January 2012

TECHNICAL MEETINGS FOR 2012 – This year starts with the announcement of several technical events in this Continent, of interest of our membership, as follows:

• 1st Conference on Mechanical and Naval Engineering- CIMYN’29, sponsored by IPEN-Panama, to be held on next July 4 - 7,  at Ciudad del Saber Convention Center, Panama City, Panama.  For more information please go to : http://www.cimyn12.utp.ac.pa .
• International Symposium on Naval (NA & ME) Engineering, to be held on September 12 - 14, sponsored by the Universidade Veracruzana, Mexico, and organized by the Mexican Association of Naval Engineers, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Naval Engineering career founding.
• Pan-American Symposium on Naval Engineering, Maritime Transports and Port Engineering”, on October 11 - 13, in Lima, Peru, in which the annual meeting of the IPEN Consultative Council and Board of Directors will be held.
• The 24th Conference of the Brazilian Society of Naval Engineering, which will be held on October 22 - 26, in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.

Moreover, confirmed but without definitive date, the following event:

• The Pan-American Maritime Symposium “SYMMTECHNAVAL’ 2012”, foreseen to be held during the second week of November in Havana, Cuba, sponsored by the IPEN-Cuba.

SHIPYARD’S WASTE FIGHTING – Stimulated by the news about saving of electrodes in shipyards published in our December 2012 edition, some IPEN Members kindly sent us their reports to reduce cost in shipbuilding, under several aspects. For this edition we selected the experiences with steel plates and other materials. The oldest is about the former Alianza shipyard, in Buenos Aires, that used to weld four steel plates aiming maximize their utilization in the cutting, reducing the scraps. On the other side, the Maua Shipyard, in Rio de Janeiro, in order to speed up building of the SD-14 series (15,000 DWT), has determined that all the pieces were cut out for all the ships at once, and then stocking the pieces to be used in the next ships.  Although this procedure was justified by an increase in the velocity rates of construction, great part of this pieces that remain on the ship in construction when daily labor ended,  has throw in the junkyard by the cleaning personnel.
Meanwhile, in the former Verolme Shipyard, a Peruvian junior engineer named Felix Murga Caballero had realize that some workers were coming frequently to the junkyard to search for small pieces to avoid walking a great distance up to the stock room. Therefore, he organized what he call “a field stock room”, joining pieces of plates and pipes within small demarcation lines, according their thickness and diameter. As a consequence, it was easier to find out small pieces and has generated a great saving of materials and time.
Moreover, in a Brazilian shipyard, a Venezuelan apprentice student – Mariano González Arrieta – recommended to a naval technician to organize the rest of cut plates according their thickness and  place them in the upright position in order to facilitate their finding and removing. Another recommendation to the technician was to prepare an inventory of the material by areas and forms, aiming to inform to the Design sector about the type and quantity of material available.

Note: If you, dear reader, wish to collaborate with your experience about the reducing of costs in the ship building industry please send your report to this Secretary. All the comments will be welcome.

GUIDELINES FOR FLAG STATE INSPECTIONS AND PORT STATE CONTROL – We have received as a kind collaboration of ICS – Intermarine Classification Services, a Panamanian Classifying society, the English version of the “Guidelines for Flag State Inspections” and “Guidelines for Port State Control Officers Carrying out Inspections”, both documents approved in the Convention on Maritime Labor.

THE COSTA CONCORDIA AFFAIR -  The international press still make comments about the accident with the passenger ship Costa Concordia , occurred last day 13th, in the Italian coast. The press pointed out the panic onboard, the reprehensible behavior of ship’s Captain, and chiefly the loss of lives, in generally. To the people that work in the maritime community, however, the worries are about the refinement of ship design that could avoid more deaths in the future. Those ships use to be very safe and they attend all the requirements of the Classification societies. But an unexpected human fail is a permanent challenge to all rules and handbook recommendations. Besides, it is very complicated to lead more than three thousand people in panic, talking at least ten different languages,  toward a peaceful disembarkation be means of salvage equipments that not always work, especially when ship has modified her equilibrium, as in this case. For a report of the Costa Concordia, the complete details of the ship, a comparison with other passenger vessels of great length and capacity click here.

GL ACADEMY NEWS LIMA AND MEXICO, 2012 FIRST EDITION – The 1st edition of GL Academy News Mexico and GL Academy Lima are already in the IPEN Americas Secretary HQ, as a kindly courtesy of their Editors. Both Academy are presenting the schedule of seminars and courses for this year, including the courses on “Damages to machinery and repairs” and “Damages to the hull structure”.  Courses in Lima start on next February 16. Copies of both bulletins are available at no charge, just ask them to this Secretary: ipen@ipen.org.br.

December 2011

Employment Opportunity - The company Keppel Amfells is requiring of a Naval Engineer to work in Bronwnsville, Texas, USA, in the Department of Naval Architecture, subject to the Engineering Management. The company will arrange for the TN visa. The candidate must meet the following requirements:
* To be qualified as a Naval Engineer;
* Speak and write fluently in English;
* Experience of using software to model and calculate hydrostatic and stability (Autohydro, GHS, Stab Cad or similar).
Send resume to: direccion@amin.mx

Advances in the shipbuilding industry in Venezuela - In recognition of the importance of shipbuilding to the country's development, the Maritime Authority of Venezuela has just appointed President of IPEN, Jose Gregorio Passariello Verdicchio, Naval Industry Manager. This designation means the strong and decisive government support to the national development plans in the areas of construction and repair of ships and auxiliary industries. Certainly this will have positive reflections in the XXIII COPINAVAL in 2013.

Mega catamaran launched in Guayaquil - After eleven months of construction, the mega catamaran "Ocean Spray" was successfully launched in Guayaquil. Unique in its class, it is the largest ever built in Ecuador. The boat has the following characteristics: Length: 34.32 m; Moulded beam: 13.03 m; Design draft: 1.32 m; space between hulls: 9.84 m. It is powered by two MTU diesel engines of 400 hp at 1,800 rpm having a deck area of 128.30 square meters with a capacity for 16 passengers and 11 crew. According to its builder, Mr. Roberto Morante Villareal, in her building high productivity strategies were used, as a result of the synthesis models of cost-benefit that were presented at the XXII COPINAVAL, in Buenos Aires, in September, in the paper entitled "Design and construction of catamarans aimed at increased performance and productivity." (see at www.ipen.org.br/Artícles/CT-8). The boat was built with 11% less than the nominal cost and more effective on 14.36% of the fleet operating scenarios, cruise and construction. A short video showing the launching maneuvers at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyR01M3mC_w

FIGHTING waste in yards - Spurred by the news published in the November issue of this report passed on savings in welding activities in shipyards, some members of IPEN are sending notes and comments on the fight against waste in other sectors of the industries, of equal importance to the financial health of companies. We are still collecting material to present the news to our readers in the next issue of IPINternet News.

Sobena Congress in Rio - The Brazilian Society of Naval Engineering, Sobena, our National Member in Brazil, scheduled its 24th National Congress for October 22 to 26, 2012, in Rio de Janeiro. In turn, members of the Mexican Association of Naval Engineering-AMIN is organizing a major technical event for September or October of that year, while IPEN is waiting for a space to mention the seminar to be held within the annual meeting of its Advisory Board and Board in Lima, Peru, within this period.

Happy Holidays, Happy New Year - With the last newsletter of the year, IPEN likes to thank all its members, friends and colleagues who supported us in the mission to disseminate advances in naval and port engineering and water transport in this hemisphere. Our best wishes for Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to our colleagues, extended to their families and beloved ones.

November 2011

NAVAL ENGINEERING MAGAZINE MEXICO - the first issue of Naval Engineering Magazine Mexico is already circulating on the Internet, having interesting news and articles of naval colleagues of this beautiful country. The magazine is free, but registration is required in order to create a password. The website is www.ingenierianaval.com.mx.

Jobs and photos of the last Congress - We are pleased to inform the readers that several photos and all the papers presented in the last COPINAVAL in Buenos Aires, Argentina, including the competition of students, are already on the IPEN website (www.ipen.org.br/articles).

Maritime Symposium in LA HABANA - The VII Pan American Maritime Symposium of Naval Technology - Symmtechnaval 2012 will be held during the second week of November 2012. To this end, IPEN-Cuba is already calling the experts and representatives -IPEN members or not- of owners, shipyards, freight forwarders, port terminals, classification and inspection societies, design bureaus and naval projects, consultants, suppliers and naval schools and other sectors of our continent to attend the event. For further information about the event, please enter the IPEN website (www.ipen.org.br), Section Events.

To save costs in welding - When performing her internship at a major shipyard in the continent, a Brazilian student stopped to observe the large number of electrodes wasted in daily activities. Only in a boat she found half-used supplies on the floor, waiting to be collected by the cleaning staff. So she decided to forget some of the internship and cooperate with a study to show the importance of consumables savings. She spoke with the engineers and procurement people to convince them to control the consumption of electrodes, while maintaining the speed of services that the head of the shipyard is so proud of. For customers, what mattered was the minimum terms of the services. For the shipyard, however, was tested at the end the waste of material was too large to be ignored.
Asked by the IPINternet News editor, as well as welcoming the intern's work in favor of the shipyard, Mr. Juan Antonio Alonso recalled some cases in which the excessive consumption of electrodes has been taken into account. He commented on the case of former shipyard EMAQ (now Shipyard Ilha - EISA), where the management requested the electrodes provider to make a mark or notch at one inch from the end of making the electrode clamp to force welders may consume up to this level.
In turn, in the old Ebin Shipyard (now Alianza Shipyard) established various points of electrodes supply to prevent large movements of the industrial welders. They were given approximately one kilo bundles of electrodes, both 3.25 mm. as 4.00 mm. in diameter, and once consumed to ask for new electrodes they had to return their tips. These tips were used as filler material for welding deep joints, with the submerged arc process.
Practical initiatives described above - said Mr. Juan Alonso - ment important savings of money , and can be supported with certain types of welding appropriate to each case.

Technical Meeting of ports - The IV Meeting of Ports of the Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) was held in the city of Mindelo, Cabo Verde, on November 17 - 18. In the event, a market study of the countries of the CPLP ports was presented and had as its theme "The role of ports in the economic development of the CPLP." The representative of the Cimpañía Docas de Rio de Janeiro, Professor Adalmir José de Souza, gave a conference and highlighted the growth of Asian countries, which in 1978 represented only 10 percent of world trade for containers to achieve 80 percent in 2010. Commenting on the situation of ports in the world, prof. Adalmir pointed out the good condition of the Barazilian terminals Itaguaí and Suape on the Atlantic, and Arica (Chile) and Guayaquil (Ecuador) on the Pacific. And while analyzing the expected changes in the cargo paths of world trade he highlighted the works at the Panama Canal, which should greatly increase the operation of the canal from 2014.

Guide to repair propellers - A naval engineer, member of IPEN, asked this Executive Secretary a guide to repair propellers that could serve as a model to create an owner's manual. The Classification Society Brazilian Registry of Ships and Aircrafts, kindly gave us their "Guide to repair propellers", based on which he finally produced the alleged manual. This Guide is available to readers who want to learn about this issue. Simply request this to this Secretary, at no cost.

GRP Superstructure: a tendency - Tecnavin SA, Naval projects, Guayaquil, Ecuador, has successfully completed the total renovation of the fiberglass superstructure of yacht TIP TOP II, 27.50 m in length. The owner Rolf Wittmer Turismo Galapagos Cia used the hull built in steel and decided to renew the fiberglass superstructure built as a single block, finished and ready to equip the accommodations. This allowed 50 percent savings in construction time. In addition, fiberglass is lighter and once again confirms the advantage of use in the superstructure of a vessel to improve stability and allow better insulation than steel. For construction details, please contact www.tecnavin.com.
Also Tecnavin SA, Naval projects, today announced that they have been named as representative for Ecuador and other countries in the region of the Dutch company Machine Support, which led Tecnavin SA to usea next generation software that allows 3D modeling for the propulsion system, calculate alignment and optimize the relative position of settings. Other modules of the same software allows a theoretical analysis of torsional vibrations, lateral and axial, in free or forced response. For more information visit www.shaftdesigner.com or www.machinesupport.com.

Advertising in the IPEN website – A page in the web site of IPEN (www.ipen.org.br) has been created. In this page it is published all information on products and/or services of their Collective Members (MC) and Individuals (MI), without cost. The interested persons should direct their ads through their respective National Directors. In addition, the site offers banners in the different sections of the site, with a small cost. The rates may be consulted at: http://www.ipen.org.br/img/tarifas_eng.pdf .