Section 1. General classification of civil ships

Words and Terms to be Remembered

Read the text and find the answers to the following questions.

1. Why is shipbuilding one of the most important assembly industries?
2. What is a building berth?
3. What must the naval architect and the shipowner coordinate?
4. What are the production stages in ship construction?

Shipbuilding is one of the most important assembly in­dustries in the world. There are more individual pieces in the ship than in any mobile structure made by man. The shipyard is the place where all the pieces of structure are brought together, put into their proper positions and made into the living ship. The place where the ship is built in the shipyard is known as the building berth.

Ships are designed by naval architects. The largest ship­ping companies have their own naval architects. In Europe and Japan shipyards employ naval architects to design a ship for a customer, or offer basic designs which can be varied to suit the customer's needs. Shipowners may also go to indepen­dent firms of shipping consultants and ask their naval architects to design a ship for them.

When shipowners decide to order a new ship, they tell the naval architect the cargo they want the ship to carry. They also tell him what routes the ship will ply and the desired speed. They put limits on the ship's dimensions and on the price that they are prepared to pay. The ship must also comply with the rules of the classification society and international regulations. Economic, engineering and safety factors all govern the design of a ship. The building of a ship follows a well-ordered sequence of events:

1) Securing contract for building;

2) Preparing the working drawings, the moulds, etc.;

3) Ordering of material for construction;

4) Machine-shop processes;

5) Erection operations at the building berth;

6) Welding or riveting the portions of the ship together;

7) Testing watertight or oiltight parts for "tightness";

8) Launching;

9) Fitting out and installing the main and auxiliary machi­nery;

10) The trial trip and delivery.

After the vessel has been ordered, the plans are completed in the drawing-office. Today shipbuilding begins in the design office, where computers are used to help develop a variety of designs. The preferred design is refined on the drawing board and then translated into digital signals and fed back into the computer. The final plans must be approved by a classification society such as Lloyd's Register of Shipping. This is necessary if the owner wants his ship to be classed. While the ship is being built, constant checks are made to make sure she is being built to the standards of the society. Classification will show that the ship is seaworthy and able to carry the cargo she has been designed to carry. The plans required by the classification society for the new ship may be termed the master plan, and at this stage all the technical data con­cerning speed, power for propulsion, deadweight, cubic ballast, bunker capacities, trim, shape and propeller design are finally checked. Then follows the preparation of the lines plan, the working model, the plans required by the engine builders and the drawings of stern casting and forgings. The final design is studied for practical production modifications, and then, using computer-aided manufacturing techniques, the design is passed on to numerically controlled cutting and bending machines. Additional computer programs are used to ensure that as many ship parts as possible are cut from each steel plate to avoid wasting material.

Nowadays a shipyard is organized so that each stage in the building of a ship is done in a continuous chain of shops. Each shop is linked by conveyor rollers and moving cranes on rails. First of all, steel plates and bars are taken from the stockyard to the preparation shop. Here they are cleaned by shot (sand) blasting and are coated with a primer paint to prevent corrosion. Then they are cut and shaped automatically by machines. Cutting is done by gas torches and shaping by giant presses. After that, the pieces are welded together in prefabrication (assembly) sheds to form sections. The prefabricated sections are then transferred to the building berth where they are lifted into position by giant cranes. Most ships are assembled on sloping ways which extend inland from the water's edge. Other ships are built in dry docks or graving docks. On the ways or in the dock a temporary framework supports the ship while it is being built. The ship's keel, the bottommost line of plates along her centerline is laid within the framework. Construction proceeds upward and outward. Large segments of the ship are subassembled in the shipyard shops, then brought to the ways and welded into place.

Exercises and assignments

Ex. 1. Give all the words that can be derived from the following verbs. Find in the text the sentences in which these verbs or their derivatives are used and translate them into Russian.

Assemble, fabricate, industry, consult, construct, erect, weld, draw, numerate, employ, blast, deliver, prefer, modify, regulate.

Ex. 2. Match the words on the left with their synonyms on the right:

Ex. 3. Review the vocabulary items. Match the definition with vocabulary item.

Ex. 4. Fill in the blanks. Make use of the appropriate words from the text.

1. Ships are designed by _________.

2. The ship must comply with _________.

3. The shipbuilding begins in the _________ where computers are used.

4. Steel plates and bars are taken from _________ to _________.

5. The steel plates are coated with _________ to prevent _________.

6. The pieces are welded together in _________ to form _________.

7. A temporary _________ supports the ship on the building berth.

8. The place where the ship is built in the shipyard is known as _________.

9. The shipowner tells the naval architect what _________ the ship will ply and _________.

10. Economic, engineering and _________ factors govern the design of a ship.

Ex. 5. Study this diagram which shows each stage the plates and bars go through on their way to the building berth; read the following sentences and arrange them in the correct sequence. The first has been done for you.

(1) The units are carried to the building berth by giant cranes.
(2) In the platers' shop they are cut to the correct size by gas torches.
(3) They are conveyed to the preparation shop by magnetic cranes.
(4) In the assembly shop they are joined together to form larger units.
(5) The steel plates and bars are off-loaded from lorries or railway wagons.
(6) At the building berth the units are welded together to form the hull.
(7) They are transferred to the platers' shop by conveyor rollers.
(8) In the preparation shop they are coated with primer paint to prevent corrosion.
(9) They are transferred to the assembly shop by cranes or conveyor rollers.
(10) In the platers' shop they are shaped by different presses and rollers.
(11) The steel plates and bars are stored in the stockyard ready for processing.
(12) In the preparation shop they are cleaned by shot blasting.

Section 1. General classification of civil ships

Words and Terms to be Remembered

Read the text and find the answers to the following questions.

1. What are the main indications of ships' classification?
2. Into what groups can all sea-going ships be divided according to their duties?
3. What types of ships are included into the fishery group?
4. What types of ships are referred to special ones?

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION OF SHIPS

All civil ships can be classified according to the following principles:

1) Sailing area - sea going ships (deep-sea unlimited and coastal navigation), roaders, inland water ships and "sea-river" ships.

2) Kind of main machinery - motor ships (diesel engine), turbine driven ships (steam or gas turbine), electro-driven ships (electro-motor), nuclear powered ships (nuclear reactor).

3) Type of propulsion device - ships with screw propeller, water jet and vane propeller devices, paddle, sails.

4) Architectonic-structural type - number of hulls (catamaran, trimaran), number and position of superstructures, decks; position of the engine room.

5) Kind of material employed in hull structure - steel, light-alloyed, plastic, wooden, iron-cement, composite ships.

6) Duty of a ship, that is the service they are designed for.

According to the last principle all civil ships can be divided into transport, fishing ships, special service and technical fleet ships. Transport ships can carry passengers and cargo. In international law any ship with space for more than 12 passengers is a passenger ship. These ships range from ferries with passenger accommodation to luxurious cruise ships which carry more than 2000 passengers around the world. Passenger liners are employed on regular routes according to a fixed schedule. Nowadays the number of passenger vessels has been greatly reduced because of competition from air transport.

The group of fishery ships includes fishing (fish-catching) ships - trawlers, seiners, etc., - floating fishery mother ships or factories for processing the catch and for supplying service to the crews of fishing ships. There are fish searching and fishery research ships as well.

The group of special ships consists of auxiliary or service ships. Among them are ice-breakers, used for keeping open a navigable passage through ice; tugs used for towing or assisting vessels at sea; fire-fighting ships fitted with fire-fighting equipment for assisting vessels against damage by fire; rescue (salvage) ships fitted with special equipment for salving stranded vessels and for towing.

Referred to special service ships are research ships, medical and training ones. Technical fleet includes the facilities which allow to perform technical maintenance of various ships, port industry and waterways. Among them are dredgers used for deepening channels and harbors, floating cranes, floating workshops, cable-layers, floating docks. Technical facilities for developing the continental shelf and World Ocean include drilling rigs, drilling ships, pipe-layers.

Exercises and assignments

Ex. 1. Study the diagram of ship classification. Consult the text and vocabulary items.

Ex. 2. Match the words on the left with their synonyms on the right. Find in the text all the sentences in which they are used and translate them into Russian:

Ex. 3. Find in the text the sentences with the words of the same roots and translate them into Russian:

classify, sail, navigate, machine, propel, architect, accommodate, compete, fish, process, supply, salving, facilitate, maintain.

Ex. 4. Fill in the blanks. Make use of the appropriate words from the text.

1. Transport ships can carry _________ and _________.

2. Passenger liners are employed on _________ routes according to a _________.

3. The number of passenger vessels has been reduced because of _________ from air transport.

4. The fishery ships include fishery floating mother ships for _________ the catch.

5. Icebreakers keep open a _________ through ice.

6. Technical fleet includes _________ to perform technical _________ of various ships.

7. Architectonic-structural type indicates the number of _________, _________ and _________.

8. Screw propeller, water jet and vane propellers are _________.

Ex. 5. Match the listed types of ships with the definitions of their duties.

Ex. 6. Choose the terms under the line below for the following definitions:

1) a ship intended for or carrying more than 12 passengers;

2) a vessel used directly for catching fish or for catching and processing the catch;

3) a ship specially intended for the towage and pushing of other ships and floating facilities;

4) a ship provided with a main propulsion plant using nuclear energy;

5) a luxurious motor-ship designed for pleasure voyages;

6) a vessel designed for the carriage of supplies and cargoes to the mobile and fixed units;

7) ships employed for laying down, maintenance and repairs of cables and pipes.

pipe-layer, cable layer, nuclear ship, supply vessel, tug, passenger ship, cruise ship, fishing ship.

Date: 2014-12-28; view: 1880