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The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and function of Fred. Olsen's wave energy converter (WEC) system Lifesaver with special focus on the stand-alone electrical system that is implemented for operation without grid-connection.

The paper focus on the detailed design of the DC-Link system that drives the industrial 400 VAC inverters and generators for the production system. The DC-Link is stabilized by an ultra capacitor bank and has no external source or grid-connection.

The system has been tested through extensive sea trials since April 2012 and has proved its function. Some results from real sea testing are presented.

This paper proves the viability of the specified design and may serve as a basis for the design if similar systems in the future.

This paper presents a WEC system that has proven successful operation through practical tests, and is therefore regarded as a high-value paper as there is limited experience on this subject.

ORIGINALLY a motor ship, the Shell tanker Auris of 12,000 tons d.w. has since been fitted with gas turbine machinery and successfully completed sea trials last year, thus becoming the first tanker to be driven by a gas turbine. Though operating on the same principle as the gas turbines used in many air‐craft, that in the Auris has a different type of construction to make it more robust, to give it a longer life and to make possible the use of a less refined fuel. The Auris also has a new type hydraulic reversing gearbox designed by the Pametrada research organisation of the British shipbuilding industry for use with the gas turbine which provides for astern as well as ahead movement. In this system, a hydraulic coupling is used for ahead rotation of the propeller while a reversing torque converter is used for astern rotation. To eliminate the 6% slip in the ahead coupling, however, a hydraulically operated friction clutch has been fitted and is engaged under cruising conditions.

Study in supply chain performance research on the shipbuilding industry is lacking. The purpose of this research is to study and provide guidelines to improve the performance of traditional shipbuilding supply chains in Indonesia.

The paper develops an empirical study gathered from a traditional shipbuilding industry, its suppliers, and customers. This study consists of three sections: the traditional shipbuilding industry, the suppliers, and the individual supplier scores. The internal and external performances in this study are measured using Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) metrics. The SCOR model identifies five performance measurement attributes, including reliability, flexibility, responsiveness, cost and assets. Instead of using “responsiveness,” this study applies the schedule performance index, and supplements “cost” with the cost performance index in order to accurately reflect the traditional shipbuilding supply chains processes.

By analyzing SCOR metrics in the traditional shipbuilding industry, it has been found that the ideal shipbuilding supply chain metrics are order fulfillment, flexibility, asset turnover and total supply chain costs. The lowest performance metric value in the traditional shipbuilding industry is the cost of goods. Some improvements are proposed to lower the high cost of ship building. An integrated economic ordering system in collaboration with all the suppliers is one of the most effective ways to reduce the cost of the traditional shipbuilding supply chains. The implementation of SCOR metrics enables management to identify the critical issues to improve.

The study applies SCOR metrics to improve the traditional shipbuilding supply chains performance. The study is limited because the data collected are based on one shipbuilding industry only.

To the author's knowledge, this is the first empirical analysis on the implementation of SCOR metrics to the traditional shipbuilding industry. The analysis to improve the traditional shipbuilding supply chains performance can provide managerial insights to other industries.

Hovercraft N4 (col, 19 min) tells a story of wide interest — the design, construction and testing of the world's largest hovercraft built to date. The tale of the first N4 dates back to 1962, only four years after Christopher Cockerell's original idea had been proved feasible. Design studies were started after a breakthrough led to the development of vastly improved flexible skirts. Detailed drawings and the successful testing of models culminated in orders for three craft and, by February last year, the first of these was undergoing sea trials. This British Petroleum Film is available from Petroleum Films Bureau, 4 Brook Street, London W1.

INSTALLED with naval type machinery, which includes steam and gas turbines geared to the same propeller shaft, H.M.S. Ashanti, built by Yarrow and Company, the first ship of the new Tribal class, has recently successfully completed its contractor's sea trials. The 7,500‐S.H.P. gas‐turbine provides a high concentration of compact power and is used to supplement the steam power for high‐speed work. Being able to develop its full power from cold within a few minutes, the gas turbine also provides exceptional mobility and enables the ship, lying in harbour without steam, immediately to got under way in case of emergency.

This chapter provides an overview of the Department of Defense (DoD) laboratory structure to help equipment designers, modelers, and manufacturers determine where research, testing programs, or relevant findings can be found. The chapter includes a discussion of the performance measures and metrics typically used in DoD laboratories and concludes by considering the current state-of-the-art as well as the state-of-the-possible for human performance measurement.

The aim of this study was to develop a new generation of automatic systems based on cutting-edge design and practical welding physics to minimize downtime caused by defects and machine faults on the barges. Automatic welding has been used frequently on offshore pipeline projects.

An automated welding robot system for sub-sea pipeline installation was constructed. The system utilized the double-car double-torch welding, which is light-weight and compact, suited for offshore applications. Several state-of-the-art technologies were integrated into the control system design, including a heterogeneous network based on EtherCAT technology, network communications based on CANopen, motor synchronization, all-position welding, etc. In addition, the utilization of the CAN bus reduced the number of cable lines and increased the extensibility of the proposed welding robot system. An internal clamp with copper shoes assured a nice root weld and narrow bevel design and the welding efficiency was improved accordingly.

The trial was carried out to verify the rationality and effectiveness of the proposed automated system. The deposition rate of the backing welding could reach 17.78 kg/h; the average time for each welding was 340 s. This system was unique in that it features a dual-torch welding head that allowed for the deposition of one run with twice as much material as a single torch head. The experiment showed that the double-vehicle double-torch mode can greatly improve the welding efficiency of pipeline installation during the welding process.

The automated welding robot system will be applied to offshore pipeline projects.

This robot is the first submarine pipeline installation welding robot to use a heterogeneous network based on EtherCAT technology. Various aspects of the submarine pipeline installation welding robot’s design and performance were discussed, including mechanical body design, control system design and welding process specification.

The purpose of this paper is to disseminate the lessons learned from the successful deployment of a wave energy converter (WEC) and accelerate growth in the field of ocean energy.

A thorough, well structured, documented, industrial approach was taken to the deployment because of the depth and scale of the task required. This approach is shown throughout the paper, which reflects the importance of a comprehensive project plan in success as well as failure.

The findings demonstrate the viability of the use of off shore WEC to generate electricity and that such a project can be completed on time and on budget.

The research implications of the paper include the importance of an enhanced, integrated supervisory system control in terms of efficiency, operation and maintenance, and long-term viability of WECs. This paper can be used to help guide the direction of further research in similar areas.

The practical implications include proof that WEC deployments can be carried out both on time and under budget. It highlights much of the practical data collected throughout the course of the project and presents it so that it might be used as a guide for future projects.

At the time of this paper, successful deployment of off shore WECs has been a rare accomplishment. Because the project was publicly funded, the data collected during this project, both technical and practical, is freely available.