Short Courses Supporting Canada’s Quiet Vessel Initiative and Marine Industry

Early career naval architects, engineers and policy officers typically have excellent technical knowledge and look forward to applying them when they join the workforce.  However, generally not included in their education is an understanding of the wider maritime world. Without this knowledge they lack the context for their work.  This “familiarization” course is designed for such naval architects, engineers and policy officers, and the objective of which is to provide this context.  It should be noted that while the course is directed at early career technical graduates, non-technical personnel could find it potentially useful as an introduction to the world of ships.

This short course provides a comprehensive introduction to the maritime world with a focus on ships. This is accomplished by summarizing the stages in the lifecycle of ships starting at the design stage through construction and finally to operations and maintenance. The regulatory environment in which these are undertaken is also described.

This course, consisting of six 3-hour modules, will be delivered through Brightspace, an online learning management system.

Each module is followed by an online quiz. After the successful completion of six quizzes by November 10, 2023, participants will receive their certificates through the Brightspace system.

Time: 12:00 – 15:30 (EDT), including a half-hour break

Dates: October 24, 25, 26 and 27, November 1 and 2, 2023

Registration fee – $500 CAD/person

Registration deadline – October 10, 2023

Module A:  Types of Ships and Their Functions and Features

This module will provide an introduction to the design of vessels, including ships, boats and offshore structures with an emphasis on vessels in operation in Canada.  

The first part of the lecture will introduce the basic parameters used in naval architecture to characterize ship designs.  Topics will include both dimensional (length overall, draft, depth, etc.) and non-dimensional parameters (block coefficient, prismatic coefficients and ratios such as length to beam) and how various parameters vary based on the service type of the vessel.

The second part will discuss vessel types, including but not limited to icebreakers, containerships, large and small fishing vessels, lakers, ferries and floating offshore structures.  A case study will be presented on how regulatory frameworks influence vessel design. 

Module B:  Regulatory Environment I – History and Current Operations

This module will provide a brief introduction to the history of marine regulations, from medieval load lines to the development of the International Marine Organization (IMO) and the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS). 

The module will explain the current system of marine regulation, including international and national regulators and flag and port state certification inspection regimes. Materials will cover the roles of classification societies and other standards organizations, and how insurance is applied to vessels themselves and to their cargoes.

Some of the key regulatory instruments will be outlined, including the SOLAS, MARPOL, Load Line and ISM Conventions. Canada’s specific approach to marine regulations will be outlined, noting how vessels outside the IMO framework are handled and noting the scope of various Acts that apply to Canadian vessels and their operations.

Module C:  Regulatory Environment II – Future Development and Challenges

This module will continue from Module B to review the initiatives now underway in the regulatory world and their implications for stakeholders.

Two main themes discussed will be digitization and environmental protection. Rapid progress in information technology is providing opportunities to operate with reduced or even zero human intervention, and to replace scheduled inspections and certifications with processes based on continuous monitoring and other types of “big data” analyses. Challenges include cybersecurity and effective monitoring and audit.

Environmentally, the critical need to decarbonize marine transportation is generating new regulations and an urgent need to update many existing regulations and standards to handle non-traditional fuels and their supply chains. Other types of environmental protection include vessel quietening, the ongoing need to control invasive species, etc.

The module will address both the international and the Canadian contexts, and specific domestic challenges.

Module D:  Shipbuilding

This module will step through the end-to-end shipbuilding process. Starting from establishing owners’ requirements and the preliminary, concept, and functional design cycles, the module will highlight the critical decisions and design elements to stabilize early in order to minimize late-stage changes.  The detail production design phases will also be introduced to explain how the total ship design is broken down into producible assemblies, modules, units, and blocks that can be planned in detail for production.  This will describe the detailed planning functions and demonstrate the importance of an integrated master schedule.

Each stage of ship construction will be introduced, starting from early steel procurement and steel preparation into minor, complex and unit assembly.   Unit outfitting stages will be shown next, highlighting the objectives of maximizing outfitting (pipe, electrical, HVAC, etc.) efficiency at the earliest possible stages of construction. Later stages of block consolidation, paint, mega block erections, and mega block joins will also be highlighted. 

Finally, this module will highlight the launch process and outline the test and trial activities which ultimately lead to commissioning and delivery to the customer.  Additional topics throughout the lecture will include material specifications/requirements, welding processes, accuracy control, corrosion prevention, and anti-fouling.

Module E:  Operation of Ships

This module will briefly introduce course attendees to some of the onboard and operational aspects of the maritime industry.  It is intended to provide course attendees who have no onboard experience with an understanding of how shipboard life differs from life in shore-based maritime industry professions.  The lecture will cover three broad subject areas: shipboard life, voyage planning and port operations.  

In discussing shipboard life the lecture will outline who is onboard and what they do.  The organization typically found on ships is described.  Those on board are the officers and the crew.  These are discussed together with the departmental organization (deck, engine and hotel/supply).  Also discussed are the temporary specialists, external or temporary.  This is exemplified by riders, pilots and ice navigators.  Issues associated with time away from home are discussed.  These include the impact on personal, social and family wellbeing, and also related fatigue issues.

The important subject of voyage planning will be discussed.  This part opens with a brief overview of how voyages are planned and executed, and the associated administrative burden.  Also discussed are ice operations and the differences experienced between operations in the Arctic and the Southern Ocean.  The role of the IMO Polar Code and Ice Navigator training are introduced.

The final broad area of ship operations discussed is port operations.  The key aspects of cargo handling are introduced including interactions with agents, cargo planning and dealing with port requirements.  The importance of being aware of differences in cargo requirements for different types of trade such as passenger, bulk, liquid, breakbulk, and containers is outlined.  A similar treatment is presented for specialized ships such as self-unloaders, geared ships; product, crude, chemical, gas tankers and others.  Bunker operations are also discussed.  Also summarized are the interactions with agencies beyond those concerned directly with ship operations, including agents, auditors, and inspectors leading to administrative overburden which contributes to fatigue.

Module F:  Maintenance of Ships

Ship maintenance concerns the management and engineering activity that is required to keep ships, and the systems in them, functional and safe.  Maintenance is a cradle-to-grave activity and gets more intensive as the ship ages.  This module opens with a discussion of the relevant general aspects by summarizing the importance of maintenance, and the business and management aspects of maintenance.  The organizations relevant to this activity are introduced. 

This is followed by a summary of the types of maintenance methodologies that have developed over the decades focusing on those used on ships.  The hull structure and all the systems contained within are all subject to wear and tear.  The process of deterioration that hull structure and other systems suffer is described and illustrative examples are provided.  The main preventive measures taken to avoid deterioration during design, construction and operation are also outlined.  Emphasis is given to the hull structure as the part of the ship that most maintenance resources are applied to during the lifetime of the vessel.   Repair measures necessary to maintain strength are introduced.

Surveys are an important systematic task undertaken to determine the state of the vessel at a given time; this is summarized.  The important subject of human factors is briefly surveyed.    The module concludes with a discussion of trends that are likely to impact the way ships are maintained.  Some of the future challenges are also noted.

Dr. Dan Walker (Module A:  Types of ships and their functions and features)

Dr. Dan Walker is an Associate Professor of Ocean and Naval Architectural Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.  Prior to joining academia he was President of Oceanic Consulting Corporation, a firm specializing in the performance prediction of ships, boats and offshore structures using physical and numerical modelling.  His current research interest is in the safety of fishing vessels.  Prior research includes autonomous underwater vehicles, hydrodynamics and cavitation.

Dr. Walker is a professional engineer and has a bachelor’s degree in naval architectural engineering and a doctorate in ocean engineering, both from Memorial University.  A lifelong sailor, when he is not teaching courses in marine engineering, small craft design and naval architecture, hecan often be found sailing around the windward islands of the Caribbean or Newfoundland.

Andrew Kendrick (Module B:  Regulatory environment I – History and current operations; Module C:  Regulatory environment II – Future developments and challenges)

Andrew Kendrick is a naval architect with over 40 years of experience in the Canadian and international marine industries. He recently completed a two-year term as President of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, and remains an active contributor to this and other professional and technical societies and other organizations. He contributes to the establishment of CISMART, and was the first Chair of the Advisory Board for Memorial University’s Offshore and Naval Architecture and Engineering Department.

Andrew’s career has encompassed ship design, research and development, regulatory development, and other types of work, for clients in the public and private sector in Canada and worldwide. He has worked with ship types ranging from warships and icebreakers to ferries, lakers and tugboats operating internationally and on domestic waterways.

He has participated as a member of the Canadian Delegation to the International Maritime Organization on initiatives such as the Polar Code and the International Code of Safety for Ships Using Gases or other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code). He has worked with Transport Canada on regulatory issues ranging from ferry stability standards to fishing vessel safety and ballast water treatment. 

Andrew has made over 200 presentations to technical conferences around the world, and has developed and delivered training courses on subject ranging from polar ship design to metal fatigue. 

John Dolny (Module D:  Shipbuilding)

John Dolny has over 15 years of professional engineering experience working in the marine industry. He currently holds the position of Production Engineering Manager at Irving Shipbuilding (ISI) working on the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) project for the Royal Canadian Navy and variant hulls for the Canadian Coast Guard. Production Engineering is responsible for the overall build strategy of hulls under construction, the hull production design, and all engineered lifts / product transportation between the shipyard’s 3 main facilities. John joined ISI in September 2018 as a Sr. Structural Engineer where he was responsible for the AOPS’s basic structural design. 

Prior to ISI, John worked for Gibbs and Cox Inc., a naval architecture firm that specializes in designing surface warships, where he supported the AOPS program at ISI as well as various design projects for US customers.

John previously held various engineering positions at the international classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) in Houston, TX and St. John’s, Canada where he was responsible for managing and supporting applied research projects with industrial, academic, and government partners related to offshore and marine engineering in ice environments.

John is a graduate of Stevens Institute of Technology with a degree in Naval Engineering and also holds a master’s degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from Memorial University of Newfoundland. He is a registered Professional Engineer (P.Eng) in Nova Scotia.

David (Duke) Snider (Module E:  Operation of ships)

Captain David (Duke) Snider MM, BMS, FNI FRGS, is the CEO and Principal Consultant of Martech Polar Consulting Ltd, providing global ice navigation services and support for polar shipping, ice navigation, polar research, expedition logistics support and ice related consulting.  He is a Master Mariner and with 40 years at sea and is author of the book Polar Ship Operations, as well as many other papers on ice navigation.  He was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal in 2011. He also holds the Canadian Coast Guard Exemplary Service Medal, and the United States Coast Guard Antarctic Service Medal.  In 2020 he was awarded the Maritime Museum of British Columbia’s Beaver Medal for his championing of best practice and safety in ice-related shipping. 

Dr. Roger I. Basu (Module F:  Maintenance of ships)

Dr. Roger I. Basu is a structural engineer with more than 45 years’ experience.  His early experience was in the structural design and analysis of buildings, bridges, and offshore structures.  For the last 35 years his focus has been ​exclusively ​on ship and offshore structures.  His experience includes work in specialist areas including vibrations, fatigue & fracture and risk and reliability.

​His recent experience includes two years teaching various subjects at Webb Institute which he joined in 2012 after retiring from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Houston, Texas ​after a 15-year career.  Prior to that​ he worked for 10 years at a naval architectural firm in Ottawa, Canada.  At ABS Roger held several positions and retired as the Director of Shared Technology responsible for the development of technologies applicable to both marine and offshore sectors. ​ In 2013 he started his own company, ​Roger Basu & Associates Inc., based in Toronto, Canada.​   ​He is the President of ​the​ company​ and works on various consulting assignments​.

Roger holds a Ph.D. in structural engineering from the University of Western Ontario.  He is a Professional Engineer registered in the Province of Ontario and is a Fellow of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.

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