name but a few; all designed to ultimately help the maritime industry maintain and extend its transport sector lead as the cleanest and most efficient means to move cargo around the world. I am pleased to report that Jonathan M. Ross, P.E. , who has graced our pages many times over the years, is the headliner in this edition with his insightful prose on ?The Human Element,? specifi- cally how you can use Anthropometrics to enhance crew performance and passenger comfort. His feature, ?In Vessel Design, One Size Does Not Fit All? starts on page 34.As we are long-tenured supporters and proponents of program and policy designed to promote science and technology awareness and education to the next-generation, I am particularly proud to offer ?ROBOBOATS? written by Marlene Stevens , an overview of a recent student engineers design competition to design, build and operate unmanned surface craft. It?s a story (starting on page 45) that you don?t want to miss, if for nothing else to discover how a team from Diponegoro University, Indonesia traversed many obstacles to come to our shores to compete. Founder: John J. O?Malley 1905 - 1980 Charles P. O?Malley 1928 - 2000 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News is published monthly by Maritime Activ- ity Reports, Inc. Mailed at Periodicals Postage Rates at New York, NY 10199 and additional mailing offices. Postmaster send notification (Form 3579) regarding undeliverable maga- zines to Maritime Reporter/Engineering News, 118 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010. Publishers are not responsible for the safekeeping or return of editorial material. ©2011 Maritime Activity Reports, Inc. 118 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010 tel: (212) 477-6700; fax: (212) 254-6271ISSN-0025-3448USPS-016-750No. 10Vol. 73 MemberBusiness Publications Audit of Circulation, Inc.www.marinelink.com MARITIMEREPORTER ANDENGINEERINGNEWS All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publishers.Gregory R. Trauthwein, Editor & Associate Publisher [email protected] on this month?s cover An X-BOW vessel designed by ULSTEIN, the seismic vessel Polarcus Alima, recently transited to Asia-Pacific via the Northern Sea Route (NSR), making it the first known passage of a 3D seismic vessel along the Northern Sea Route. Its passage com- menced from Hammerfest in Norway after completion of seismic operations in the Bar- ents Sea, and after only nine days and 3,000nm the vessel reached Cape Dezhnev in the Bering Straits. Polarcus Alima is an ultra-modern 12-streamer 3D seismic vessel of the SX134 design. The expected time savings in transit between Norway and NewZealand compared to the traditional route through the Panama Canal amounts to some eight days. The savings versus the Suez Canal, a necessity for some larger seismic vessels, amounts to 13 days. (Image: Ulstein)MR Oct.11 # 1 (1-9):MR Template 10/7/2011 10:40 AM Page 6