Welcome to Naval Architecture Week!

I sometimes wish that I had been good enough at maths to have studied naval architecture so as to design all manner of wonderful ships and boats. As I wasn’t, however, I do have the pleasure of seeing, studying and appreciating the thousands of vessels created annually by this very global profession.

This week’s presentation is incredibly varied in terms of geographic location of designers and vessels as well as by vessel type. All are imaginative, in their own way, and some are quite innovative. The purposes for which the vessels have been designed and built are almost unimaginably varied.

Design • Testing • Analysis • Software • Engineering

We have anything from Chinese LNG bunkering barges and wind farm interconnector structures to Australian-designed, Bangladeshi-built survey boats for navy use. There are French-built, Dutch-owned floating docks, Norwegian landing craft, and Scottish pollution removal boats.

It’s a fascinating spread that presents almost endless ideas and inspiration to Baird Maritime‘s vessel-owning readers, no matter where located or what their specialisation.

Vessel Reviews:

• Haixun 09 – CMSA’s newest long-range vessel to operate in South China Sea
• Sydnes – Hybrid multi-role landing craft for Port of Bergen
• Xiang Neng Yuan Yi Hao – Gas bunker barge for China’s Hunan Province
• Rebel Lander – Compact, versatile aluminium landing craft for UK charter operator
• Three Gorges Rudong – Chinese-built power converter for offshore wind
• Russian steel-composite boat built for border guard support duties
• Sanshabu No 1 – New supply vessel for China’s outlying island cities
• Thunderbird 2 – ROV-equipped hull cleaning barge with explosion-safe features
• Electric-powered buoy maintenance craft for Scotland’s Loch Lomond National Park
  
• French shipbuilder to receive two 1,450-tonne floating drydocks
  
• Risto & Roland – Fast force protection craft delivered to Estonian Navy
• JB-01 & JB-02 – Durable shallow-draught survey boats for Bangladesh Navy
  

News, Gear, and Book Reviews:

• Canada’s Qikiqtaaluk Fisheries taps Norwegian designer for new freezer trawler
• US Coast Guard commissions 45th Sentinel-class cutter
• PNG Defence Force commissions second Guardian-class patrol boat
• New RIB delivered to Tahiti tour operator
• Nordlaks takes delivery of second LNG hybrid wellboat in series
• Work Boat World Offshore Vessel Orders and Deliveries Roundup – October 21, 2021
• French Navy’s first POM-class patrol vessel hits the water
• Consortium unveils images of future hydrogen-powered ferry for Orkney Islands
• RAN’s first Evolved Cape-class patrol boat floated out
• New bunkering ship delivered to Avenir LNG
• UAE builder unveils RIB with 42 knots top speed
• US Navy christens littoral combat ship Santa Barbara
• Windstar Cruises ship to rejoin fleet following modernisation in Italy
• Qatar Petroleum reserves additional shipbuilding capacity in China for future LNG carriers
• SunStone Ships takes delivery of third Infinity-class vessel
• Finnish yard to put up assembly hall for corvette newbuildings

Recent Important Features:

OPINION | Australia’s nuclear-powered submarines should be built in America

– “The move will also dramatically improve Australia’s defence capabilities, aid the AUKUS alliance, and foster a domestic supply chain for the next generation of defence equipment.”

– by James Kell, postgraduate research student at the National Security College at the Australian National University in Canberra and vice-president of the ANU Democracy Society

FEATURE | Russia’s shipbuilding industry: steady growth over three decades

– “In general, the specific feature of Russian marine shipbuilding is that almost all ships are built to ice class.”

– by Vitaly Chernov, Editor-in-Chief, IAA PortNews

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 October 22), 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