Before CAD, one of the most time consuming tasks was drawing the Lines Plan, altering the hull shape just once could take days, and the plans could be changed many times over. However, said Mr Whitlock, while CAD programmes speed up the process, “it still requires just as much, if not more, skill and visual awareness.”
Despite 40 years experience, there are still “challenges”. Costs are a perennial issue for clients and when a regular customer decided on an inexperienced Chinese shipyard to save money on a diving support vessel, it put Mr Whitlock on the spot. “Unfortunately the yard had very little idea how to deliver, so I ended up by organising them.” Despite finally relocating the build, the owners still saved around US$1m.
Occasionally designs are pushed by unusual circumstances. “Kuwait wanted a series of patrol craft to deal with smuggling and immigrant issues. My original concept was for a series of 24 knot, 35m boats but it turned out that the smugglers could go faster.” The final design had MTU engines, waterjet propulsion and could run at 30 knots. Although at the time this was rapid for such a large craft, three years later the design had evolved and the last few made 32 knots.
Mr Whitlock was also involved with a number of West African ship to ship passenger transfer launches, which, interestingly, were the forerunners of the turbine transfer vessels Keel are designing today. “These boats nudged up against the offshore wellhead with their bow in a cradle, with their propulsion keeping them engaged. It involved a lot of friction and the boats had to take an incredible amount of punishment”, he told MJ.
There were a few fraught moments for the Keel team too. “West Africa had very different health and safety ideas 20 years ago, you had to wait for the top of a swell and jump clear. If you mistimed it, you’d find yourself with a big drop under your feet.”
He has observed things changing remarkably the world over. “We can’t climb around while at sea to do a survey the way we used to. While it’s easy to look back at the good old days, the fact is I remember two or three very, very nasty accidents. You just prayed it wasn’t going to be you.”
“Legislation is difficult but my feeling is it needs to be a little more practical and thought through. The problem is the rules are often made up by people who have never been onboard. They understand regulation, they don’t understand the vessels themselves.”
