Friday, February 6, 2009

Designing challenges from history

This is another short post just to demonstrate the industrial design challenge that is squarely within Malaysian capabilities.

A vessel found in 700 AD, several centuries before the Vikings ruled Norway, Viking Ship Bowthe Oseberg ship from approximately 800 AD and the knarr from around year 1000 AD all have one thing in common; their rounded bows were the inspiration for Ulstein’s latest design, the x-bow container ship.

This design is not new, launched last year the Bourbon Orca was the first vessel launched with Ulstein’s revolutionary bow design. Now the company is set to incorporate this design into a new class of short-sea shipping vessels.


ULSTEIN X-BOW Container Ship

The ULSTEIN AX104 Bourbon Orca, the first vessel with the ULSTEIN X-BOW , was appointed Ship of the Year 2006,Bourbon Orca Ceremony and served to demonstrate how the Ulstein Group is turning visions into reality while also creating ship history.
However, the benefits of the bow are not restricted to offshore vessels, explains managing director in Ulstein Design Rolf Inge Roth. “The principle features of the ULSTEIN X-BOW® are as relevant for a number of merchant vessel applications as they have proven to be for offshore applications.”

Advantages of ULSTEIN X-BOW® :
• Higher transit speed in adverse weather conditions
• Reduced fuel consumption in head seas and following seas
• Reduced fuel consumption in ballast condition due to improved lightweight distribution
• Negligible slamming reducing the risk of damage to the vessel
• Lower pitch and heave accelerations, and enhanced protection of cargo areas reducing the risk of loss or damage of cargo
• Increased payload capacity for certain applications and configurations
“Particularly small and medium sized vessels engaged in regional trades are set to capitalize on the benefits offered by the http://gcaptain.com/maritime/blog/a-viking-ship-redesigned-for-modern-use/X-BOW®, and we are currently evaluating this feature for use on container feeder vessels, ro-ro vessels and certain general cargo vessels”

Bourbon Orca x-bow Workboat

The pictures and passages are extracted from here.

As I said, what we Malaysians need to do, is to challenge ourselves to look beyond the obvious. In the above example, the Norwegian designer derived inspiration from the hull design of a Viking ship over a thousand years old.

I end by drawing your attention to the trademark ULSTEIN X-BOW® which means that the industrial design has been trademarked and, no doubt, patented. That is the value of intellectual property.

Malaysian educational institutions focusing on industrial designs need to encourage more young Malaysians to think outside the box.

9 comments:

Mat Cendana said...

A Viking ship... By coincidence, I now have some interest in maritime history after a friend had sent a book: "British Sea Power" by David Howarth. It's written in the 70's, but the author's smooth writing style makes it an excellent read.

Anyway, it's great that even people like Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah - a former Finance Minister - reads your blog.

As I had said in a previous comment, don't ever be discouraged should there be a lack of comments to some of your posts. Many people just want to READ what you think, not WRITE. That includes me too most of the time. Heck, I wouldn't even know what to say when it comes to certain topics and issues!

de minimis said...

Hi Mat C

No-lah! Ku Li reads my blog? You jest.

I thought the report was interesting because I, too, have some strange affinity to maritime matters. The Vikings, of course, are mythical and legendary. Their derring-do is well-documented.

I only wish there were more books on the Malay seafarers who managed to work their way from the malays Archipelago to bloody Cape Town, South Africa. Between the two points, the coastline is littered with the Malay disapora.

I would love to read stories of the motivation that got them from Point A to Point B. Was it trade? Was it Islam i.e. backtracking to the source and, further afield). Was it just pure wanderlust and adventurism? Was it piracy?

If that is not the basis for an incredible work of maritime history, then I don't know what else is interesting to Maaysians.

Mat Cendana said...

Tengku has quoted and linked one of your posts here: haste.

de minimis said...

Mat C

I am humbled.

Anonymous said...

Please continue to write. I read your postings regularly because I learn a lot from them. I also linked this blog to my son and daughter so they can start to learn and be inspired by the topics that you write.

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de minimis said...

hi sayangmalaysia

It is a pleasure to know that you find the postings here to be beneficial. Thank you for the positive feedback.

de minimis said...

hi sayangmalaysia

It is a pleasure to know that you find the postings here to be beneficial. Thank you for the positive feedback.

mekyam said...

hi ct,

very interesting this about those norwegian vessels. have to remember to point this entry to a couple of malaysians i know who married vikings.

btw, i don't have to tell you that i'm also one of those regular but stumped-for-words visitors mat c alluded to. :D

though incapable of coming up with anything halfway intelligent to say most of the time, i've never failed to find new things to learn or new perspectives to consider in the topics you blog.

which is why even when i'm hitching on god knows whose wifi to get a temporary connection like now [am at my parents-in-law], yours is one of the few msian sites i stop by.

p.s. oh ya, forgot to mention that i also end up here because i'm a stalker of walla's words [hi walla, if you read this, greetings from the inn valley, sir!]. :D

de minimis said...

hi mekyam

You are too lavish in your praise. But, I take great encouragement from your very encouraging words.

And, I agree that I, too, anticipate the nuggets that walla deigns to throw in this blog whenever he's able to. walla makes this blog look way better than it really is :D