Comments on: ClassNK Starts Joint Research Project to Optimize Ship Designs for Actual Sea Conditions

By: Louis Vest

Louis Vest — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 20:08:03 +0000

Maneuvering in deep water in the open ocean is one thing. Maneuvering in shallow water in a narrow channel with lots of traffic is more demanding. Naval architects tend to design ships with a whole lot of priorities and maneuvering is not top on the list. So they try to make a ship that meets all the requirements they are given and can still maneuver acceptably. Like designing a car that can only operate on a freeway… who moves the wheel more than a quarter turn on the interstate, but at some point you have to exit and come to an intersection and make a 90 degree turn. Can you do that with a quarter turn on the wheel? Naval architects give us ships that maneuver like cars with a restricted steering wheel.

By: Len Kowitz

Len Kowitz — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 11:24:01 +0000

It's hard for a land lover like me to believe that a ship designer doesn't design with sea handling characteristics in mind. Must be a result of the fact that the "designer" will never have to "go to sea" in the vessel?

By: Louis Vest

Louis Vest — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 10:23:15 +0000

I hope the dont lose sight of the fact that voyages begin and end in the narrow confines of a port. Optimizing for sea conditions is like optimizing a golf club to be stored in a golf bag. Even though the club spends 99.99% of its time in the bag it still needs to hit the ball occasionally. Too many ships these days are being built with marginal maneuvering characteristics.