FORAN in the US

Eastern’s first project using FORAN will be to build a 340ft multipurpose supply vessel (MSV), the first of two such vessels. The objective behind the installation is to improve the quality of the design of the new MSV and avoid costly errors during production.

The shipbuilder has previously concentrated on fishing vessels, but has more recently moved into the offshore supply market.

The acquisition of the FORAN license is a strategic move by Eastern to support and further improve its business application offering to customers from its two yards in Florida.

FORAN is an integrated computer system specifically developed for the design, production and engineering of ships.

It comprises several main packages (hull forms definition, naval architecture, hull structure, outfitting, electrical), a number of common modules (build strategy, drafting, walk-through design review, collaborative engineering), links with production equipment (cutting machines, bending machines, robotic systems, etc.), interfaces to management systems and its own integrated development environment.

Running on Windows workstations connected through LAN or WAN, FORAN permits a fully interactive and concurrent definition of the ship 3D product model.