Page 14: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2021)

Back to the Drawing Board

Enterprise Revisited:

Titanium is the USCG Vessel

Procurement Magic Bullet

By Rik van Hemmen n my May 2020 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News USS Enterprise

I column I made a reference to the ben- e? ts of titanium as a hull structural ma- terial. It related to the life of the USCG cutter Bear and I concluded the column with a suggestion that titanium would be a particularly useful and cost-effec- tive structural material for sail train- ing vessels, aircraft carriers, research vessels, cruise vessels, tugs and Staten

Island ferries. I made this suggestion assuming that the hull design (shape) would have to be mature, and its tech- nology upgrade expected.

I made a WAG estimate of the cost increase of a titanium hull and came to the conclusion that, from a life cycle point of view, titanium is a great deal for certain vessels. After writing the column I did not spend a lot of time thinking about it, until I came across a paper by my friend and occasional col- laborator Dr. John Daidola in the De- cember 2020 Naval Engineers Journal titled “Construction Costs of Titanium

Hull Variants – Game Changer?”

John performed a much more detailed study of the lifecycle cost of a variety of vessels, but particularly a 260-m trima- 14 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • June 2021

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