View non-flash version
April 2012 www.sname.org/sname/mt solutions for all types of marine structures; that is, to develop knowledge and tools for design and assessment of future marine transport systems. This can be achieved by demonstrator projects that develop and compare conceptual (innovation) ship design solutions. e safety aspect is consid- ered by development of knowledge and tools in how risk-based design can be used/is used in the ship design process. Consequently, cargo ships mission is to provide knowledge and tools for shaping marine structures to be safe, sustainable, and ecient. Tomorrows vessels will be different from those of the current eet. e cargo ship area contributes to this development with knowledge and case studies in the development of future (revised versions of) classication rules and regulations. Being a part of that process, projects inspired from the eld are important for new techni- cal solutions that meet future demands on increased transport eciency. Areas where there is an ever increasing demand for con- tinuous technology-driven research include: design of ship structures (driven by func- tionality and/or risk; details, larger parts of the structure); design of o shore structures and installations (driven by functional- ity and/or risk; details, larger parts of the structure); design of lightweight structures (composite materials and design solutions); and cargo operations and load handling equipment. Hence, four focus areas have been identified where risk-based design is always considered: container and RoRo shipping, arctic engineering, lightweight design, and o shore and wind energy. Ship operation conditions and main- tenance of marine structures are areas expected to become very important in the near future due to the debate concern- ing sustainable transportation and use of resources. e design of and usage (opera- tion) of marine structures will be a ected by the outcome of this debate. For this reason, ship route planning tools (fuel consump- tion, technical service life, and ETA), and development of computational tools for investigation of seagoing qualities (ship motions in large wave amplitudes, paramet- ric roll, damage stability, and so forth) are research areas that already have been estab- lished in the cargo ship theme area. Internationalization Cargo ship has a worldwide network in which the researchers participate actively and present regularly on international semi- nars, workshops, and conferences. We value a long-term collaboration between Nordic maritime universities with annual confer- ences arranged together with Det Norske Veritas (DNV). In addition, we have a work- ing exchange of research with DNV and Lloyds Register, and exchange of undergrad- uate/graduate students and research with China, France, Italy, Japan, and South Korea. Some of the senior researchers are mem- bers of international committees, members of the editorial boards of international journals, co-organizers of international conferences, and members of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects and SNAME. Ergo ship networking, dissemination, and outreach work is extensive. We have close cooperation with other human fac- tors groups nationally and internationally. Examples include researchers at a number of universities including the World Maritime University. We also lead a researcher net- work, Maritime Human Factors Research Group, and are members in the ABCD group, which keeps us in touch with a major- ity of maritime human factors researchers in Europe and internationally. Safer design and operations Our resources include a human factors laboratory with equipment mainly for nat- uralistic measurements both in the eld and in simulators, such as fatigue, eye tracking, performance evaluation, and so forth. e full mission simulator is a unique resource used in research and teaching. It was used in a major European Union research proj- ect, Horizon, during 2010 (see Watch Patterns and Workloads,? beginning on page 32 in this issue). Other resources at the department include radio simulators, engine room/control room simulators, a cargo operations simulator, and a number of smaller bridge deck simulators, as well as a large number of teachers and researchers with domain knowledge. We also regard our students as a resource both in research proj- ects, as participating future experts as well as assistants, and in making our education more interactive and systemic?regarding the ship as a system, including design as a cargo carrier and with special focus on all work and living arrangements onboard. MTMargareta Lützhöft is an associate professor at Chalmers University of Technology. Jonas Ringsberg is head of the ship design division at Chalmers Univer- sity of Technology. Students in the Human Factors for Naval Architects course on a ?eld study. Photo by Jan Olof-Yxell. Cargo ships mission is to provide knowledge and tools for shaping marine structures to be safe, sustainable, and ecient.