By
Rebecca Gibson |
The Saint-Nazaire shipyard of STX France has a proud history of construction dating back 150 years. This year, the yard’s cruise ship output included the delivery of MSC Divina and Hapag Lloyd’s Europa 2, as well as taking over construction of the ship destined for delivery in 2013 as MSC Preziosa.
STX Europe owns a two-thirds share of STX France and is itself fully owned by the Korean STX Business Group. The French Government, via a strategic investment fund, owns a one-third share of the French arm of the business. The headquarters and main yard are located in Saint-Nazaire, with a staff of 2,100 and up to 2,000 contractors employed at any time. The company also runs a smaller yard in Lorient, employing 150 people and specialising in the development of smaller vessels. The French yards operate in ‘coopetition’ with the other European part of the company, STX Finland, with benefits for the whole company.
The teams at the European yards work as colleagues to improve knowledge and processes and STX France prides itself on its contribution to the group’s research and development strengths. “We are working heavily on ways to increase the energy efficiency of shipbuilding,” says STX technical director Xavier Leclercq. The company started a programme in 2007 aimed at increasing the energy efficiency on board of the ships it builds. “Over two years, we set up a mathematical and a digital model of the energy status of a ship,” says Leclercq. “Once you have the mathematical model of the energy efficiency, then you can start improving the different aspects. We are working on establishing a base line for cruise ships regarding energy efficiency.” The emphasis is on ensuring redundancy of the main propulsion system of any ship.
Like all yards, in planning the construction of new vessels, STX has to take account of changes to the internationally accepted systems to ensure stability of vessels in the event of emergencies. “The main areas are ensuring stability and safe return to port, for both of which there have been changes in legislation,” says Leclercq. “Previously, a ship was considered stable with two compartments flooded but that was not in phase with reality. There are many different compartments on a ship and each has its own regulations. Every ship needs a dedicated system to make sure each section is insulated from the others.”
STX has introduced new features that go further than current rules require, and its work for the yard’s longstanding client, MSC, exceeds the safety requirements of classification society, Bureau Veritas, adds Leclercq. “Bureau Veritas works with STX and MSC from the very beginning to ensure that they are fulfilling regulatory requirements and that every element of the ship is consistent with SOLAS.” Jean-Jacques Juenet, passenger ships and ferries business development manager, Bureau Veritas, explains: “We are in very close cooperation with MSC. They have always been concerned with efficiency and the products we are supporting match their expectations. The feedback we receive from operators regarding their operations is very important because it means that we can pick up any discrepancies between theory and practice during construction and make adjustments based on things such as the real amount of energy needed for the air conditioning, or the route planning of the vessel.”
Already able to tackle large building projects, the Saint-Nazaire yard will move into a new league in 2013 with the arrival of a 750-ton gantry crane, on order from STX China. The new gantry crane will allow for larger sections of ships to be built and moved into position more quickly. Covering an area 900m long by 70m wide, the crane will offer important gains, especially during the pre-outfitting stage of building.
The facilities at Saint-Nazaire include a wet dock that opens directly onto the River Loire and its base is 7 metres below the water level. Flooding of the dock in order to move ships takes around 8-10 hours and transfers take place by tug to shift the huge vessels before their propulsion systems are operational. Deciding when to flood the dock is a highly skilled task requiring knowledge of the local tides, especially when two ships require access to the area in quick succession, as one has to leave the deep dock before the other enters.
Excellent lines of communication with the cruise ship owner are fundamental to the way the Saint-Nazaire yard works, as can be seen in the relationship with MSC regarding its two ships while they are under construction. “MSC is involved from beginning to end and we check that they work to our specification,” says contracts manager Jean-Yves Pean. STX always puts outfitting projects out to a bid, says Pean, who manages relationships with a large number of contractors. The yard deals with mainly European suppliers, primarily from France, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Poland and Greece. When it comes to outfitting, the ship owner makes the decisions regarding interiors and decoration, bringing in container loads of materials. All technical parts are sourced by STX.
A particular feature of any project for MSC is the hands-on approach of Ela Aponte, wife of the line’s vice president Diego Aponte, who meticulously oversees the interior decoration of all the line’s cruise ships to her trademark style. This attention to detail sets exacting standards and allows workers on the line’s vessels to experience particular satisfaction when completed areas are approved by the owner. “There are various different phases of certification and every moment of construction is validated,” explains Pean. When an area is validated we say it is ‘sold’ (‘vendu’) – it is fixed and no one can touch it again.”
In the long journey through the design and construction of a large modern cruise vessel, this is the signal that the final stage in the yard’s hard work is approaching completion, and what might have looked like an impossibly huge task just a few months earlier is well on the way to becoming reality.
This is an abridged version of an article that appeared in the Autumn/ Winter 2012 edition of International Cruise & Ferry Review. To read the full article, you can subscribe to the magazine in printed or digital formats.