The marine engineer today

Abstract

There is revolution everywhere on the maritime scene and the password is rationalization. Rationalization of work; rationalization of equipment; rationalization of dock facilities; rationalization of cargo; rationalization of ship operation. A new philosophy permeates, the whole industry, throwing up new concepts and challenging old ones. Ships are becoming more and more specialized in design and function in order to meet the need for rationalization both in its technical and commercial aspects. Giant tankers, bulk carriers, and container ships spearhead the revolution but many extremely forward looking new concepts of cargo handling and transportation systems are already in the pipeline. On the ship itself a technological revolution is progressing towards inevitable comprehensive automation as a remedy for economic ills. Diagnosis shows that the chronic shortage of certificated seagoing engineers, superimposed on the urgent necessity for increased economy and higher efficiency over the whole complex of shipboard operation, leaves little alternative to the automation prescription. It is true, of course, that automatic control of isolated individual elements of machinery has been featured at sea for a long long time. The escalation, however, in recent years from individual isolated application to overall centralized automatic control of the machinery from a control station sited inside the engine room (or outside), is indicative of the palliative and remedial action of the medicine as prescribed. It is only fair to state, however, that initiatory experience of ‘automation’ some years ago, especially in the oversell of electronic equipment by firms with no marine experience has made many shipowners justifiably sceptical about the prognosis.