Inspection, Repair and Maintenance of Ship Structures

In recent years, anyone who has in any way been involved in ship operations, and in particular in repairs, maintenance and surveying, is aware of the precipitous increase in the volume of regulations and international requirements that ship operators are called upon to comply with. Regulations cover all aspects of maritime operations and affect the conventional methods of managing fleets in profound ways. The maritime world is deeply traditional and has evolved steadily through time, with past experience acting as a valuable guide to prospective ventures, whether these are of a technical or of an economic nature. However, recent developments have forced changes in thinking and in the approach to activities such as ship management and the operation of shipping companies themselves. Recent advances, not least the revolution in information technology, have facilitated progress in ship design and enabled operators to use computer-based tools as an aid to economic decisions. The ability to store and rapidly manipulate large quantities of information has meant that calculations that formerly were prohibitively time-consuming have now become commonplace and are carried out on a routine basis. In the case of ship operations this has had a profound effect The form, size and complexity of modern ships means that huge quantities of data are required to describe their technical characteristics and their various operations. The study of ship-related problems has therefore proved to be a prime candidate for computer-based procedures from the very beginning; during the past two or three decades, procedures have been developed that enable engineers to analyse complex situations rapidly and accurately.