The Wizards of Oz
John Snyder reports on how Australians have captured an astonishing 80% slice of the world market for high speed passenger/car vessels
Henderson, Western Australia, looks nothing
at all like the Emerald City of Dorothy's dream. There are no
yellow brick roads, flying monkeys, or wicked witches. And, except
for the occasional odd-shaped aluminum hull frame here or there,
you'd be hard-pressed to find anything out of the ordinary about
the gray fabrication sheds that crouch upon the shore of Jervoise
Bay. That's because the real wizardry takes place inside these
cavernous building bays.
"Oz," as Australia is affectionately called by many
Aussies, is home to most of the foremost builders of aluminum-hulled
fast ferries.
According to the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade), Australian shipyards had a 25% by value market share of total world aluminum shipbuilding sales in 1996-97 and 80% of the high-speed passenger/car ferry market, with an average per unit price of about A$50 million ($33.5 million). Sales in 1997-98 were more than A$650 million ($435.5 million), and are projected to rise to A$1 billion ($670 million) by 2001.
To put it in perspective, right now more than half of the world's high-speed car ferries have been supplied by Australian shipyards. This is a particularly surprising development in a world shipbuilding market that is distorted by subsidies and for a country that virtually stopped building large conventional steel-hulled ships in the mid-1980s. Now, some 95% of Ausatralian commercial shipbuilding is for export. While steel hulled vessels, such as fishing boats, tugs, offshore service vessels, and dredges, are still constructed, Australian shipyards are focused almost entirely on leveraging their aluminum shipbuilding technology. This not only includes their highly refined welding production techniques and skills, but also the use of pioneering lightweight materials in construction, such as composite panels for interiors and new weight-saving, high-strength aluminum alloys. How did all this get started? click here for the history lesson!
Incat 050 TopCat
Forward-thinking fast ferry builder Incat Tasmania
Pty Ltd., Hobart, Tasmania, did not use the traditional 5083
alloy plate in the construction of the Incat 050 TopCat. Instead
it used AA5383 alloy plate from France's Pechiney Rhenalu, and
Alustar plate produced in Germany by Dutch concern Hoogovens
Aluminum. Both alloys offer weight savings and high strength
advantages over traditional plate.
Introduced to shipbuilding in 1995, Pechiney's AA5383 is an aluminum-magnesium alloy. It is approved by all the major classification societies. Det Norske Veritas has classed all of Incat's large fast ferries. Meanwhile, Alustar was developed by Koninklijke Hoogovens as part of a large advanced materials research program. A Hoogovens mill in Germany is able to produce plate for shipbuilding up to 3,300 mm wide.
Wider plate means less welding and, thus, improved productivity at the yard. Other special aluminum and composite extrusions that snap together or offer additional weight savings and higher strengths, simplify and speed the installation of bulkheads and vehicle decks. Also, shipyards generally perform their own joiner work and fitout. It's this willingness to innovate combined with a highly skilled workforce and a well-finished product that's kept Australian fast ferry builders ahead of the pack.
One area where the industry expects to wring out further potential
cost savings and productivity gains is by developing a closer
partnership with local Australia suppliers. Currently, a large
share of onboard equipment is imported.
AUSTAL AIMS FOR THE U.S.
While significant builders are located down south on the island
state of Tasmania and up in the northeast in Queensland, the
heart of Australia's fast ferry industry is clustered in and
around Henderson in Western Australia. The largest of Australia's
seven states (it could easily swallow Texas), Western Australia
exports everything from rock lobsters and iron ore to wine and
petroleum. It accounts for roughly 55% of the country's commercial
shipbuilding production at about $A350 million ($234.5 million)
and almost 20% of the world's new lightweight, high speed ferries
annually.
One of the largest fast ferry builders
and the fiercest rival of Incat Tasmania is Western Australia's
Austal
Ships Pty. Ltd. Led by chairman and managing director John
Rothwell, publicly traded Austal employs some 1,200 workers and
had a turnover of A$182 million in 1997-98. Over the last 18
months, Austal has diversified its portfolio, boosted its production
capabilities, and locked up a good chunk of valuable waterfront
real estate in the process by acquiring its neighbors, Image
Marine Group and Oceanfast.
Austal's McKinnon:"We're not going to pull a Halter!"
"Right now, we're consolidating those
businesses into our overall strategy," Austal Ships general
manager Bob McKinnon told Marine Log. "Image has given us
access to the smaller boat market [as little as 20 m in length],
such as fast ferries, dive boats, police boats. While Oceanfast,
of course, is already a well-known name in luxury yachts."
But McKinnon put the brakes on any ideas that Austal Ships is acquisition hungry. On the contrary, he emphasized that the growth of the company would be focused and incremental. "Look, we're not going to pull a Halter," said McKinnon, referring to the publicly traded U.S. shipbuilder that grew by leaps and bounds through a furious series of acquisitions. "As a public company, you have a responsibility [to shareholders] and you have to have a plan. We have some fairly aggressive growth plans, and the U.S. will figure into the next phase."
While the Jones Act and the Passenger Vessel Services Act prevent
Austal from building directly for the U.S. domestic market, McKinnon
said Austal was currently exploring a joint venture with a U.S.
shipyard through a technology transfer. He also mentioned the
possibility of building directly for U.S. interests that will
operate on international routes, such as U.S. to Canada, Mexico,
or the Caribbean. Cuba, although not yet a political reality,
could eventually become an important tourist destination as well.
Estimates are that as many as 5 million tourists may flock to
the island nation once U.S. sanctions are dropped.
EYES ON EUROPE, TOO
With the Asian tigers still licking their economic wounds, many
Australian builders have turned their attention to Europe. In
particular, what's making the European market so attractive is
not only the replacement of aging conventional RO/RO passenger
tonnage with fast freight ferries, but the
potential for new ocean freight routes that are competitive with
existing air freight services . Similar opportunities for
such services exist in the Caribbean. Right now, there is little
demand for fast freight ferries in Asia.
Austal has won an order from Greek owner
Minoan Flying Dolphins Maritime to build three Auto Express high-speed
vehicle-passenger catamarans. This order follows last year's
delivery of the 48 m high speed catamaran Flying Dolphin 2000.
The three new fast freight vessels, two 72 m and one 92 m Auto
Express ferries, will be deployed on routes in the Cyclades and
Sporades. Delivery will be for the summer season, April and June
2000. The semi-swath hulled Auto Express 92 will halve the travel
time between Piraeus to Santorini to just three hours and 15
minutes.
The 92 m design has capacities for up to 1,050 passengers and
188 cars, and will be powered by four Caterpillar 3618 engines
to service speeds of up to 42 knots. The 72 m versions, meanwhile,
will carry 620 passengers and 70 cars with service speeds of
up to 42 knots. Power will be supplied by four MTU 16V 595 TE70L
diesels.
Notably, the 92 m x 24 m design, with just
a six meter increase in overall length over the Auto Express
86 design, will provide an increased carrying capacity of some
70 tons (470 dwt) or some 20%.
The Jonathan Swift, an Auto Express 86
m high speed vehicle-passenger ferry, was recently delivered
to the Irish Continental Group PLC (Irish Ferries) of Ireland.
The large aluminum catamaran, Irish Ferries' first fast ferry,
has the capacity to carry 800 passengers and 200 cars and will
complete the Irish Sea crossing between Dublin and Holyhead in
one hour and 50 minutes.
Just as notable, Austal landed the order
for the first Australian-built fast ferries to be imported into
Norway. The two 42 m, 358-passenger catamarans are operated by
HSD on a 120 nautical mile route connecting Bergen and Stavanger
on Norway's West Coast.
This past June, it also delivered the 52 m, 42-knot catamaran ferry Cat No. 1 to Germany's AG Reederei Norden-Frisia. Cat No. 1 represents Norden-Frisia's first fast ferry and it will join their fleet of nine conventional passenger ferries in the German Bight.