Vanguard Magazine

www.vanguardcanada.com APRIL/MAY 2020 39 sHipteCH FoRum CCGS SIR JOHN FRANKLIN . Photo: DND "There is no question that there are challenges, but we are well-equipped to face them and to continue being cre- ative to further advance our programs up North," said Pelletier. Polar Fleet and Design Challenges During his opening keynote, Ravi Kumar, Senior Naval Architect at Lloyd's Register Applied Technology Group focused on polar fleet and design challenges for fu- ture fleet. There are about 110 icebreakers worldwide that are less than 50 years old. These icebreakers can be categorized under: 1. Government Service – Coast Guard and offshore patrol mission icebreakers 2. Icebreakers for assisting shipping 3. Icebreaking offshore platform supply and stand by vessels 4. Icebreaking research re-supply vessels On the commercial side, there are about 50 Arctic commercial ships of which 30 have been built since 2010 and include Arctic shuttle tankers, LNGC, container ships, bulk carriers, and module carriers. "The main activity of Arctic shipbuilding is happening in Asia," said Kumar. "The Russians, Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese are leading the shipbuilding of these ves- sels. The Chinese shipyards are investing more in Arctic shipping and updating their technology. If they are to keep this up for the next 20 years, they will be leading in Arctic shipbuilding." "Canada is also active in building and designing ice-class ships," added Kumar. These are not icebreakers, but they have ice capabilities. Most of the ship designs being used to- day are from Europe and South America. But with design comes challenges. One challenge is the uncertainty of ice loading for large ships. "We have the knowledge available of ice loads for smaller icebreak- ers, but for larger ships, we don't have the understanding of loading," said Kumar. The challenge here is as the ice gets thick- er there is an exponential ice load increase which affects the structural arrangements, materials, and approaches to design. The other design challenge is efficient structures for large Arctic ships. This in- volves the reduction of steel weight of the ships by having greater certainty of ice loads (ties into challenge one) and making improvements to the structural design by optimizing material distribution through- out the ship and using new lightweight materials. The third challenge is energy efficiency. "This is a difficult challenge because ice- breakers are not eco-friendly," said Kumar. By cutting back the power of engines to meet eco-friendly standards is significantly impairing ice going performance of ships employed in the Arctic. Research is ongo- ing in this area to optimize ships to be- come more energy efficient. The final challenge that Kumar high- lighted was the operational mode influ- ence on design. The aim of designing a high specification icebreaker is to have it deployed all year round. "If you are using the icebreaker only in open water, you are not using it effectively and there is a pen- alty because you are paying too much for it," said Kumar. "That is why it's impor- tant for the designer to specified upfront what type of operational mode the ship will serve." Vessel Performance, Innovation, and Climate The conference also included three panel discussions on Improving Component and Vessel Performance, Made-in-Canada In- novation, and Tackling the Climate Crisis – How the Marine Sector Plays its Part. Cathy O'Caroll, Global Campaign Di- rector, Integrated Test & Evaluation at QinetiQ moderated the first panel, which comprised of speakers: Serge Carignan, Superintendent, Quality Engineering Test Establishment, DND; Capt(N) Jacques Olivier, Director Naval Platform Systems, RCN; and Tony Winter, VP, Project De- livery, Seaspan. Some of the key takeaways from this panel include optimizing systems for end to end capability life cycle, best specifications to use in systems, tailoring test evaluations, the use of technology like AR, VR, Cloud, and AI to help strengthen the interoperability between systems, and ship repair and refitting to extend a ship's lifespan. The Made-in-Canada Innovation panel was moderated by Jim Hanlon, CEO of Cove, with panelists Stewart Cramer, Chief Manufacturing Officer of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada; Matthew Doug- las, Technology Transfer Officer from the University of New Brunswick, and Abigail Fyfe, Senior Research Development Of- ficer, Marine RD&D of the Innovation Centre of Transport Canada. The panel discussed collaboration as a key to growing innovation within Canada. Research and development of new technology to sup- port remote work, cybersecurity, and aug- mented reality are important parts of the innovation ecosystem. Clean marine is an- other vital area as governments around the world move to reduce carbon emissions to fit within the IMO's goals and guidelines. The last panel of the event was moderated by James Bond, Director, Polar Research & Ice Class Ships, ABS and included Drum- mond Fraser, Arctic and Large Vessels, De- sign and Equipment Standards, Transport Canada; Mark Keneford, General Manager, Marine Solutions, Wärtsilä Canada Inc.; and Ryan Sookhoo, Director New Initia- tives, Hydrogenics Corporation. They delved into the use of new technologies to reduce the impact on climate change. Vanguard's next ShipTech Forum will take place in the first quarter of 2021. Join our LinkedIn group https://www.linkedin.com/ groups/10529782/ to keep abreast with the discussion during the course of the year. There is a fleet renewal plan for the construction of up to 18 new large ships for the CCG, which was announced in May 2019.

• Cover