Phinisi a Wooden Sailing Boat from Indonesia

Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the World. It has more than 17,000 islands scattered between the continents of Asia and Australia. As a maritime nation, Indonesian people have a long tradition of building boats both for transporting goods and people. One of the famous types is the Phinisi. It is a wooden sailing boat from South Sulawesi. The people there make Phinisi boat using traditional equipments and methods. In the past boats were only powered by sails. Now most of the boats have diesel engines. Here in Indonesia people call such boats as KLM (Kapal Layar Motor literally translated as Ship Sail Motor). Because of this hybrid system, Phinisi can be considered as an environmentally friendly boat.

In recent years, Western Naval Architects have given their serious attention to Phinisi. They try to modify the sailing boat from cargo oriented to pleasure one. Now Phinisi has been modified to function as yacht. Its construction system has also been adapted to conform with the standard classification rules set by BKI (Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia) or GL (Germanisher Lloyd). In addition,boatbuilders of Phinisi also install internal combustion engine (or diesel engine) to power the boat. For instance, a 36-meter Phinisi which has been powered with a 650 hp Yanmar diesel can have a service speed of 10 knots. This speed is considered fast compared to similar other Phinisi boats. The use of computer ship design software such as Maxsurf in optimizing the propulsion efficiency and hull-form does not change the construction method.

With the improvement of design, speed and quality of interior material of the Phinisi boats, we will see that yacht owners from around the world will be interested in ordering such sailing boats to travel the waters of not only Indonesia but also the Carribean, the Mediteranean and the Pacific. by Charles Roring

Naval Architecture Schools in Indonesia

Suppose that you are interested in studying Naval Architecture and you are looking for schools that provide such study program in Indonesia. Indonesia is a maritime country but it has less than ten naval architecture schools which are located in several islands. For state owned universities I will recommend Pattimura University in Ambon city of Maluku islands, Institut Teknologi Surabaya (ITS) in Surabaya city of East Java and Hasanuddin University in Makassar city of the Province of South Sulawesi.

These universities have cooperation which they call Segitiga Biru or Blue Triangle. Experts or lecturers from the respective department of naval architecture and marine engineering meet regularly to discuss the latest development in the national shipbuilding industry.

Sometimes these universities conduct researches that are related to ship design and propulsion using the towing tank of Pattimura University or the hydrodynamic laboratory that is located in ITS. A new naval architecture study program has just been opened in the University of Diponegoro. But I don't know how far they have built their cooperation and relation with the three campuses. Pattimura University is the only department of naval architecture and marine engineering that has its own slipway that repairs boats up to thirty meters in length. This facility allows the students to experience direct dockyard works before entering bigger shipyard.

Other private universities that also offer naval architecture and marine engineering study programs are Universitas Dharma Persada in Jakarta and Hang Tuah University in Surabaya. I don't have any information about them, so, I cannot give you any explanation about them.

If you are not an Indonesian, you need to contact the deans of the universities to get more information whether you are allowed to study naval architecture there or not. Although most of the textbooks in these campus are written in English, you might need to master bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language) before being able to join the classooms. by Charles Roring

Beautiful Flowers from Tomohon

My sister ordered some bunches of flowers from Tomohon for decorating our Catholic church during the Christmas mass. The flowers arrived 12 hours late and they could not be used during the Christmas eve celebration. The distance the flowers had to travel was very far. From Tomohon in the Minahasa regency, her friend who bought the flowers had to bring them to Sam Ratulangie airport and handed them over to cabin crew of Batavia air. After that the flowers would be flown to Hasanuddin airport in Makassar city where it would then be transferred from the airplane to another one that would be flying to Rendani airport of Manokwari in the Province of West Papua. So, the flowers need around 8 hours flying not including the time they needed on land from the airport to the church before they could be used for decorating the altar.

Because of the late arrival of these flowers, my sister decided to use them for the New Year's eve celebration. To keep the freshness of the flowers, she put them in a number of baskets that have been filled with water. Also she put them near our bathroom to keep the temperature lower.

Flower farmers in Tomohon have exported their products to customers as far as Jakarta and Balikpapan. Although on the map the distance between Manokwari and Tomohon is not too far, there is no direct flight between these towns. Flowers have to be transported by car or Datsun trucks from Tomohon to Manado and be flown to Makassar before taking another flight to Manokwari.

Selling Flowers can be a good business especially during the economic downturn like what many people experience right now. Growing flowers can be done at backyards where unused lawns have been converted into flower patch. The favorite and expensive flowers that customers like to buy in this town are cut flowers such as red roses, orchid and possibly Adenium (mostly sold as live plants) Less expensive flowers such as Canna is also good for home interior.

When buying flowers, customers must know that beautiful flowers from high land areas may not grow well in lowland areas. So it is better to ask the vendors about the kind of flowers which are suitable for lowland. by Charles Roring
Also read: Barringtonia Asiatica beautiful but poisonous flower

Christmas Lunch

Today is Christmas day. I am spending all day at home watching television and talking with my parents, sisters and my wife. I think that we need some time to talk with our family sharing some interesting stories which we don't do during workdays. Now I am about to eat my lunch and I am happy to show you how Christmas at my home has been a great day for my family.


Perhaps some of you don't celebrate Christmas. It's okay. I hope that God will bless you all with healthy life and happiness.
Next year will be a challenging year with many opportunities that we can take to improve our living condition. We may plant a tree in front of our house as a simple resolution in fighting global warming. Or We may have planned to take a long holiday aboard a sailing yacht that will bring us to remote islands in the Pacific or the Carribean. Or you might have considered of giving up smoking as your resolution.
For me, I will try to update this blog more frequently and improve the content so that more of you will enjoy reading the posts. Happy Christmas

My Watercolor Painting of To Girls Fishing At A Wooden Jetty

I made this painting to create awareness among us all about the importance of keeping our beach clean. In the painting you can see how dissappointed the girls were when they found out that it was not a fish that they caught but a worn shoe. They were sitting on a wooden jetty accompanied by a small teddy bear doll in a bright day. The background of the scenery shows a container ship sailing out of the bay to the open sea. There were three other boats in the bay. At a far distance, we could see the green hills and a light house standing at the end of the cape.

When we go to a beach we may not find such beautiful and clean water. The sea areas around coastal big cities and towns are now covered with industrial and domestic wastes. Many of them contain chemicals that are harmful to the marine environment. While we may now work hard to fight global warming, it seems that we are not aware of the continuous destruction of coral reefs caused by the dumping of wastes to the sea. I hope that this watercolor painting can be seen as my way of presenting how beautiful the sea is and how important for us to not throwing plastics and other domestic garbages to the sea.
Title: Painting of Sisters Fishing at a Wooden Jetty; Artist: Charles Roring; Year: 2004; Media: Watercolor on cold press acid free Canson paper

The Largest Submarine in The World, Sentoku

During World War II, Japan built Sentoku the largest submarine in the world. This class of submarine, which was also named I-400, had hangar constructed on the upper main deck to accommodate three floatplane bombers, Aichi M6A Seiran. The submarine was reported to be 60% larger than the largest American submarine. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ordered the construction of the I-400 submarine class as their secret weapons to destroy major US cities and the Panama Canal - the main route for the US to logistically supply their troops fighting against the Japanese in the Pacific. The Japanese had suffered great loss during the marine battles in Guadalcanal, and Midway as well as land battles in the Netherlands New Guinea island. It had been planned that the launching of surprised attacks on the Panama Cannal and US big cities would stop the US from immediately supplying their troops in that region thus providing enough time for the Japanese to consolidate and strengthen their troops.

Unfortunately for the Japan, the I-400 submarines could not fulfil their mission because the US had bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapon forcing the Japanese government to surrender without any condition. Sentoku and her sisters submarines could carry aerial torpedoes, three 800 kg bombs and twelve 240 kg bombs to arm their Seiran aircrafts. The propulsion of this submarine was powered by four 3,000 hp engines with enough fuel to travel around the world 1.5 times.

Bark Bag from Manokwari of West Papua

Tropical rainforest of West Papua has been the source of food for the indigenous people for thousands of years. It still plays an important role for the whole earth's inhabitants by converting CO2 emissions into fresh air that we breath everyday together with forests in Brazil, Borneo and other parts of the world.

In recent days, this forest is facing rapid illegal logging. Businessmen come to this island and convert the forest into large palm plantations that only give little benefits to the local people. When an area of the tropical rainforest has been cleared, various species of plants, mammals, birds and insects lose their habitat.

Last week, I and my friend went to the Table Mountain to take some bark for making traditional bags. We had to climb up several steep hills before we could find the tree that we need for making the bark bag. More than a century ago, tree barks were used by the indigenous Papuan people as textiles. They had not known how to make cotton thread and for making clothes. It was 4 p.m. when we took the bark from a small tree that would regenerate again after its trunk had been cut.

Then we decended from the Table Mountain of Manokwari. While we were in the middle of our way home we found a burnt land in the middle of this protected tropical rainforest which has just been cleared for vegetable patch by a local farmer. The indigenous people usually cut trees and burn them to clear the land of the forest to make it as their farmland. We could not do anything because we were not the forest authority.

Back to the story of bark bag. Arriving at Paul's house, I was given a seat to watch him pounding the bark to spread its fiber and make it tender. He needs three days to process such raw bark into a traditional bag.

As I don't have enough time to wait for that process, Paul asked his daughter to take the already made bark bag. Yes, it looks just a simple bag which the locals don't use anymore in their daily activities. Modern leather bags have replaced the existance of this bark bags which frequently are decorated with attractive ornaments related to local culture.

Writing the profile of Papuan artists who live in Manokwari is one of my ways to promote eco-tourism that is expected to improve their living quality the local people thus discouraging deforestation.

Two Dolphins Swimming in the Blue Sea

Have you ever seen dolphins swimming along side a sailing boat or ship? I have experienced such scenes many times. When I was still a university student studying naval architecture in the University of Pattimura Ambon, I frequently traveled with KM Dobonsolo or KM Sirimahu to my hometown in Manokwari. They were passangers ships operated by PT. PELNI. When the ships were in the middle of the sea with no bad weather at all, usually passengers could see big fish such as dolphins swimming in a close distance. It was a wonderful experience for me and I decided that one day I had to make a drawing or painting of such scene.

Charcoal sketch of Dolphins

Dolphins are smart mammals that live in the sea. They are often considered as guardian angels for sailors who experience accident at sea. I used to hear a story which said that dolphins helped crews of capsized or sunken ship by taking them to a nearest island. I don't know if such case do exist in real life. I only know that there are circus shows about instructors who ask dolphins to give them a ride around the big pond to entertain the spectators. The fish can also do simple mathematical calculation.

For me, the best thing that we can do to the dolphins is by letting them live where they are right now. The less we disturb them the better. This is also true for the whole marine environment. By the way, I made the painting of these swimming dolphins in 2004. The media was Fabercastell watercolor pencils on French made Canson paper.

So, next time when you plan to have a vacation in the Caribbean islands or the Pacific region, don't forget to bring a telelens camera. You might encounter such rare scene.  Take some nice pictures as souvenirs for your family and friends. by Charles Roring

Remains of Giant Clam on Tropical Rainforest of Manokwari West Papua

Could the Table Mountain of Manokwari of West Papua be a coral reef park several thousand or even million years ago? I and my friend Paul Werere, an indigenous Papuan, made a short hiking trip to a tropical rainforest located some five hundred meters at the back of my house. The locals here call it Table Mountain. There we found remains of giant clam shell (Tridacna gigas) and elkhorn shaped corals scattered around the mountain which are at 50 to 70 meters vertically measured above the sea surface. We also saw crabs swimming in the pond of spring water with physical appearances similar to their brothers that live among the mangrove forest. But we were not at the beach. We were on the mountain that is covered with large trees whose diameters range from 50 centimeters to 1.5 meters.

There have to be some explanations for why coral reef thrived in an area of a mountain far and high from the sea. The distance to the current beach is around 1 kilometer.

The first explanation will be that the ancestors of Papuan people might have taken the giant clams from the sea and ate them on the mountain. But this might not be true due to the existance of other corals that were not edible. The remains of hard corals and various large and tiny shells can still be found on this mountain.

The second explanation is that the corals and the giant clams had been swept away to the land by a giant wave or tsunami. While this answer might be possible, there has to be a maximum line where the giant wave had reached and stopped. Usually the line could be indicated by a long row of stones, corals, and other earth materials which had been carried into the land by the waves. So far we have not found such row of coral remains.

Then the third answer is that yes, the region used to be under the sea level. It means today's Manokwari town was under the sea level. Due to tectonic movements, the earth layers along the Table Mountain and the Northern Coastal Region of Papua island has been greatly pressed to emerge from the sea. That was how the mountain range along the northern coast of Papua had been formed. It could happen some several million years ago. Who knows?

Well while we are still guessing why this coral reef park thrived in this Table Mountain, I want to invite you to come to this forest to watch the birds singing and dancing, and to breath in the fresh air it produces while exploring the ancient coral reef without having to wear diving gear. by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua

Also read:
Snorkeling in Arborek of Raja Ampat
Kingdom of Nemo
Snorkeling and Freediving in drop off Reef of Manokwari

The earthquake resistant wooden house of Minahasa enter the internet world

The traditional house of Minahasa has been recognized in Indonesia as one of the best earthquake resistant home construction that is suitable for tropical region. It looks beautiful especially when constructed in a village that is still fully decorated with flowers and green plants. In recent days, these wooden houses are increasingly being exported to other regions in the country and even abroad.

With the availability of internet connection in Woloan village, a major place where the traditional home builders can be found, traders of this earthquake resistant wooden houses try to expand their market by promoting their products on the internet. There are some websites that already offer these wooden houses. Potential buyers can choose the designs that they like based on the ones presented or can request custom designs from the housing company which are more suitable for their needs and climate condition where the houses will be erected.

The science of design and construction of Minahasan traditional wooden house has evolved over hundreds of years through trial and error of experiments that continues to improve the craftsmanship of the designers and builders. As a matter of fact, most of the wooden house design is not created by professional architect who got their expertise from college, not either by the use of Archicad home design software. Instead, the skills in designing and building of the houses have been passed on from generation to generation among the families of the house builders. Although the export of this type of wooden house is rising, there are concerns among the home builders to the availability of the raw materials.

The wooden house of Minahasa is mostly made of Cempaka, Lingua and Jati (tectona grandis) woods. Wood as home materials are getting scarce in the region. Home builders there now order planks and blocks from southern and central region of Celebes island. Some times they order wooden blocks from Kalimantan. This creates sensitive environmental issue such as illegal logging or irresponsible deforestation. This wooden house business can still survive if the local villagers are asked to plant trees that will become the housing materials after 30 years.
Timber frame houses are more resistant to earthquake. But the wood has to be properly treated to protect its fiber from direct contact with water. The application of varnish or paints on its surface will greatly protect the wood from decaying. In addition the standardization of sizes and types of wood used in the manufacture of wooden houses will ensure the safety of the houses. by Charles Roring in Manokwari of Papua

Ventilation System of Tropical House

Tropical houses are different from European houses. In cold region, houses must have good insulation to keep the indoor temperature warm during cold or winter season. Most of the houses in the sub-tropic or polar region have wood or gas stoves installed to keep warm temperature in the rooms. The case is different for tropical houses, ventilation system plays very important role in controlling the temperature of the rooms. In tropical region, sun shines all year long. The humidity is very high. Tropical houses need to have large openings such as windows and holes above doors to let the air circulate freely in and out of the houses.

Besides providing many jalousie windows, some house owners install the roof ventilators which will turn and suck the cool air into roof to cool the houses from above. City dwellers that install Air Conditioning Machines at their houses usually cover the ventilation windows and holes with transparent plastic sheets to keep the inside temperature of their houses cool. But this practice is considered not healthy because  new or fresh air cannot enter the houses.

Many tropical house owners grow trees and flower plants at the front or beside their houses to filter air and harness fresh oxygen produced by the trees to directly enter the houses during the day. This is one of the best natural ventilation systems that integrates trees as air filter and cooler. It can reduce the cost of electricity spent for operating artificial exhaust fan or Air Conditioning (AC) machines.

Although tropical houses need to have large window openings, they also need to be closed at nights to prevent mosquitoes from entering the houses. When the glass windows are closed, the air will still circulate through air holes located above the windows that are covered with mosquito nets. It means the fresh air can enter the house but the mosquitoes can't. by Charles Roring in Manokwari of Papua island.

Adding Doors and Windows in Archicad Home Design

Archicad of Graphisoft is a great tool for house design. Architects who have mastered it will definitely recommend it to their friends. This Building Information Modeling software (BIM) is easy to be operated. In addition, Archicad provides various construction elements which home designers can use to accelerate their work. One of the elements is door.

In Archicad, doors and windows have similar behavior and handling properties. Before we add doors or windows to the floor plan drawing, we must remember that we can only use them if we have drawn walls for them. When we put a door or a window into the wall, Archicad will cut or create an opening into the wall.

To add a door into a wall, click the Door in the ToolBox. Then click the Door Default Settings located below the Toolbar to choose the type of door and to modify it. You can select the types of the doors, change its material or its color.

On the following floorplan view, I have added 4 doors and 7 windows into the walls of the drawing. This is a small house with one bed room, one living room and one toilet room. You can see the floor plan of the house which I have made using Archicad below.

To visualize the design in 3 Dimensional view, just press Ctrl + F5. The floor plan which I have created is then presented in the following 3D view presentation:

It seems that the doors are closed. To change them to be in Open representation, with the doors on the floor plan selected, click again the Door Default Settings. Then click open the Parameters. Activate the 3D representation and change the Opening Angle in 3D to 80 degrees.

After you have clicked the OK button, press F3. The 3D representation of the small house is now showing that the doors are open as you can see in the first picture above. by Charles Roring

Units and Drawing Scale in Archicad

Archicad is a very powerful Building Information Modeling (BIM) Software from Graphisoft. It is increasingly being used by architects around the world. In this article I am going to explain a little about how to set units and scale prior to designing a house or a building.

If you are an Architect who lives in India, you will use SI units as project preferences for your design. But if you live in the United States, you might prefer to keep the default settings which are in Imperial Units. As a new Archicad user, you might be confused about how to change the units from the Imperial System to the International System. If this is your case, don't worry. Take a look at my following explanation:

With the Archicad BIM software running on your computer screen, locate the Option menu. After you have found and clicked it, you will see such list as Element Attributes, Element Snap, Auto Intersection, Magic Want Settings, Add-on Manager, Project Preferences and Work Environment.

Click the Project Preferences, you will see Working Units and Levels, Dimensions, Calculation Units, Construction Elements, Zones, Layout, Miscellaneous. Click Each of them to set your desired units of measurements.

After setting the SI units, you can continue to setting the drawing scale. It is very easy. Click the Document menu and then the Floor Plan Scale… You can change the scale of the drawing which is suitable for your design project and the printer or plotter size.

Archicad and Home Design

The following articles discuss Archicad tutorials and home design for architects and interior designers. At the moment the latest release from Graphisoft is Archicad 13. It is introduced with Graphisoft BIM Server to support model based team collaboration. As the number of users of this home modeling software is going up, there is a need or demand for information on how to use it. What I provide below are not meant to replace the official explanation presented by Graphisoft - the official company which has created the Archicad rather they are my personal journals which contain stories of how I study this great software.

I hope that by sharing some of the following articles, new Archicad users especially on the introductory level may find them useful for their own personal studies. I am not sure if I am able to provide more step by step Archicad tutorials in the future.

I write about anything in this blog from earthquake resistant wooden house to how to protect our tropical rainforest which is facing rapid deforestation. So, when you come again in this blog and find out that there are no new articles about Archicad then I suggest that you visit the official website of graphisoft.com There, you will find various information that is more suitable to your needs.

If after reading the following posts, you find that there are some mistakes, then please use the comment form to write some of your opinions which are very important for the corrections or improvements of these tutorials.

Before I finish this post, I would like to recommend other similar products created by Autodesk which many architects from around the world use in their home or building design projects. They are Revit Architecture, Revit MEP and REVIT Structure. Because the three BIM softwares are made by one company, they are more compatible for one another. As every software has its advantages and disadvantages, every new user of REVIT or Archicad must consult his or her needs with experienced users of each of the software to assess the right solution for his or her design needs.

ArchiCAD and Autocad

Archicad a powerful home design software

Drawing Scale and Units in Archicad

Adding Doors and Windows in Archicad Home Design

How to design roof with Archicad
The number of Archicad users is rising in Indonesia
Designing round wall room with Archicad
Designing simple bedroom with Archicad
How to draw floor plan with Archicad of Graphisoft
How to add column and beam to a house using Archicad
Dimensioning of round wall in Archicad of Graphisoft
Creating a rounded corner wall with archicad 12

Archicad and revit for house design

Archicad promotion in indonesia
Archicad 12 the best choice software for architects and interior designer

The Maritime Engineering Reference Book

A Guide to Ship Design, Construction and Operation. When I read it for the first time, I remember the volumes of the Principles of Naval Architecture which were published by the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.(SNAME). Although it has just been released in 2008 by Elsevier, most naval architects will feel that they are quite familiar with the content of this book. As a matter of fact, it is a compilation of various naval architecture books printed by the same publisher.
For instances, the Chapter 2 which discusses the various types of marine vehicle is similar to Chapter 17 on Ship Types of the Introduction to Naval Architecture written by E.C. Tupper. The Chapter 3 Flotation and stability of the book is also the same as Chapter 5 Flotation and initial stability of the above mentioned book. For Chapter 4 the Ship Structures, it is taken from Chapter 6 The Ship Girder of volume 1 of Basic Ship Theory.

If you are a practicing naval architect, you will find that Chapter 6 on Marine Engines and Auxiliary Machinery is an interesting part of the book because it might be new subject for you. This chapter is actually a subject which is more suitable for marine engineers. Yet, naval architects who work in the design office or at shipyard will need to read it because they will always deal with such problems as propulsion systems, diesel engine performance, main engines, auxiliary machinery and equipment, instrumentation and control in their every day practical jobs. Whether you are a ship designer or a naval architect who works at dockyard, you will find that this book is very suitable for you. It does not have examples and exercises which you can study to understand each subject comprehensively but it discusses all the subjects that naval architects and marine engineers must know. Chapter 10 which deals with Underwater Vehicles is mostly about ROV or Remotely Operated Vehicles. There are not any discussions about how to design, construct and operate submarines.

A naval architect from Indonesia

She is a fresh graduate from naval architecture department of Hasanuddin University. She studied ship theory, ship construction and ship design. The most memorable experience was when she had to calculate the longitudinal and vertical centers of gravity of a ship (LCG and VCG). It was a semester assignment and not many naval architecture students passed easily. She was one of the few who could do and pass the subject in first attempt. Although naval architecture is an interesting field of engineering, it seems that now she is more interested in art particularly dancing. Nadia Siregar, an Indonesian girl, began learning Papuan traditional dance in 1993 when she was still at grade 3 of elementary school. She likes dancing because she sees that Papua island has many tribes and every tribe has its own unique cultural characteristics. "They are very interesting but I only want to focus on the traditional dance," she said.

National and International Performance - Nadia is now a member of IRIANTOS Dance Group. Its chairman is George Wellem Yomaki. Their dance group has 30 members. Together with this group, Nadia has traveled across the country and even abroad to perform various Papuan dances. Some of the festivals where she and her friends performed were: Papuan Art Festival in Biak island in 2002; Multicultural Festival in Australia from 14-18 February 2004; Dance performance in Korror city of Palau islands in 2004; T heater Performance on the Exiled and Virtual Body in Makassar city from 10 to 11 August 2007; Monolog Performance of Makkunrai Project at the Societet de Harmoni building of Makassar city celebrating Kartini Day on 1 May 2008; Nusantara Cultural Carnival in Jembrana Bali in September 2008; President and Vice President of Indonesia's Campaign Declaration at the Monument of Proclamation in February 2009; Festival of Folk Theater Media on national level in Malang city of East Java, 30-31 May 2009; Nusantara Cultural Festival at the State Palace of Jakarta on 18 August 2009.

Basic Ship Theory

Basic Ship Theory were published in two volumes. The first deals with Hydrostatics and Strength of Ship whereas the second deals with Ship Dynamics and Design.

I have been reading the books since 1993 or 1994. They are easy to understand reference both for students and practicing naval architects.

Contents of volume 1:

1 Art or science? 1.1 Authorities

2 Some tools 2.1 Basic geometric concepts; 2.2 Properties of irregular shapes; 2.3 Approximate integration; 2.4 Computers; 2.5 Appriximate formulae and rules; 2.6 Statistics; 2.7 Worked examples; 2.8 Problems

3 Flotation and trim; 3.1 Flotation; 3.2 Hydrostatic data; 3.3 Worked examples; 3.4 Problems

4 Stability; 4.1 Initial stability; 4.2 Complete stability; 4.3 Dynamical stability; 4.4 Stability assessment; 4.5 Problems

5 Hazards and protection 5.1 Flooding and collision; 5.2 Safety of life at sea; 5.3 Other hazards; 5.4 Abnormal waves; 5.5 Environmental pollution; 5.6 Problems;

6 The ship girder 6.1 The standard calculation; 6.2 Material considerations; 6.3 Conclusions ; 6.4 Problems;

7 Structural design and analysis; 7.1 Stiffened plating;7.2 Panels of plating; 7.3 Frameworks; 7.4 Finite element techniques; 7.5 Realistic assessment of structral elements; 7.6 Fittings; 7.7 Problems;

8 Launching and docking; 8.1 Launching; 8.2 Docking; 8.3 Problems;

9 The ship environment and human factors 9.1 The external environment. The sea; 9.2 Waves

9.3 Climate;9.4 Physical limitations;9.5 The internal environment; 9.6 Motions; 9.7 The air

9.8 Lighting; 9.9 Vibration and noise; 9.10 Human factors; 9.11 Problems;

Bibliography

Answers to problems

Index

Contents of Volume 2

Powering of Ships: General Principles; Powering of Ships: application; Seekeeping; Maneuverability; Major ship design features; Ship design; Particular ship types

The thickness of volume 1 is 400 pages. For volume 2, it has 373 pages. The books are now published in a combined volume by the publisher to lower the price so that it can be sold or bought easily.

I like these books very much because they have many worked examples which can be solved through manual calculation or using computer spreadsheet software.

For volume 1 which deals with Ship Hydrostatics the use of computer spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel is highly recommended. To further your investigation on this subject, I should recommend another important book entitled Statics and Dynamics of the Ship published by Mir, now Pacific Publisher, whose authors are V Semyonov, Tyan, Shansky.

I remembered seeing, the first time, the two volumes of these Basic Ship Theory books in 1993 or 1994 in the library of Pattimura University of Maluku islands Indonesia. They were red labeled meaning that they could only be read in the room and were not available for renting.

I had to approach a staff of the library to request permission from him for photocopying them. During that years, internet was not available in my campus and the students did not know how or where to order the Basic Ship Theory books.

After long conversation and some arguments, I was then allowed to take the books out of campus to photocopy them in the downtown of Ambon city. That's what most university students in Indonesia did to be able to read the books. Why we photocopy them? The price of these two books equals to one month salary of middle level government employee in this country. So, a father must stop feeding the whole members of the family to set aside the money for his son or daughter to buy them.

I hope now that it is more affordable to students all around the world. Perhaps Longman as the publisher of Basic Ship Theory has provided the e-book or international edition versions to make the price cheaper.

Naval Architecture Books

Related Posts:

• Raja Ampat Snorkeling
• Snorkeling and Watching Birds in Raja Ampat
• Birdwatching, snorkeling and sightseeing in Raja Ampat and Sorong
• Wildlife Watching and Snorkeling Tour in Sorong and Raja Ampat
• Raja Ampat Karst

While I was still studying naval architecture in Ambon city of the Maluku islands of Indonesia, I photocopied a number of ship theory books from the library of our faculty. These books might not be available anymore because they were published between 1950s and 1970s. If they are still being published. their contents might have been edited to adapt with the latest improvement in shipbuilding technology. Because most of our lecturers studied naval architecture and marine engineering in Russia during 1960s, the books that they used to teach us were written by Russian naval scientists. I still remember their titles. For ship theory, we used Statics and Dynamics of the Ships.

Here are naval architecture books that I have at this moment.

Ship Design and Performance for Masters and Mates; Dr. C.B. Barrass - Elsevier; 2004

Introduction to Naval Architecture; E.C. Tupper- Elsevier; 2004
Ship Stability for Masters and Mates fifth edition; Captain D.R. Derrett, Revised by Dr.C.B. Barrass - Butterworth Heinemann; 1999
Maritime Engineering Reference Books

Basic Ship Theory combined volume

• Volume 1 Hydrostatics and Strength; KJ Rawson; EC Tupper 2001 - Butterworth Heinemann
• Volume 2 Ship Dynamics and Design; KJ Rawson; EC Tupper 2001 - Butterworth Heinemann

Basic Principles of Ship Propulsion - MAN Diesel A/S, Frederikshavn, Denmark

Boatowner's Illustrated Electrical Handbook

Controllable Pitch Propeller - MAN Diesel A/S, Frederikshavn, Denmark

Fishing Boat Construction: 2 Building a fiberglass fishing boat

A conceptual design of a fiber reinforced plastic fishing boat for traditional fisheries in malaysia

Fuel and Financial Savings for operators of small fishing vessels

Guide to Ship Repair Estimates (in Man Hours); Don Butler - Butterworth Heinemann; 2000

Added Masses of Ship Structures by Alexandr I Korotkin - Springer

Man on the Ocean; R.M. Ballantyne (edisi html)

Marine Propellers and Propulsion second edition; John Carlton; Elsevier; 2007

Marine Design - Rhinoceros Advanced Training Series; 2003

Marine Structural Design; Yong Bai - Elsevier; 2003

Ship Design and Construction; written by a group of authorities - editor Robert Taggart - SNAME; 1980

Ship Design for Efficiency and Economy second edition; H. Sneekluth and V. Bertram - Butterworth Heinemann; 1998

Ship Handling Theory and Practice; D.J. House - Elsevier Butterworth Heinemann; 2007
Shipbuilding Technology; V.K. Dormidontov and friends, translated by J.H. Dixon - Mir Publisher 1966

Ship Hydrostatic and Stability; A.B. Biran - Butterworth Heinemann; 2003

Ships and Science - The Birth of Naval Architecture in the Scientific Revolution, 1600-1800; Larrie D. Ferreiro; The MIT Press; 2007

Fishing Boat Design: 2 V-bottom boats of planked plywood construction; FAO Rome 2004

You may ask where to get these books. If you want to buy them, you can go to Amazon.com but there are many of them which you can download from avaxhome.ws

Rules for ship and boat construction which can be downloaded from American Bureau of Shipping website

ABS Guide for Building and Classing Offshore Racing Yacht 1994

ABS Rules for Building and Classing Reinforced Plastic Vessels 1978

ABS Rules for Building and Classing Steel Vessels 2009; Part 3 Hull Construction and Equipment

The Environmental Impact of Marine Tourism

Sunbathing, snorkeling, scuba diving, wave surfing and water skiing are some of the activities that tourists typically enjoy when they go to the beach. These activities can bring positive and negative impacts to marine environment. To reduce negative impacts of tourism activities on the environments, people who work in this industry need adequate knowledge about conservation and coastal management.
Marine tourism is a business that generates big revenues during holidays and special occasions. Being a part of the tourism industry is a great way to make money because life seems like one endless holiday. Yes, it does have its downs like any other business, but for the most part, the going is good especially if you are well-established and your customers come back to give you repeat business. Marine tourism has come into its own with the advances that have been made in the field of technology. Locations that were earlier inaccessible or unsafe are now well-known tourist spots in marine environments. The seas and the coastlines of the world are much sought after destinations for tourists all over the world, and this makes marine tourism a booming industry.

But all this interest in water sports, cruises, underwater explorations and other activities that involve the marine environment are definitely having an adverse effect on marine ecosystems and animal species that live on or near the coast.

• Natural habitats are destroyed when hotels, restaurants and other entertainment and hospitality facilities are built along the coastline.
• Surrounding areas are also destroyed in order to provide access to these facilities. With the advent of roads, airports and sea ports, people begin to populate the area and drive out the natural wildlife whose habitat the area was originally.
• The level of pollution increases with the increase in population
• Essential resources like water become critical and are sometimes in shortage.
• The coastline is destroyed due to erosion and the sea also becomes polluted with effluents from hotels and other establishments in the area.
• Cruise ships produce and dump waste in mid ocean, leading to pollution in the high seas too.
• Sewage causes algae to form over coral reefs and damages and destroys them.

With all these detrimental effects, we must adopt techniques to manage the pollution and the destruction of ecosystems, not just because we need to save the environment, but because we need to save the tourism industry itself. The environment and its quality are very important if tourism is to survive and thrive; with polluted beaches and diminishing wildlife, the tourists are going to be few and far between. And when this happens, it is the end of marine tourism as we know it.
For man and nature to coexist in peace and thrive, it is up to us to ensure that we do not wreak havoc on the environment; for if we do, it will come back to haunt us in the form of global warming and climate change.
By-line:
This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of construction management degrees . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson83@yahoo.com

Delftship Drawing Modes for Naval Architects

Delftship is light yet powerful ship design software for naval architects capable of developing hull form or ship's lines plan and calculating hydrostatic properties. In my previous post, I discussed about how to design the main deck of a yacht using extrude function of the software.

Now I am going to discuss various drawing modes which the Delftship has to visualize the ship drawings in three dimensional views. On page 14 of Delftship user manual book we can read that the computer ship design software provides five drawing modes which ship designers can use to see the fairness and the 3 dimensional forms of their design.

After designing the hull form of the yacht, I want to visualize it on computer screen in 3D views. The first view is Wireframe. This is the view which naval architects can use to see the boat or ship through its points, lines and edges. The designed ship is presented only with lines. Press Ctrl-W and you will see the yacht that looks like the following drawing

To further explore the Delftship design capability, we can visualize our yacht in Shade drawing mode. The surfaces of our yacht will be represented in solid color, lines and curves. The submerge surfaces of the boat will have different color. Press Ctrl-F to see the boat in Shade Mode.

Naval architects can check whether the surfaces of their design are developable or not. This can be done by pressing Ctrl-D. The boat will look like the following

The above view is needed by the shipbuilder to see whether the hull which naval architects develop can be manufactured or not. Most of the ships' hulls have curve forms in two directions. These are also called compound curves. Naval architects need to design the hull form of the boat in a way that the surface will look green to enable plate development.

The next drawing view to visualize the yacht is the Gaussian curvature. Press the Ctrl-G, then the drawing of the boat will look like the one below:

The Gaussian curvature is used to check the fairness of the hull. Please read page 14 of the Delftship user manual to understand more about this view. The last drawing mode is Zebra shading. To activate it, press Ctrl -E.

Computer ship design software such as Maxsurf, Delftship, Rhinoceros and Autoship are powerful in helping naval architects in visualizing their designs in 3D forms to ship owners. These software have greatly shorten the drawing or design time period naval architects usually spend when executing it manually. by Charles Roring.

PELNI Ships in Indonesian islands

Passenger ships operated by PELNI, an Indonesian state owned passenger liner, play very important role in transporting people and goods from one to another island in Indonesia. PELNI has around 25 ships which all of them powered by marine diesel engines. Most of the passenger vessels were ordered from shipyard in Germany.

PT PELNI stands for PT Pelayaran Nasional Indonesia or National Indonesian Shipping Company. There are millions of people living along the coastal lines of thousands of islands in this country. They need passenger ships such as the ones that PELNI has to travel to other islands within the country. The sea fare is very cheap compared to the fare which cruise ships in Europe charge to their passengers.

PELNI Ships are usually named after mountains or volcanoes in Indonesia. They are KM AWU; KM Binaya, KM Bukit Raya, KM Bukit Siguntang, KM Ciremai, KM Dobonsolo, KM Dorolonda, KM Egon, KM Fudi, KM Ganda Dewata, KM Kelimutu, KM Kelud, KM Labobar, KM Lambelu, KM Lawit, KM Leuser, KM Nggapulu, KM Pangrango, KM Sagiang, KM Sinabung, KM Sirimau, KM Tatamailau, KM Tidar, KM Tilongkabila, and KM Umsini.

PELNI Ships are modern German built vessels that are specifically built for simple Indonesian passengers who do not need vacuum toilets, and card lock doors. They are not as luxurious as cruise ships in the Europe but they are very comfortable and affordable. If you are a person who is interested in traveling and meeting ordinary people (and not wealthy pensioners) across the largest archipelago in the world, then PELNI passenger ships are your perfect choice.

Indonesia has thousands of beautiful islands with beautiful white sandy beach, pristine corals, and mountains, tropical rainforest and most importantly nice and friendly people. These are the real wealth of Indonesia which is waiting for explorers like you. by Charles Roring. Also read: Passenger Ships of PELNI Lines

Port of Tanjung Perak Surabaya Indonesia

Port of Tanjung Perak has been visited by boats and ships from around the world since the era of Majapahit kingdom hundreds of years ago. It is one of the busiest ports in Indonesia that support the economic activities of the country. Port of Tanjung Perak is located in Surabaya, a trading city in Indonesia. It is also near the biggest naval base of Indonesia, Pangkalan AL Armada Timur. As the second largest city in Indonesia, Surabaya is seen as center of commerce beside Jakarta and other big cities.

Ships carrying cargoes and passengers arrive and leave Tanjung Perak every day. Ships from other islands in Indonesia bring raw materials to Surabaya whereas ships from Surabaya bring manufactured goods to other islands. Ships that need repair will go to Dock of Surabaya whereas ship owners who need to order new ships can go to PT PAL, the largest shipbuilder in Indonesia. All of the ship repairers and shipbuilders, as well as other marine suppliers, make port of Tanjung Perak as their headquarters. In other words, Port of Surabaya is the center of Indonesian shipping and marine industry. If we visit the port, we will see hundreds of ships and boats at its harbors.

It is not surprising to see that the marine pollution in this region is high. The color of sea water is not clear blue anymore. It looks brown-bluish now. The wastes from Surabaya city and from ships all dump in Port of Tanjung Perak's waters. Concrete actions from port administrators, marine industries, ship owners and city administrators are needed to clean the sea water around the port. by Charles Roring

Trimaran and Tricycle

In the design of high speed marine vehicle, we know that there are ship types such as Catamaran, Trimaran, or Jet Foil. Fast ship needs twin boat and trimaran to stabilize the ship when moving fast on sea surface. Trimaran especially is further improvement or development of traditional outrigger boat used by Pacific islanders when catching fish around the coastal region near their villages.

On land there is also a term called tricycle or triseda. This is a popular vehicle in Indonesia which is used by kiosk or shop owners to deliver goods to their customers. My father just bought a new one. On the picture above, one of our workers was riding it. I see from the design, it looks like a small truck but with only three tires. If at sea a trimaran-hull increases the stability of the boat at high speed, I am doubtful if tricycle or triseda has similar properties in terms of stability. Four wheels will be more stable on the road than three wheels vehicle. From the fuel consumption point of view, the tricycle is lighter and the trimaran has finer body. So they are more efficient during operation.

Modern Trawler Ship and Traditional Fishing Practice

Modern trawler boat or ship has been criticized by many marine environmentalist to be the cause of major damages to coral reef in various parts of the world. We cannot deny that the ships with their high capacity fishnet can catch tons of fish, big and small, in just one trawling. Naval architects and ship designers have to adapt or be aware of the criticism by designing fishing vessels which are more environmentally friendly. For instance, to protect damages both to the propulsion system and the coral reef, the marine propeller has to be protected with nozzle. The shrouded propeller will not greatly damage the coral reef if the ship is moving on shallow water.

Naval architects and fishermen must also stop installing bottom trawling equipment in trawlers to further protect the marine environment. In addition, the hoze size of the fishnet has to be bigger to enable smaller fish to escape during the trawling. In cooperation with local marine authorities, certain coastal areas have to be assigned as No Take Zone areas to provide space for fish to breed sustainably.

In the Pacific region where the indigenous people still live in traditional ways, their sea water territory has been heavily exploited and abused. It is sad to see that the indigenous people of Papua cannot stop modern fishing fleet taking fish just several miles from their beach. It is also ironic to see how the indigenous Papuan have to struggle at night catching fish with only very simple fishing gear such as fishing spear and bamboo torch. I will write more about this issue in another post about how local Papuan catch fish at night. by Charles Roring. Also read: Sustainable Fishing Practice by Papuan Woman; Efficient propulsion system in ships and boats

Sustainable Fishing Practice by Papuan Woman

Today I am not going to talk about cutting edge fishing boat design. As naval architects, it is easy for us to deal with trawlers, purse seine, or skip jack by reading books related to this subject. There is a famous book entitled Fishing Book of the World edited by Jan Orlof Traung. The book discusses every aspect of fishing vessel design and method of catching fish. The topic of my today's post is about paintings.

Click the above painting to read the background story of the painting. Well, today I only want to present you a painting of a Papuan Woman who was catching fish using very traditional or simple method. As you can see from the picture, she uses a fishing rod and line that is made of twisted gnemon's fiber. Gnemon Gnetum is a kind of plant which mostly grows in Papua island. People also call it Melinjo. Its young leaves are cooked as delicious vegetables. Its fruits are raw material for making crackers. The bait is tied on the tip end of the line without a hook. When the fish bites the worm, she will immediately pull up the fishing rod and collect the fish in a pocket that is also made of twisted gnemon's fiber. There is no nylon or modern fishing equipment involved in this fishing practice. Or in other words, I can say that this is really a sustainable fishing practice. She does not polute the water environment. She only takes what she needs in a proper amount. There are various beautiful watercolor paintings and drawings which I am about to upload to the blog.

This above artwork is watercolor painting of Paradise bird. These paintings were made by Paul Warere a brilliant West Papuan artist whose artworks can be seen in my online Painting and Drawing Gallery. I launched the blog last week in order to promote artworks from Papuan artists as well as empowering their economy so that they can make a living from their art expertise. by Charles Roring. Also read: Watercolor pencils drawing of Papuan Catching A Bird and Watercolor pencils drawing of Papuan Drinking Enau

Sea Travel and the Maritime Industry in Indonesia

Indonesian people have traveled from one island to another for years. Sea travel is not seen as tourists journey but business one. As the largest archipelago in the world, Indonesia has more than 17,000 islands big and small. Before the introduction of modern passenger ships from Germany by Pelni lines, the islands between Asia and Australia continents had been served mostly by small steel cargo vessels, ro-pax ferries, and thousands of traditional wooden boats.

Sea travel and maritime industry are two inter-related sectors that support the mobility of travelers and goods in Indonesia. Airplanes from tens of airline companies in Indonesia cannot replace the vital role of passenger - cargo ships that have existed in this country for years. So, although the number of flights continues to rise in many cities and towns in Indonesia, it is not enough to fulfill the needs of means of transportation to move goods and people. Ships and boats still play significant role in Indonesian islands.

The growth of population in Indonesia is around two percent every year with the current population has reached more than 220 million people. This figure puts this country as the fifth most populous nation in the world. Such a large number of people scatter around thousands of islands from Sabang to Merauke. Besides having a lot of population, Indonesia too has high economic growth.

Indonesia's high economic growth, in the middle of world financial crisis, needs the provisions of various types of ships to support it. Indonesia needs hundreds of small passenger ships to serve the mobility of the Indonesian people and cargo ships to transport goods. Big cities in Java and Sumatra needs raw materials from Kalimantan, Papua and Sulawesi islands whereas small towns in the remote islands need cargo ships to deliver manufactured products to support the economic development. by Charles Roring

Efficient propulsion system in ships and boats

There are many factors that influence the fuel consumption of ships or boats. Naval architects know that the interaction between the propeller, the hull and the main engine greatly influences the fuel consumption of ships whether they are big or small. So, in order to obtain ships that have optimum propulsion efficiency, naval architects must design the ships with the propulsion system that are fully integrated.

This is not an easy thing to do because every propulsion unit is contradicting one to another. For example an efficient hull form must have lower block coefficient with streamlined shape that in the contrary reduce the carrying capacity of the ships or boats that are being designed. In addition, the use of diesel engine is seen as a highly efficient main engine that is now used in many ships but we must not forget that diesel engines have vibrations and exhaust gases that will not be comfortable for crews and passengers.

Besides the hull form and the main engine, the propeller plays very important role in the design of the propulsion system of a ship. Marine propeller is usually located under water at the stern of a ship or boat. If the propeller is well designed and manufactured by experts in ship's propulsion, the fuel and financial savings will be greatly significant throughout the operational years of the ships or boats. by Charles Roring. Also read: How to estimate ship's length for a new design

Passenger Ships of PELNI Lines the safety and service

by Charles Roring

Modern passenger ships have been integrated into Indonesian maritime industry since they were first introduced into Indonesian waters in 1980s. After the ro-pax ferry KMPTampomas accident in late January 1981, PELNI - the largest passenger lines in Indonesia began to modernize its fleet of passenger ships to prevent such disaster from occurring again.

KM Nggapulu was entering Port of Manokwari

In the middle of 1980s, PELNI received new passenger ships from Meyer Werft (shipyard) of Germany into its fleet to serve major ports in Indonesian islands. Some of them are KM Kambuna, KM Kerinci, KM Umsini, and KM Rinjani. KM stands for Kapal Motor or Motor Ship. These ships each could carry around 3,000 people but during the high seasons they double the capacity to between 4,000 and 5,000 passengers given that the summer load waterline did not exceed the minimum freeboard stipulated by IMO or Classification Rules.

All the additional passengers were deck ones. This is still practiced by PELNI lines at the moment. Although it is a dangerous practice during bad weather, as long as it still adheres to the stipulated freeboard, PELNI considers that the additional number of passengers will not bring the ship into the risk of sinking.

It is not clear whether PELNI also increases the number of life jackets, boats and rafts to protect the passengers at sea. In addition, the additional passengers that PELNI ships have to carry during school holiday, Idul Fitri, Christmas and New Year seasons make the sea voyages are not comfortable.

More passengers mean more rooms, water, and food the ships should provide. In fact, passengers often complain that they run out of water to shower. The gangways and decks look dirty too during high season voyages.

Although waste streams produced by passenger ships are smaller compared to the whole amount produced by the whole world shipping industry, when not properly treated and discharged into the sea, they really threaten the marine environment.

The provisioning of modern passenger ships has restored passengers' confidence over PELNI's service. Feeling that such investment in high cost European made ships was worthy due to the profits and better safety standards the ships gave to the company, PELNI ordered more ships in 1990s.

Today there are nearly 30 passenger ships PELNI has in its fleet. It is a state owned shipping company that is intended not only to transport people but also to connect the whole territory of Indonesian islands as one undivided country. So, it is the government's policy to provide ships that support the development of national integrity of Indonesia and also to serve passengers from moving from one island to another.

When transatlantic passenger ship-liners have long been replaced by airplanes, it is amazing to see that PELNI is the only company that runs true passenger liners in fast schedules transporting a lot of people every year. 

Also read: Boat building and Living tradition of the Mentawai Tribe; Sailing Across the North Pole with Boat to the New World