by GuestfromEU » February 3, 2018, 5:40 am
navarch wrote:A new ship would be SIGNIFICANTLY more than $30 million - this high cost is one of the reasons you see old ships being rebuilt and no new ones being built. For example, the Buffalo cost $25 million to build in 1978. Taking into account inflation, that is just under $100 million today!
In a sense, yes, but production flow at shipyards have also improved to bring down overall construction costs. The increase in material costs, however, are a different subject, in addition to design requirements further requiring additional expenditures in a new build construction.
A new build ship would be required to confirm to current regulations, of which existing ships are exempt from in certain respects - for instance, integrated fire detection systems, ballast water treatment systems, various SOLAS rules, and others. These all add to the increase in cost. Economies of scale also play a part, as building three ships of a class is lower cost per unit than building a one-off design.
Fincantieri should consider a partnership as done with NASSCO and DSEC (Daewoo Shipbuilding) or Aker Philly and Hyundai. They could gain expertise of a major shipbuilder in producing subassemblies and engineering work, but use a local yard and labor to assemble the sections, as is done in San Diego and Philadelphia. Bay Shipbuilding has the talent to fabricate ship components, but they cannot beat the efficiency of working with a shipyard that launches a new ship each week. Though, the transportation from ocean coast to inland is likely to offset any gains in cost reductions. The Fincantieri Group brings to the table a history of building cruise ships, yachts, and military vessels...hardly a beacon of efficiency required in commercial ship construction.
[quote="navarch"]A new ship would be SIGNIFICANTLY more than $30 million - this high cost is one of the reasons you see old ships being rebuilt and no new ones being built. For example, the Buffalo cost $25 million to build in 1978. Taking into account inflation, that is just under $100 million today![/quote]
In a sense, yes, but production flow at shipyards have also improved to bring down overall construction costs. The increase in material costs, however, are a different subject, in addition to design requirements further requiring additional expenditures in a new build construction.
A new build ship would be required to confirm to current regulations, of which existing ships are exempt from in certain respects - for instance, integrated fire detection systems, ballast water treatment systems, various SOLAS rules, and others. These all add to the increase in cost. Economies of scale also play a part, as building three ships of a class is lower cost per unit than building a one-off design.
Fincantieri should consider a partnership as done with NASSCO and DSEC (Daewoo Shipbuilding) or Aker Philly and Hyundai. They could gain expertise of a major shipbuilder in producing subassemblies and engineering work, but use a local yard and labor to assemble the sections, as is done in San Diego and Philadelphia. Bay Shipbuilding has the talent to fabricate ship components, but they cannot beat the efficiency of working with a shipyard that launches a new ship each week. Though, the transportation from ocean coast to inland is likely to offset any gains in cost reductions. The Fincantieri Group brings to the table a history of building cruise ships, yachts, and military vessels...hardly a beacon of efficiency required in commercial ship construction.