Integrated Masts-The Next Generation Masts

Fig. 1: UNIMAST : The Integrated Mast Family
(Image Courtesy: www.selex-es.com)

                                         

The heading truly lays an emphasis on the need of using integrated masts .Why do we need it? The use of conventional masts with dozens of antennas, doesn't it make a naval ship communication system more complicated?

Let’s discuss how this integrated masts will prove beneficial in near future!

We can call it a housing that accommodates all the radars, sensors and antennas of a naval vessel. Gone are the dozens of antennas and sensors found on practically every flat topside surface of a modern naval vessel. The presence of all these systems, however sophisticated and advanced they individually may be, on one ship creates several problems.

As we know, the best position for a sensor is on top of the highest mast. There's only one system that can benefit from this position; all the others will be blocked to a certain extent by this mast. All antennas, so close together will affect each other. On most naval vessels it is necessary to switch one system off before another antenna can be used. This has been the cause of some serious incidents.

Features

Integrated mast reduces electromagnetic interference and physical obstructions between electronic sub-systems, and improves across the board performance through the provision of a single operation centre.

UNIMAST represents the Selex ES’ solution to the need of enhanced air, surface and sub-surface defence effectiveness in the naval domain.Let us discuss some of its benefits

Fig. 2:Main Systems Antennas Positions
(Image Courtesy: www.thalesgroup.com)

UNIMAST enhances operational effectiveness across all present and future scenarios:

• Anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence.
• Counter-fire.
• Improved search and track capabilities, against asymmetric threats like small manned or unmanned aircraft at low altitudes and at low speed.

• Reduced ship radar cross-section.
• Improved flexibility for different operating conditions, such as littoral surveillance or blue water operations.

In order to meet ever more demanding operational needs, the integrated mast includes:

• Surveillance radar and air and surface tracking by means of multifunctional AESA 3D four fixed face radars ,operating in C-band (two versions: MFRA and KRONOS) and X-band (two versions: 2D and 3D)
• A phased array IFF using a conformal antenna and operating up to Mode number 5.
• An optronic system.
• Integrated communication system, including tactical data links.
• Electronic Warfare system integration.

The Selex ES UNIMAST Integrated Mast Features

• Surveillance radar and air and surface tracking by means of multifunctional AESA 3D four fixed face radars, operating in C-band (two versions: MFRA and KRONOS) and X-band (two versions: 2D and 3D).
• Electro-optical system. Passive air and surface surveillance and tracking. Infra-red (IR) mapping to support threat evaluation and classification.
• Communications. Data links  and satellite communications system, line-of-sight VHF and UHF communications, Link 11 and Link22 UHF, Link16 Rx and satellite communications.

Let’s know the radars- In The Thales Integrated Mast eliminates these problems. All radars and antennas not only have a full 360° field of view; they are also developed so as to operate simultaneously without interfering each other.

Fig. 5: Integrated Mast tracking features

(Image Courtesy: www.thalesgroup.com)

The radars in the Integrated Mast are non-rotating, four-faced active phased array radars, which in itself is a major performance enhancement. As the four faces operate simultaneously, the radars achieve four times the time on target achieved by a rotating radar. The surface surveillance radar (Seastar) was developed especially for this purpose and it is capable of detecting and tracking small objects (e.g. divers' head) between the waves, contributing enormously to situational awareness in littoral environments.

How is it installed?

The Mast is tested as one system. Not before it fully complies with the customer's specifications is it transported to the shipyard. There, the Integrated Mast is simply bolted or welded to the ship, hooked up to the power supply, coolant system and data transmission and is operational in only two or three week time. Compared to the one year that is necessary to install, integrate and test all the separate systems, this is a huge time and money saving option, for Navy as well as shipyard.

The system’s support has also been simplified, providing access from within the mast, and protecting much of the electronics and cabling from wind, and corrosion.

Fig. 6: Holland-Class Offshore Patrol Vessel / OPV
(Image Courtesy: www.seaforces.org)

This system has been installed on the Patrol Ships for the Royal Netherlands Navy .The first one was scheduled to be operational in late 2010. The I-Mast 100, introduced in September 2009, is the second member of the I-Mast family. This system is designed for smaller, corvette-sized vessels. The type of systems in the Mast is completely up to the customer. Although the Integrated Mast for the Holland class OPVs for the Royal Netherlands Navy contains mostly Thales systems, it will be possible to use customer-furnished or third party systems in a Thales Integrated Mast

Below are some videos about the Thales Family of i-Masts and their integration in ships and benefits.LSD

Article By: Siddhi Indulkar

Recommended Visuals: 1.) Thales presents: The i-Mast Family

                                2.) Thales Integrated Sensor Mast

MOL Comfort- What Happened? (Part 1)

On 17th June 2013, MOL Comfort, a post Panamax container ship owned by Mitsui OSK Lines suffered a crack amidships and split off into two off the coast of Mumbai. It turned out to be one of the biggest structural failures in the history of container shipping, and the reason behind the same remained unknown unless a dedicated investigation was carried out into the matter by Class NK, who recently released their final investigation report on the case. 

This provides a great chance for designers to make reconsiderations and learn ship structure design from a different point of view. This series of articles are a detailed analysis on the investigation carried out by Class NK. The aim of launching this series is to give an interactive and informative insight into the entire investigation which fosters a better way of learning structural design than just what books and professors can do. It is also assumed that you have a basic touch up on ship structures before you read on.

The fracture generated from the bottom shell of the double bottom structure of the ship. The condition shown in Figure 1 is one of a later stage when the crack had propagated above the waterline. But the origination of the crack was investigated and found to be at 200 mm fore of Frame 151 (as shown in Figure 2), where there was a butt weld (remember this throughout the entire analysis). Also, the entire analysis was carried out on the double bottom structure at the hold corresponding to the area of crack generation and half of each hold fore and aft of the hold where the crack generated.

Fig. 1: The crack originated in the bottom shell and propagated above the waterline.
(Image Courtesy: Google Images)

Fig. 2: Actual position of generation of crack.
(Image Courtesy: Class NK)

The load on a ship not only depends on its cargo loading conditions but also on the environmental factors, which we collectively call as Sea State. The cargo loading conditions were obtained from the shippers (weight of each container along with the container loading plan). However, it can never be affirmed that the data obtained was correct, given the fact that many shippers practice in overloading the containers, which is often not a design standard in terms of the ship's strength. 

Estimation of Wave-Induced Loads (Considering Uncertainties)

The environmental conditions (wave induced loads) during the accident were recorded. But as ships always operate in an environment of periodically varying parameters, it is a common practice to consider certain deviations in the recorded data for a wider analysis. Class NK has pretty much done the same in their investigation. Considering certain deviations in the parameters of wave and wind induced loads, Class NK proceeded with the following data as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Deviated values of wave induced load parameters during the accident.
(Image Courtesy: Class NK)

But how did they get to these values? Based on the recorded data during the accident, the sea state and load response on the ship was simulated probabilistically for 27 different scenarios. Since each load condition would subject the hull to a specific wave-induced vertical bending moment, a probability distribution was plotted against the possible values of the wave induced vertical bending moment and the frequency of occurrence of each, as shown in Figure 3. For each of the 27 conditions, 1000 waves (short term sea state) were considered for the simulation. Note how the frequency of occurrence of extreme maximum and minimum bending moment are lower than that of the occurrence of an averagely medium value.

Fig. 3: Frequency of occurrence of various wave induced vertical bending moments.
(Image Courtesy: Class NK)

For a better understanding, Table 4 shows the obtained parameters when the wave induced vertical bending moments were maximum and minimum. This is how the wave load parameters were considered with estimated deviations for more accuracy.

Table 2: Wave induced load parameters in case of maximum and minimum wave induced vertical bending moments.

(Image Courtesy: Class NK)

Uncertainty in Strength

Fig. 4: Factors that definitely affect the strength of the double bottom structure.

Fig. 5: Factors affecting uncertainty in strength on the structure.

What's in Part 2?

In Part 2 of this series, we will see how these uncertainties were used to estimate the strength of the double bottom structure probabilistically, rather than deterministically. The importance of probabilistic determination lies in the fact that ship structural failures may not occur in load scenarios which occur very frequently. It is the less frequent but most adverse conditions that lead to such failures. This makes it necessary to analyse the failure from a probabilistic point of view.LSD

Article By: Soumya Chakraborty

Back To Nature

It is not uncommon to come across technology borrowing inspiration from mother nature and the shipping industry has not been late in adapting to the trends. Natural systems are often quite efficient. Sometimes when faced with complex challenges in design and construction, it is often fruitful for us us to take clues from the billions of years of the process of evolution which has selected only 'fit' designs.

Today, the technologies which you are about to get introduced to are all potential breakthrough technologies which may one day become reality. We shall talk of bio-mimicry and the use of live organisms for various purposes in marine systems. 

Biofouling

Bioflouling is the build-up of both micro/macroscopic organisms on surfaces of the ship exposed to the sea i.e. primarily the hull and adds to the fuel consumption of a vessel from years of accumulation as a result of which there is an increase in the environmental effects like release of oxides of sulphur and carbon. All of these are caused due to the increase in the hydrodynamic drag from the increased mass and it's resulting interactions with flowing water, both slow and fast.

As in other cases, the technologies which we have come up with for reducing biofouling which are nature inspired have significantly reduced costs, wastage of resources.In this case, the skin of sharks seems of interest to researchers.

Fig. 1: A close up of shark skin 
(Image Courtsey: biomimicryinstitute.org)

The microscopically small individual scales of shark skin, called dermal denticles or “little skin teeth”, are ribbed with longitudinal grooves which result in water moving more efficiently over their surface.
Over smooth surfaces, fast-moving fluids begin to break up into circulating currents, or eddies, due to the velocity gradient which exists across layers. These eddies are reduced in number by this kind of surface venation.Some of the features are:

(1) The grooves channelize the flow as evident from the figure.They also reduce the sizes of vortices by dividing the water 
sheets areas into smaller ones, an approach somewhat analogous  to reducing eddy currents in transformers by dividing the area into smaller compartments.

(2) They speed up the slower water at the surface by reducing the area of outflow which means same volume flow happens through a smaller volume (consistent with mass conservation), reducing the surface flow velocity gradient with respect to the shark skin.

Think about it, who knows someday we might even come up with latest improvements like biomorphic mineralization applicable to creation of marine materials.

Hydrophobic Hulls

The water fern, by nature is super hydrophobic, which means it does not get wet even when immersed because of small, fibrous hair that keep a thin layer of air close to the plant's body. 

Fig. 2: Hydrophobic hulls may be next 

big innovation in Hull Engineering 

(Image Courtsey:Google Images)

Ships consume more fuel with increasing drag on the hull. Bio-mimicry research has been looking looking forward to water fern for to help ships move faster and save energy resources.It is said that the researchers can design container ships having hulls with similar super-hydrophobic properties, keeping a layer of air between water and vessel hull.

If researchers could design container ships that have hydrophobic hulls, fuel costs and emissions could be reduced by as much as a valuable ten percent.

Considering that global shipping emission estimates stood at around 850 million tons of CO2 in 2007 which is nearly 3 percent of man-made emissions that year, this is definitely no minor reduction. The researchers estimate such technology could trim a full percent off global fuel consumption.

Submarine Designs

"Most fish wag their tails to swim. A stingray's swimming is much more unique, like a flag in the wind," Richard Bottom, a mechanical engineering graduate student at the University at Buffalo, said in a statement.

Fig. 3: 3D Maps of the way vortices flow around swimming Stingrays 

(Image Courtsey: www.livescience.com & Richard Bottom)

A study by the students at Harvard University and University at Buffalo focused on motion of Stingrays, which are cartilaginous fishes.They studied the dynamics of motion of their round and flattened bodies and how they appear to 'ripple' through water. The ''Leading Edge Vortex'', as it is so called because of it being at the front of a body in motion, creates the low pressure at the front and high at the end.

Although a common phenomenon in birds and insects, this seems to be the first case of the phenomenon being observed in underwater motion.

Strait Power Turbines

The inspiration for designs from sharks are not only limited to anti fouling materials. It is seen that a shark, which in this case is the basking shark, spends a larger part of the day open mouthed, in the process it allows water to enter through its mouth and out through the gills while aiding in swimming.

Fig. 4: Concept rendition of the the principles of fluid movement 
in a basking shark
(Image Courtsey: www.designboom.com/)

Industrial Designer Anthony Reale’s Strait Power provides a highly efficient redesign 

of water-powered turbine generators. Given below is a 3-D rendered model of the pressure differential and water movement that is responsible for the high energy efficiency of ‘strait power'.

Fig. 5: Artistic rendering of the pressure differential and water movement that is responsible for the high energy efficiency of ‘strait power'
(Image Courtesy: www.designboom.com)

Fig.6: Rendered structural images of ''Strait Power'' prototype 

(Image Courtesy: www.designboom.com)

The team calculated that this prototype already improves power output of a single turbine blade by 40%, a figure Reale expects to improve in later versions.

Air bubbles against drag

The next source of inspiration from Mother Nature comes from these lovely creatures inhabiting the Polar Regions. Penguins use air bubbles for lubricating their passage in water. This concept is being applied to vessels for improving their performance by increasing their efficiency and lowering the drag. Sounds pretty routine? Here's something to note however, the penguins release the bubbles from the air trapped in their feathers.

Ships however use a air bladder to exploit this effect. At the stem of the ship, a combination of compressors and shell cavities release the stream of pressurised air bubbles which form a carpet along the hull of flat bottomed vessels. This technology has been used for trials onbaord oil tanker vessels with increase in efficiencies averaging around 4%.

Fig.7: Penguins surging through water. Note the air bubble stream behind them.

(Image Courtesy: www.bbc.com)

The first commercial installation of the technology, (now known as) Silverstream® system is expected to be fitted on a Norwegian cruise liner. This technology could improve ship energy efficiency by more than 5%.

Fig.7: Schematic representation of the Silverstream® Technology

(Image Courtesy: www.shell.com)

What Else

We often think of how to implement intelligent control and automation of tasks which have been traditionally solved by humans.One school of thought often suggests-''Why not use humans to carry out automated tasks?'', on similar lines, another school suggests- ''Why not use biological organisms to do the same? ''.How far can this idea go?

Something you might however point out against the first school of thought is that there is a desire to remove the need for humans to perform simple and boring repetitive tasks so that they can pursue more enjoyable and involving tasks.LSD

Article By: Sudripto Khasnabis

Recommended Readings: 

1. Stingrays' Weird Swimming May Inspire New Submarine Designs.

2. Sharks' Scales Create Tiny Whirlpools for Speedy Swimming

3. Bio-mimicry for Optimization, Control, and Automation (Book) By Kevin M. Passino

LNG - The Way Ahead

The quest for green fuel has been the highest priority since the beginning of the 21st century. Its quite evident from the fact that various amendments for environmental protection, promotion of green shipping & introducing the concept of EEDI have surfaced. Shipping industry, which is considered the lifeline for global trading is becoming a threat to the world for its emission of various particles, NOx, SOx etc. 

Amid all these deliberations at various global levels of the shipping industry; engineers, naval architects & scientists have come up with advanced technologies to curb the demand and the environmental problems of the industry. One such technological advancement has been the introduction of LNG as a marine propulsion fuel.

Prior to the introduction of LNG fueled vessel market, it was primarily used as 'the boil off' gas on LNG carriers.It was utilized in marine boilers and duel fuel engines. The major purpose of LNG as fuel was to cut out the emissions. Results show that LNG is capable of reducing Carbon-dioxide emissions by 20%, NOx by 85-90%, and nearly a 100% reduction in SOx and particle emissions. 

Basically, a marine LNG engine is used as a dual fuel engine that uses natural gas and bunker fuel( Heavy Fuel Oil, Light Diesel Oil) to convert chemical energy to mechanical energy. This is because of the large tank space occupied by the LNG(density is less than air) and limited bunkering options. As a result only a very few small ships that to close to the shore run on complete LNG engine. Figure 1 shows the layout of a LNG propulsion plant.

Fig. 1: LNG Tank, Engine & propeller connections.
( Image Courtesy: DNV ) 

Cold LNG (liquid gas) is stored in the two insulated flasks (yellow tanks) forward of the engine room. This setup is then connected to the evaporator system which converts the liquid fuel into a low pressure warm gas and is supplied to the gas engine, which turns the propeller through a reduction gear. The engine also supplies the vessel's electrical load by means of a generator driven off the gearbox. 

However, the advantages of dual - fuelled engine have proved to be extremely effective, this includes:

• Operational flexibility.
• High efficiency.
• Low emissions.
• Operational cost advantages.

At present it may be a marine fuel and replace the heavy fuel oils. There is no problem to prepare the gas turbines and boilers (for steam turbines) for burning natural gas. It affects continuous combustion – this is an advantage for these engines. 

By reason of efficiency LNG as a marine fuel in diesel engines can be used as – two and four stroke. The propositions are dual fuel (DF) or three fuel (TF) engines. The engines may work on heavy fuel oils, if necessary on marine diesel oils (during manoeuvres or low loads) and of course on natural gas. In case the two stroke diesel engine works on natural gas it is needed to inject a pilot dose of liquid fuel (more often 1% of marine diesel oil) for the facilitation of self-ignition of the fuel-air mixture. The natural gas is injected to the cylinder under pressure about 25-35 MPa (it is a problem to use high pressure compressors). In the case the four stroke diesel engines the natural gas is passed to the air inlet channel under a pressure of about 0.5-0.6 MPa (more convenient pressure), and a pilot dose of MDO or HFO is needed too. The dual fuel engines are not sensitive to gas quality and the load.

LNG vs HFO

The price of LNG depends on the HFO price, but it is often cheaper. Taken into account the LHV(Lower Heating Value) of fuels and theirs prices, the cost of LNG is about 60% of HFO. On gas carriers the cost of boil-off gas is decreasing due to savings of re-liquefaction process. Natural gas prices (including LNG) has been reduced the last two years due to the introduction of shale gas in the US market. This is a reason that LNG has improved its competitiveness to HFO, especially on ECA (Emission Control Area) where it is needed to clean the exhaust gases. 

The cost of LNG storage and the much needed safety equipment increase its cost. On a long stay (due to the shipyard) the fuel tanks must be emptied because of fuel vaporization. On the other hand LNG is a very pure fuel. The operational costs of engines are decreasing. The engines are in the better technical condition and the number of emergency situations and failures is decreasing. This is money too! 

However, the methane emission for the LNG pathway is eight times higher compared to the HFO pathway and accounts for 20% of the total GHG emissions for LNG. This contribution is mainly from the combustion of LNG. This means that the performance of the engines plays a major part in the overall performance of LNG as a marine fuel since a small increase in the methane slip will increase the environmental footprint for LNG. As a curiosity it can be seen that if the methane slip from the LNG engine increases with only 12.2%, then HFO will be the most environmental friendly fuel in a life cycle perspective. 

In my opinion LNG will be competitive with HFO taking into account only the price during the next 20 years, later it will be still better. Taking into account all the other parameters the LNG competitiveness is better. Figure 2 shows the existing ECA and possible inclusions to the areas in the future. 

Fig. 2: ECA Zones around the world.
( Image Courtesy: NORUT)

If you take a deeper look into how much sulphur & Nitrogen (oxides) reduction the ECA's have achieved, you would definitely be astonished by the level of the stringent goals set to curb SOx & NOx emissions as per the IMO Tier III regulations.

Fig. 3: Sulphur emissions Vs. Years.
( Image Courtesy: Google Images)

LNG Supply & Pricing

Various estimates of annual consumption of fuel oil for marine fuel are reported. The IEA reports that bunker demand in 2010 was 235 million metric tonnes, comprising approximately 180 million tonnes of residual fuel based products and 55 million tonnes of distillate fuel products. This is equivalent to about 180 million metric tonnes of LNG - nearly 75% of worldwide LNG trade in 2012.

Worldwide LNG demand is projected to grow at more than 5% annually through 2020. Asia – Pacific LNG demand in 2012 represents nearly 70% of global demand and Potential projects that Asia –Pacific demand will continue to pace global demand. Supply must expand rapidly to meet worldwide demand and premium priced Asia Pacific demand in particular.

Fig. 4: Amount of LNG supplied Vs. Years
( Image Courtesy: DNV)

Fig. 5: Price of LNG supplied Vs. Years
( Image Courtesy: DNV)

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• No need to install further treatment for NOx.
• Potential CO2  reduction ( about 20% every journey).
• Much lower maintenance.
• Cheaper than HFO.
• Spills disappear when in contact with water.
• Meets Tier III & SECA requirements.
• Stored at atmospheric pressure.
• Finally, the most important of all more gas reserves than oil.

Cons: 

• Not much infrastructure development.
• Chances of methane slip.
• Skilled & trained crew required for to operate LNG as fuel.
• Few places to bunker making route scheduling less optimized.
• More space required for gas system on board.
• Safety aspects increase complexity of the supply chain, ship design & operation.

Conclusion

The use of LNG as ship fuel promises a lower emission level and, given the right circumstances, lower fuel costs. So even if there is an increase in the GHG's due to release of methane(very less though) for the sake of reduction of SOx & NOx emissions, the overall results & efficiency is a lot better and greener. Until we find any new or better mode of green propulsion, the use of LNG will definitely help us delay the apocalypse!LSD

Article By: Tanumoy Sinha

Recommended Readings: 

1. Costs and Benefits of LNG as Ship Fuel for Container Vessels

2. LNG AS MARINE FUEL - Frederick Adamchak, Amokeye Adede Poten & Partners

3. LNG - The Pros and Cons (Wartsila)

An Interview with Parks Stephenson

Parks Stephenson

He was the Project Manager and chief forensic analyst in the team of Naval Architects who investigated and analysed the Titanic wreckage. The results of the findings were featured in a National Geographic special, while he co-authored and illustrated the book, "Exploring The Deep: The Titanic Expeditions" with James Cameron.

Graduating in Naval Science from the United States Naval Academy, Parks has had a dynamic multidisciplinary career all along. Currently, he works as the Systems Engineering Manager at Moog Inc. 

In this interview with Learn Ship Design, we get a glimpse of the challenges faced in the expedition and similar marine forensic projects and the secret behind his success in multidisciplinary efforts.

It You were an integral part of the research outcome of Titanic’s so called Achilles Heel. In reference to that, how would you describe the structural problems Titanic had ?

I don’t find that the Olympic-class ships had any significant structural weaknesses.  When I first started studying Titanic, the fact that she broke apart during the sinking seemed to suggest that there might have been some sort of structural weakness somewhere.  But after years of study of both the Titanic and Britannic wreck sites, where we could, for the first time, look at the wrecks from an architectural perspective, we increasingly found evidence that the design of that class of ship was actually quite robust.  Britannic’s structure has not noticeably sagged despite her lying on her side (where the loads are different than the structure was originally designed to support) and the fact that Titanic’s mid section broke into large chunks (with decks still supported by large uptakes) demonstrate that the H&W engineers took measures to mitigate potential problems in their up-scaling of previous designs.  Added to this was Olympic’s maintenance record until her end of life…she required no more, and maybe even less, re-work to her structure than her peers in order to keep her in service.

Share with us one unforgettable moment that you came across, during the Titanic’s scientific expedition. 

My most memorable moments came during the discovery of the Marconi and Turkish Bath rooms.  I had done much research into those rooms beforehand and it was interesting to compare what I expected to what was found.  In the case of the Marconi Room, it was entirely unlike what we expected.  In the Turkish Bath, it was almost exactly what we expected. The lessons learned from this experience helped to shape my forensic analysis going forward.  Another single moment happened during my dive to the wreck.  Our submersible passed over the starboard fidley grate that Lightoller claimed to have been first pinned against, and subsequently expelled from, that grate.  Unseen in the 2D imagery, but obvious when seen with the naked eyeball, was that the grate in question is actually bulged out from some pressure originating from within the ship.  This was physical confirmation of Lightoller’s account, which was very exciting to see…the past had a physical connection to the present.

What according to you, are the fundamental barriers faced during any marine forensic project?

The main barrier is time and budget…there never seems to be enough of either.  A wreck’s exploration does not submit easily to someone’s planned budget or schedule.  In Titanic’s case, especially, another factor is the pre-conceived notions of an entire community of “experts” and enthusiasts, who will defend what they think they know of the story against any rebuttal, any evidence, against it.  Unfortunately, in a popular story like Titanic’s, there is also a lot of pseudo-science conducted in order to make headline-grabbing charges, like we saw recently with the “brittle steel” and “weak rivet” theories.  For example, actual scientists would demonstrate the fragility of a steel under freezing conditions without really understanding the historical context; in this case, not accounting for the fact that there was an operating boiler room, generating heat in excess of 100 degrees F, on the other side of the steel.

Your journey from being a Naval Officer to working on the aeronautical sphere, then as an analyst in marine investigation, authoring books and producing documentaries and movies. How has it been all through? What is the driving force behind the multi-disciplinary You, Parks?

I have a natural curiosity that drives me in more areas than just Titanic. I feel that mysteries can be solved if we can just look past the myths that grow around the events and see them from their most fundamental perspective. In order to distinguish myth from fact, though, one needs evidence, and in the case of Titanic, the wreck itself is our last and most definitive source for evidence. I am not interested in just Titanic, I want to understand what really happened in history so that we can learn, and react to, the correct lessons today.

Should students pursuing Naval Architecture be academically exposed to guided projects related to marine forensics? Do you think that would create a better understanding of the subject if universities took this initiative? 

Any forensic effort should of course include schooling in the basic disciplines to that effort.  But one should also be more rounded, so that one can “think out of the box.”  A naval architect, for instance, should strive to sail in the ships in which he/she builds (or similar).  But even that’s not enough.  If one is exploring a shipwreck, one must also understand the time period in which she sailed, understand the thought processes of the individuals who sailed in her…see the world of that time through their eyes.  Myth begins when people put their own perspectives, their own time prejudices, on a study of the past.  When a story becomes too pat – as is Titanic’s, in my opinion – then that is the time to question our understanding. To answer your question properly, though, I do believe that any education into a given forensic field should come with practical experience. It is not enough to just learn about the subject, one must also practice it before one can really become qualified.

Parks, Titanic II hopefully sails out in 2016. Will you take the first voyage? 

If a berth is offered to me, I will go. But I am somewhat ambivalent to the entire project.  There is no replicating Titanic, no matter how exact they capture the details of the original.  In my opinion, there are actually attempting a replica of Olympic.  Titanic is really nothing more than Olympic with a disaster added, and since they cannot offer a disaster as part of their cruise package, the ship can never be Titanic.  Besides, the new ship can never BE the old ship…we live in a different world than the one in 1912.  You will be sailing on a ship whose design is not suited for the modern commercial world, with modifications to try and make it competitive enough to stay economically viable.   As students of naval architecture, pay very close attention to any news you can gather about how the ship’s construction is progressing, and how often the design will change during the course of construction.  Ask yourself…what kind of ship will result?  Will she be a treasure, or a mongrel?