Prime Mover of Passenger Ship

When designing a passenger ship, naval architects have to come to a decision whether to choose steam turbine or diesel engine as the ship's prime mover. In the past, most of the passenger ships used steam turbine as their prime mover. The choice of this kind of marine engine was based on a consideration that steam engine has relatively very low vibration. Therefore, steam engine was more suitable for passenger ships. However, steam turbine installation needs more spaces for boiler, condenser, turbines, reduction gears and piping installation.

Improvements in the design of marine diesel engines have led to the application of diesel engine to passenger ships. Marine diesel engines are specially designed to have low RPM to adapt to the diameter of the propeller. This design constraints led to the development of low speed diesel engines for big ships. The lower the speed of the main engine, the better will be the efficiency and the larger will be the diameter of the ship's propellers. In smaller ships where low speed diesel engines are not available, reduction gears are needed to lower the RPM to match it to the RPM of the propeller at its optimum efficiency.

The vibration of marine diesel engine, as the prime mover of a ship, has to be kept lower to make the ship comfortable to all the passengers and crews. If the vibration of a vessel is high, passenger will not be able to sleep well or to enjoy the cruise. Marine engineers and Naval Architects have to work hand in hand to analyze the vibration of a ship before applying damping devices such as rubber and bearings to propeller shaft and engine bed foundation. Now the use of marine diesel engines in passenger ships is a common thing. by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua Indonesia

Naval Architecture books and ship design software

I just received a phone call from an old friend of mine, Yunus Kermite. He is a naval architect who works for Department of Marine and Fishery. He is responsible for assessing the gross tonnage and net tonnage of fishing boats. We talked a lot this afternoon mentioning the good old memories of our past time in department of naval architecture the University of Pattimura.

Then, I said that I was about to send him a CD containing textbooks in pdf formats such as basic ship theory, marine screw propeller and the free version of ship design software, delftship.

The number of titles is around 50. Most of them are related to ship design and ship theory. I personally still understand this subject but I don't work in shipyard. With free ship design software in my hand, I think, I will write a book or website about how to design ship hulls, and other subjects on resistance and propulsion of ships or the stability calculation of ship.

Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world consisting of more than 17,000 islands. Ships and boats are needed to connect the islands for transporting people and goods. Therefore, the Indonesian government should invest a lot of money in developing its maritime industry. It is sad to see that many universities that have department of naval architecture and marine engineering do not get enough financial support from the government.

I hope that the opening of Departement Kelautan dan Perikanan will support the educational institutions that have such study programs as Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.

Taking pictures of people and giving the print outs to them

I like going around my neighborhood walking. I usually bring with me my Sony Cyber-shot digital camera. It is a compact device which I like to carry around while traveling. Whether I visit an old friend of mine or flying to other island, I like to take pictures and the surrounding scenery.

What will I do with those pictures? I use them most for my blogs. I write travel stories in insert these photos in the posts. The latest ones are the photos of local Papuan people who live some 100 meters behind my house. They were preparing a tent for Saturday night party. These local West Papua look happy when I shot them with this digital camera. I told them to pick up the print out the next day. Then I continued walking into the tropical jungle. You can read the story of what I did in the jungle at my previous post

Surveying the spring water in Table Mountain for Local Community

My travel story today is about a short journey to the jungle several hundred meters behind my house. I just returned from Table Mountain of Manokwari. I went there with Oom Cornelis to survey the spring water there. The purpose of this "expedition" is to construct a reservoir which will supply the local community of Kompleks Missi with clean water.

Clean water has been a serious matter for local people here although there are many spring-waters at the foot of the Table Mountain. It took fifteen minutes walking from my house to the spring water. I took some pictures a long the way to the spring water. It is located in a cave. The entrance of the cave is very small. One has to squat to enter the cave.

It was very dark inside the cave and I did not bring any flashlight. Fortunately, my mobile phone has the flash light, enough to guide me and Oom Cornelis to enter the cave.

There is a piping installation inside the cave from the spring water to the house of Catholic sisters of Manokwari. The distance between the spring water to the place where the local community live is 700 meters.

After surveying the spring water and taking some pictures, I have to compose a proposal which I have to send to the office of social agency for requesting the construction fund. It will take around one week to make the proposal. The office is a local government's body which handles things that are related to social welfare of the people. I hope that the local government will give positive response to the request of this local people. by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua Indonesia

The Ceiling and Windows of a Wooden House

When designing a ceiling whether manually or automatically using such software as Revit Architecture or Archicad of Graphisoft, an architect must think both the function and aesthetic appearance of the ceiling. Ceiling is an integrated part of every house.

It can be made of wood, metal sheets or composite and other fiber material. On the ceiling, we have lamps, fan, loudspeaker and fire fighting equipment. The following pictures are ceiling of a wooden house. The surface of the ceiling is not flat. It is made of many smaller wooden boards that are artistically arranged.

To balance the dark color of the wood, the surrounding side of the ceiling and the walls are painted with leaving the contrast look of the house. The exterior of the house is also similar to the interior one. The ceiling and the windows are made of wood. The owner of the house does not apply brighter painting to them. Instead, he painted the wall white to balance the dark brown color of the wood.

To protect the house from theft, steel frames are installed at the window openings separating the interior and exterior of the house without blocking the sunlight from entering the interior. This house was designed and constructed by the owner alone in Manokwari of West Papua following the typical design of the Minahasan wooden house in North Sulawesi.

The use of wood as the main material of a house will not threat the tropical rainforest as long as the practice is done in sustainable way. It means that after cutting the trees, people have to replant them with new trees. Tropical rainforest is important not only for the animals living inside it but also for human beings who need clean air and water as well as coral reef that lies deeper under the sea. by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua - Indonesia Also read: