Cargo Ship Manufacturers : The Most Important Parameters in the Ship Building Sector
Why China became the Global Supplier of Cargo ships
The construction of a floating structure of Cargo Ships require approximately 18 months from the client’s initial request for the design of his project to final delivery.
The Cargo Ship manufacturing throughout the process which can be broken down into 7 stages:
1. Design
2. Industrialization study
3. Arrival of raw materials
4. Manufacture of the hull
4.1. Prefabrication of blocks or panels in the workshop
4.2. Assembly / welding on the assembly table
5. Arming and layout
6. Launching and finishing
6.1. Preparation for launching
6.2. Floating finish
7. Delivery and reception at the home port
Discover below these detailed steps and how different professions, embodied by passionate professionals, guarantee the success of Cargo Ship Suppliers
1. The design
Just like the construction of a building, building or a dwelling, cargo ships constructions are the subject of a preliminary design study called “Summary Pre-Project (APS)”. Overall, design and structural plans allow all the technical and physical characteristics of the future structure to be defined. These elements are defined with the client, an architecture firm and an assistant project manager who are based on the standards and rules imposed by the future location, the end use of the structure as well as the various environmental standards and security associated with it. From these elements, the “studies and projects” team can establish its first commercial proposal.
2. Industrialization study
During this stage, the architectural plans are transformed into a manufacturing plan adapted to method and infrastructures (means of production, handling and structures). The sampling of the structure is verified and the work is detailed plan by plan, element by element, from the panels used to create the bottom, the partitions to the various profiles, flats and other elements to stiffen the structure, passing through the various components of the structure (eg: windlass, box-cooler, bollards, etc.).
3. Arrival of raw materials
The raw materials and the various flame-cut parts resulting from the nomenclature and flow rates established in the previous phase are received on the site by warehouse keeper and unloaded by crane by production teams. The crane operator is guided from the ground by radio by one of boilermaker team leaders and his team in charge of securing the load during handling with various lifting accessories (eg lifting beams, sheet metal clamps, etc.). Other elements are handled by one of many operators.
4. Manufacture of the hull
4.1. Prefabrication of blocks or panels in the workshop
The various elements necessary for the construction of the hull (sheets, profiles, etc.) are transported to the boiler workshop by crane, trailer and forklift depending on the needs and stages of the manufacturing process in progress. In the workshop, boilermakers bend and preform the elements of the future structure using different machine tools according to the desired shapes. Then they pre-assemble these sheet metal or mechanically welded elements to prepare them for the assembly phase and then for welding by welders.
The elements ready to be assembled are taken out of the workshop on the trailer using the forklift truck placed in the crane evolution area according to the weight of the elements and placed on the assembly floor to begin the phase of mounting.
4.2. Assembly / welding on the assembly table
During assembly by boilermakers, with each panel assembled to constitute the various compartments of the boat, the blocks are aligned with the telescope, taking as a reference the assembly plate leveled at the start of construction. The panels are placed on the floor using a crane and are brought together by teams using jacks, hoists until the elements are pointed between them. At the end of assembly, all the elements are welded together. At the end of this phase, the outer hull and the various compartments of the ships are assembled.
5. Arming and layout
Once the hull and the various decks are assembled, various trades intervene to dress the hull of the boat, painters, masons, electricians, insulators, pipefitters, ship’s and workshop mechanics … Each of these bodies of trades has specific needs to carry out its activities. The boilermakers and pipefitters thus make reservations at the locations defined in advance on the gluing plans.
Electricians and on-board mechanics begin to install the equipment for which they are responsible. These various activities generate risks associated with the intervention of these different trades in spaces as small as the hull of a boat. The project manager and the production work manager ensure the proper completion of this work in complete safety in consultation with safety and environment coordinator.
6. Launching and finishing
6.1. Preparation for launching (shifting / shifting / painting of live works)
Once the bulk of the work has been completed, the launching operation is prepared by shore pulling team. The first phase is the shifting of the structure which consists in shifting the boat from home plate towards the pulling carriages on land, allowing the launch. This operation is carried out using so-called hauling or offset winches which allow the work to be moved from the assembly plate to the axis of the pulling track on land. This translation allows
welders to finalize the bottom welds and the painters, permanent sub-contractors of the site, to paint the live works (part of the structure which will be submerged).
6.2. Launching and finishing afloat
At the first launch of the boat, a small ceremony is performed. A bottle of champagne was broken on the hull of the structure before it was launched to baptize it.
During this step, sight glasses are placed with the crane on the pulling carriages on land. They make it possible to materialize the submerged trolleys and thus keep the boat perfectly positioned on these trolleys in the axis of the track. The shore pulling team can then gradually lower the structure placed on the rails until it reaches the water. At this point, traditionally, fog horns and other horns are sounded to mark that moment when the new unit first touches the water. At the end, the boat is docked for the finishing touches and navigation tests. These tests are carried out in the presence of the customer, the project manager in charge of the structure, a flight engineer and an electrician to take over, if necessary, the motorization and gyration part of the structure.
7. Delivery and reception at the home port
If the structure is not motorized, its transported, to its final location where a team of welders, accompanied by a crane operator carries out the docking by various lashing operations, handling with a mobile crane and work on the water with equipment to keep the teams afloat, such as tubs and pontoons. Walkways, squares and collars are then put in place. This operation is carefully prepared upstream with the intervening production team; the project manager in charge of the structure and the environmental safety coordinator in order to reduce and control the risks induced by these operations.
