Work Boat World and Ausmarine Editorial – January 2014
As has become usual with our January issue, we feature the vessels, their builders and suppliers which we judge to be the best of those we have published in the preceding year.
For 2013 we have researched this selection much more thoroughly than previously. This has involved creating an enormous spreadsheet listing of all the vessels, their specifications and practically all their suppliers. This has been a fascinating and, as it turned out, very useful exercise.
It has made it much easier for us to compare apples with apples and enabled a fairer selection of the best in each category.
As we publish far more vessel reviews than our competitors, this selection provides our readers with a very broad overview of the commercial vessel market. It also means that the vessels, builders and suppliers that we select as the best in each category really are the best.
A number of interesting trends are emerging from our analysis. The first is that the vessels we review are getting steadily larger year by year. They are also generally becoming more versatile.
Interestingly, the top half dozen or so suppliers in each category tend to feature across the geographical and vessel type board with almost monotonous regularity.
This is happening irrespective of the steady trend eastwards in shipbuilder location.
Also interestingly, but not surprisingly, as the vessels become larger, is the trend towards a higher proportion of steel vessels among those reviewed.
The statistics we have now recorded in our spreadsheet will become increasingly useful over the next few years. Trends will be easier to identify and market share will be much more accurately quantifiable. These statistics will, in future, be made available to vessel owners and our advertisers for their own edification.
Those companies that have been declared the "Best" in their sector have certainly owned that accolade. We congratulate them.
Improving disaster relief responses
The recent super typhoon "Haiyan" which so viciously and disastrously struck the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar and the Visayas has yet again reminded the world of its inadequacies in providing relief following such natural disasters.
Of course, the fact that such disasters disproportionately hit poorer countries only accentuates the problem. African, South American, Pacific island and south and east Asian countries are mostly in the cyclone zone and are often also susceptible to volcanic activity and massive rainfall. They are unfairly cursed.
The recent Philippines experience saw the U.S. Navy at its best sending in the 'USS George Washington' soon after the storm. With its massive electricity-generating, water-making and air-lifting capacity, not to mention a well trained crew of 5,000 and medical and hospital facilities, the carrier made a fine relief ship.
In reality, though, her contribution was more good luck than anything as she had been exercising nearby. Furthermore, obviously, she could not remain long in the area.
This raises the thought that there must be more effective ways of responding on both a global and regional basis. My idea would be for the establishment of an international organisation for disaster response modelled, perhaps, on the oil spill response group Interspill.
The capital expenditure for the organisation could come from the world's richer countries' and the crewing and maintenance people from the disaster prone nations. The relief vessels could be based in regional centres that are reasonably central in disaster prone areas.
Relief vessels would need to be fast and versatile with high speed Ro-Pax ferries and fast crew/supply vessels being easily and economically developed for such a role. All the useful equipment for water-making, hospitals, helicopter evacuation, earth moving, fire fighting and much more could be easily carried quickly to disaster sites.
Crew training would be ongoing.
The whole thing could readily be funded from rich countries' aid budgets – which are often not well spent now. Disaster relief would be quicker and more effective and both donor and recipient nations would benefit.
Food for thought, I trust.
Neil Baird
