Welcome to Naval Architecture Week!

This is always one of our most exciting and illuminating feature weeks. It is always fascinating to discover what imaginative, stylish and inventive new vessels the world’s naval architects have come up with. Of course, with Naval Architecture Week coinciding with Passenger Vessel Week, we have almost a double-dose of new and interesting craft to inspire us.

It is unusual that two of the vessels featured this week are dredgers. One is small and for sheltered waters operations in Queensland, Australia and the other a large coastal, Royal IHC-designed dredger that will operate in remote areas of Cameroon.

As always, British Columbia’s own Robert Allan Ltd, the global kings of tug design, have come up with something new, different and economical in Yalora 3 , the first of their Sanmar-built and owned 19-metre harbour tugs. They will be operated around the Bosphorus in Turkey and are quite simple, being powered by conventional shaft drive propellers.

Design • Testing • Analysis • Software • Engineering

One Australian designer, Adam Schwetz, has proved that persistence pays. I well remember introducing him to Chao Phraya Express boss Khun Supapan at least twelve years ago. He now has four impressive examples of his talents operating on Thailand’s fabled Chao Phraya River.

Elsewhere in Australia, the in-house and contractor designers for Austal and Incat remain very busy with some very progressive designs such as Japan’s Queen Beetle trimaran ferry.

The important thing about naval architecture, whether it originates within ship building companies, from consulting NA firms or from design bureaux, is that the activity almost always improves the breed. Our ships and boats continue to develop and advance in almost every respect.

Vessel Reviews:

• Mont Mandara – Highly-automated hopper dredger for Cameroon’s Douala port
• Riva Express 4 – Chao Phraya Express Boat gets ferry quartet for Bangkok-Nonthaburi service
• A.P.T. James – Large-capacity fast ferry for Trinidad and Tobago operator
• Coolgaree Cat – Efficient, durable catamaran for Sealink’s Townsville-Palm Island route
• Maroochy River – Hall Contracting’s newest amphibious dredger to take on challenging shallow-water projects
• Queen Beetle – New 500-pax trimaran to serve Fukuoka-Busan route
• Crystal Singer – Thai-built sunset cruising catamaran for Malaysia’s Langkawi islands
• World Explorer – Mystic Cruises opts for hybrid power on Portugal’s first polar expedition ship
• Shackleton & Scott – Utility RIB and tender RIB for cruise ship support work
• Yalova 3 – New steel harbour tug series optimised for Turkish waters
• Migjorn Jet – Third 30-metre fast ferry in series for Balearic Islands customer

Features and Opinion:

FEATURE | Damen completes fish feed carrier conversion work on former PSV

– “The vessel is now equipped with 35 new silos and a huge hold to enable the transport of up to 2,800 tonnes of fish feed.”

FEATURE | US Coast Guard launches low-cost maritime domain awareness study

– “While USV technology is potentially applicable to a broad scope of Coast Guard law enforcement missions, the primary focus of this evaluation is its ability to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.”

News and Gear:

• Japan’s second 30FFM stealth frigate hits the water
• Construction underway on hybrid ferries for Lake Geneva route
• Sea trials begin for Russian ferry Admiral Nevelskoy
• Vard to supply unmanned craft to Ocean Infinity
• Construction starts on new freezer trawler for Russia’s Norebo
• Nichols Brothers launches third tug in series for Foss Maritime
• Moran Towing christens newest tug
• New patrol boat to protect offshore wind farms in Guangdong province
• Piriou to develop hydrogen-powered crewboat
• Fukuoka Shipbuilding launches CLC’s newest ferry

Recent Important Features:

INTERVIEW | Damen develops innovative add-on technology to reduce hull resistance

– “An advantage of DACS is that it can be relatively easily installed on existing vessels…”

– by Nelson Dela Cruz, Baird Maritime correspondent

FEATURE | New inland boxship concept promises bigger loads, faster transits on Mississippi River

– “…the 181- by 40-metre, 2,375TEU vessel will have the distinction of being the largest ship ever to sail on the Mississippi River.”

COLUMN | Building locally – hearts or heads? [Grey Power]

– “Should [naval auxiliary] ships be put out to worldwide tender and ordered from wherever the best deal is to be found?”

– by Michael Grey, former long-term editor of Lloyd’s List

Remember to come back every day to see the latest news, opinion and vessel reviews!

Call for content!

Any news or views about the global maritime tourism, ferry and cruise industries? Send it through to [email protected] ASAP (between now and November 27), so we can add it to this current edition of Naval Architecture Week!

We are after:

• Vessels – Orders, new deliveries, under construction
• Gear – Latest innovations and technology in the naval architecture sector
• Interviews – Owners, operators, designers, builders etc.
• Reminiscences – Do you have any exciting, amusing or downright dangerous anecdotes from your time in the naval architecture world? (example here)
• Other – Any other relevant news