Sustainable development and ship life cycle

Abstract

Transportation of goods and people across water is a necessary engineering activity for economic growth of individuals and society. But does this growth affect sustainable development through environmental degradation? A ship's life cycle consists of concept exploration, design, production, operation and maintenance and dismantling. Stages in the life cycle of a ship in which large energy is consumed can be said to be (i) shipbuilding (ii) ship operation and maintenance and (iii) ship dismantling. The energy consumed in building a ship can be grouped under major heads as establishment energy, direct energy in materials and its transportation, direct energy consumed in construction of the particular ship, indirect or overhead energy consumed in the shipyard which cannot be billed to a ship. The green ship concept is evolved to reduce energy consumption in shipbuilding, ship operation and maintenance. This can be achieved by optimised structural design for steel weight reduction and use of alternative materials, possible use of alternative and renewable fuels, propulsion systems and auxiliary systems, Innovative design development such as Ballast Free Ship(BFS) and proper system integration. Ship Design plays a crucial role for ensuring ship construction, operation and dismantling. It is therefore necessary to increase the scope of concept design by incorporating use of numerical analysis procedures at early stages of design, consideration of alternative fuels and propulsion systems, use of design for production and design for maintenance techniques. Standardisation and modularisation should be incorporated in ship design for improved production.