Welcome to the first issue of Special Ship Update. This issue focuses on offshore support vessels, but future editions will also deal with other ship types, such as tugs and ro-ro and fishing vessels. I hope you find this magazine interesting – any suggestions and comments are of course welcome.
We have visited the Norwegian maritime cluster on the north-west coast, where an impressive number of companies and employees are actively engaged in developing ship designs and constructing ships.
The 1 bn increase in the world population since 1995 has triggered a huge rise in the demand for energy for food production and the construction of buildings and infrastructure and for fuel for transportation. New solutions, environmental considerations, fuel efficiency and hull design – all are challenges for the future and you will find articles from leading suppliers in this magazine.
We still need frontiers at sea. People and companies who understand the future are out there – not close to land anymore, and sometimes even in deeper waters than ever before or in new geographical areas with challenging environmental climates.
This edition addresses some key issues that are relevant to operators which are part of the offshore support vessel family. This year we have seen new ships delivered with larger bollard pull capacity than ever before, prepared for safe deep-water operations. The articles that focus on crew comfort show that crew members who are to operate very complex, advanced high-power and innovative technology both safely and efficiently are more likely to concentrate well. A tailored and suitable working environment giving opportunity for rest when off duty is important. And when safeguarding advanced operations offshore, we prefer a future without accidents.
Date: 01 July 2009