Introduction to Shipping Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Introduction to Shipping - Essay Example This paper aims at explaining the design process and factors to be considered with the building of a commercial ship and describing the scope and scale of the international shipping industry. A ship design process refers to a process in which the ship owner description and requirements are set into specifications, drawing, and technical information needed for the actual building of the ship. This process is always led by a naval architect but highly contributed to by designers, engineers and many other relevant professionals. The ship designing process is subdivided into various phases. During each phase, the design is improved by increasing the level of details. The owners specification about the ship to be designed must contain detailed about fuel endurance, cargo capacity in terms of volume and weight, and speed (Okumoto 2009, p. 64). The building and operation cost are determined by the owner. The ship design process mainly consists of four stages. These stages are: identification of needs; definition of requirements; selection of the design criteria and development of solution framework. The process can also be phased into three phases namely: initial design, basic design, and the detailed design. This nature of the process can be referred to as a design spiral methodology and strategy. Given that the design requirements is not always similar for all ship owners, it is always important to make use of the relevant tools and experience in incorporating different and conflicting expectations and requirements in design missions (Barrass 2004, p. 101). At the initial design stage, the design team has the task of determining the parameters that are supposed to be the basis for the optimal ship dimensions. The team should also hull form development and also propulsion auxiliary systems and system selection in accordance to the requirements of the owner. This stage of design is mainly characterized by analysis