Cruise & Ferry Review - Autumn/Winter 2021

INTERV IEW Transforming vessel design Rebecca Gibson asks CEO Brett Crowther about Incat Crowther’s new Digital Shipbuilding solution and how it facilitated the delivery of a record-breaking ferry fleet in New York W hat is Incat Crowther’s Digital Shipbuilding solution? The solution helps Incat Crowther to manage all the processes involved in designing, building, maintaining and upgrading a vessel from conception to the end of its service life, ensuring we deliver the best possible value to clients. The key feature is that we can create a comprehensive 3D digital model of a ship, comprising all its structural parts, mechanical and systems components, and associated data. Of course, the shipbuilding process also involves concept development, commercial relationships, costing, commercial guarantees, quality management, document management, trials, delivery, maintenance, refits and upgrades and other matters. Digital Shipbuilding brings all these capabilities together in one system. Why did you develop the solution? Incat Crowther regularly manages projects that involve delivering multiple like-for-like ferries that can be constructed and operated consistently. This can be challenging if we have tight time frames and a limited number of skilled labourers, or if we’re sourcing parts for the vessels from several shipyards in different locations. Digital Shipbuilding was initially developed to address these challenges, but we soon realised that it also offered many other benefits. In today’s interconnected world, it’s possible – and often desirable – to construct vessels a long way from home at shipyards that have a concentrated pool of capable labourers, or where shipbuilding costs are lower. Consequently, we expanded the solution to include features that enable us to deliver quality, consistency and great shipbuilding outcomes in more locations and remain highly competitive. We’ll continue to develop innovative bespoke designs to meet customers’ specific needs, and then use Digital Shipbuilding to de-risk and control the design and construction process. Can you outline the benefits of designing and building a ferry using Digital Shipbuilding rather than traditional processes? Digital Shipbuilding enables us to rigorously control construction and quality management processes, as well as the weight of the vessels, to ensure they will perform as expected. Consequently, we can build technically complex vessels in more diverse locations, while ensuring a high level of consistency and quality across all the ships – whether they’re constructed at the same time or in phases. Importantly, we’re also able to give the operator greater visibility throughout the project. Plus, the data is more reliable and accessible, allowing us to accurately plan maintenance, upgrades and refits. How can digital ship models help Incat Crowther plan for future vessel upgrades? It’s almost impossible to see what’s coming down the track. Ten years ago, we may not have predicted that operators would be rapidly electrifying their vessels or ordering ferries that can be powered by LNG or hydrogen fuel. However, if we’d had Digital Shipbuilding back then, it may have been possible for us to integrate today’s technologies into Incat Crowther has created a 3D digital model of the NYC Ferry’s vessels to enable it to build multiple vessels in quick succession 1 0 2