Climbing the technological ladder

Faced with growing competition from low-cost countries such as China, Singapore shipyards are using

technology as a means to remain competitive. The two

government-controlled giants, SembCorp Marine and Keppel Offshore & Marine, dominate the Singapore marine scene. In addition, Singapore has

developed

a comprehensive range of medium-sized shipyards, specialist contractors and other supporting services.

Heng Chiang Gnee, President of the Association of Singapore Marine Industries (ASMI), tells The Motor Ship: “It?s recognised that if we just look purely at cost, Singapore can?t compete with China. We have to compete on other factors which the owners will take into consideration.”

Heng, also Deputy President of SembCorp Marine, notes that all aspects of the marine industry in Singapore ? newbuilding, repair and conversion and offshore ? are moving up the technological ladder.

“On the newbuilding side of the business ? containerships, rigs, semi-subs and offshore support vessels ? there are newer things being incorporated into all these to improve their operational efficiency and enhance their capability.” He adds that the larger Singapore shipbuilders have moved up the value chain. “If you look at the recent contracts some of the major yards have secured, you will see that the value of contracts has become much bigger. These shipyards have moved up the value chain. Instead of being a second tier contractor, some of the yards here have moved to the first tier.” These yards have achieved this by developing the relevant set of capabilities and abilities, including people skills as well as engineering and project management know-how.

In addition, Singapore yards have started developing their own concepts and designs which are tailored to fit the requirements of their customers. In November last year, Jurong Shipyard delivered the

2,500-TEU Thomas Mann, the largest boxship to be built in Singapore.

Jurong, which is part of SembCorp Marine, had designed and built the vessel to comply with ABS SafeHull as an ocean-going single-screw diesel driven fully cellular container ship. The vessel has a raked stem with bulbous bow, transom stern and a streamlined, semi-balanced rudder. The Thomas Mann has a 14 tonne per TEU homogeneous intake capacity of near 2,000 TEU. This is said to significantly exceed that of similar-sized vessels in the market. At a scantling draft of 11.5 metres, it has a maximum speed is 22.2 knots and a service speed of 21.6 knots.

While high-power container vessels often face vibration problems, the 32,600dwt Thomas Mann was designed to minimize the risk of adverse vibration. Part of the hull-form optimisation exercise went towards improving the stern wake field and the propeller was designed and skewed to adapt to the wake and reduce the hull pressure pulses to an acceptable level.

Last year, Jurong Shipyard also bagged two contracts from Taiwan?s Wan Hai Lines to design and build a total of four ships. The vessels will have a speed of 22.7 knots with a homogeneous container intake of 1,960 TEU. They will be delivered from March 2005 to April 2006.

With a 2,600-TEU capacity, the Wan Hai vessels will be slightly larger than Thomas Mann. However, Heng says that Singapore yards are unlikely to see larger containerships being built here. Instead, he adds: “the yards would focus on increasing sophistication rather than increase in size. Singapore yards will design ships with higher built-in maintainability that will enhance the operation of the ship and facilitate its maintenance.”

In the repair and conversion field, Heng says that yards here have also raised their level of competence in design, project management and procurement. “We have the ability to use design as a means to shorten the overall project duration. For instance, 3D designs are increasingly being used to achieve this.”

Keppel is also making waves on the technological front, especially in the offshore field. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Choo Chiau Beng, says: “The important issue for us is this ? having the right strategies, going into the right niche markets and managing cost.”

He further emphasized the importance of scaling the technological ladder, saying: “Here in Singapore, we have to recognize that we must migrate to higher skills to remain competitive. We have to up the productivity per worker, have more engineering content, more mechanization and automation.

Keppel O&M is building up its knowledge base through various R&D activities undertaken by its offshore technology department, marine technology department and deepwater technology group. For example, rigbuilding arm Keppel FELS built a multi-function rig using a

prototype design

developed

jointly with

Marine Structure Consultants of the Netherlands. This semi-submersible, built for Maersk Contractors, can be moored in water depths of up to 1,000 metres with a variable deck load of 4,000 tonnes.

In addition, Keppel has been upgrading its people?s skills and on-site facilities. It is said to be the first Asian yard to have fully certified electricians under the Atmospheric Explosive (ATEX) 1999/92 EC Directive. Since July 2003, European vessel owners are subject to a fine of 2,000 euro if non-ATEX certified workers carry out electrical work onboard their vessels. To cater for this, 32 Keppel electrical personnel and in-house subcontractors underwent the certification. Another member of the Keppel O&M family, Keppel Shipyard, recently upgraded its cryogenic clean room facilities as it saw a surge of work on LNG carriers.

Apart from these two giant marine groups, Singapore also has a host of small and medium-sized yards. Heng says that these outfits play an important role in promoting Singapore as a one-stop marine hub.

“The medium-sized yards may not be looking at contracts with a value similar to the big yards but they have found their own niches that require their own unique capabilities.” They are considered to be specialists in jumboisation jobs and the building of offshore supply vessels.

Together, the large and medium-sized yards create the critical mass needed to grow and support a ready pool of supporting specialist contractors. Just as the yards are upgrading their skills, the sub-contractors have to build up their capabilities.