b'FOGHORNFOCUS: SHIPBUILDINGThe Need for a New Vessel:Vessel Refit or New Vessel Construction?By Robert Tarrant, Chief Port Engineer, Boston Harbor CruisesO ften companiesboth large and smallwill bethis decision such as vessel specialties, geographic location, faced with new opportunities that will requireprior project experience with the yard and finally and most a new or a high quality used vessel. These sameimportantly vessel cost quotations. Once selected, most of the companies may also find that an aging vessel or fleet isheavy lifting now becomes the responsibility of the shipyard. becoming a financial or reliability burden simply due theWhether it be an in-house design or an outside naval wearing down with age of the vessel structure or machineryarchitect design, there will be a cost associated with this. components. As someone who has been part of several newAlso, there will be discussions between the company rep-vessel construction projects as well as several other largeresentatives and the shipyard about design modifications, vessels repower and refit projects, I have occasionally beenappointments, machinery options, color schemes and other asked about the chal- types of options that lenges and difficultiesmay customize a design associated with each.for the planned service. A l m o s t e v e r yThesearemostly company would likefront-end decisions, but to have a brand-newdecisions such as these vessel for that newmay also come up from passenger service ortime-to-time during just to continue thethe build process. That reliable operation ofsaid, just like building a current service. Thea house, beware of downside of this is itchange orders. They can be an expensivecan make sense but and time-consumingalways come at a cost. process. New construc- Beyond the previously tion materials andmentioned tasks the high labor costs in U.S.company will mainly shipyards can easilybe responsible for their exceed the budget of theBoston Harbor CruisesRuth E. Hughesunderwent a recent repower and refurbishment. The projectfinancial obligations to current or prospectiveincluded participation from in-house repair and maintenance staff, shipyard and subcontractorthe shipyard and their service. Shipyard buildsupport, EPA grant funding and Coast Guard oversight. Photo: Robert Tarrant lenders. Typically, this slots can often requirewill require regular months to attain and may be in locations requiring regularvisits to the yard to witness progress milestones to validate travel and lodging to help oversee the construction. progress payments to the yard or financial lender. This can For some companies, a viable option to the new con- also be a time to make any design or detail changes during struction path can be an existing vessel re-fit. This couldthe build. Again, remember the change order rule.be a vessel currently owned by the company or one that isNew construction can often take more than a year to identified for purchase as a suitable re-fit candidate. Thebegin once a shipyard is selected due to yard workloads of option to build new or to re-fit an existing vessel will requirecurrent projects. Once the project does begin, depending a thoughtful decision by the company, a budget analysis ofon the vessel design complexity and size, you can expect the two options and the appetite for and capability of theanother year or so to build the vessel.company to oversee or even better, to take on the project In the latter stages of a passenger vessel new construc-in-house. To illustrate the differences in the two project pathstion, the company project representatives will usually I would like to provide an overview of these two options. be involved in machinery startups, testing, training and trials along with the shipyard workers and the oversight Building a New Vessel agency. The U.S. Coast Guard, the oversight agency for When a company completes their financial budgetU.S.-inspected passenger vessels, will also be attending the analysis and decides to build a new vessel, the most suitablevessel, not only throughout the construction process, but as shipyard will need to be selected. Many factors will go intopart of this trial period. Typically, the shipyard superinten-6 APRIL 2019FOGHORN'