Yards Moving Forward - GL Group

Dear Readers,
As a worthy successor to the very successful “Posidonia”
shipping exhibition, which took place in Athens in June, the
leading fair “Shipbuilding, Machinery and Marine
Technology” (SMM) will be held in Hamburg at the end of
September. For us, the SMM offers the unique opportunity of
showing our customers, both national and international, the
wide spectrum of proven and new classification services
which Germanischer Lloyd can offer – all on our home turf.
Our trade show “firsts” this time consist of innovative
solutions for the operative challenges that shipping companies,
yards and the supply industry have to face every day.
For shipping companies, we have developed a comprehensive,
efficient and expandable program for ship and fleet
management. The “GL ShipManager” combines tried-andtested
software programs, such as “fleet online” for the plan- Dr. Hermann J. Klein
ning of classificatory and statutory survey dates, and “SAMS”,
which simplifies and automates all the administrative
sequences of shipboard operations to a large degree. Besides its improved ease of use, the new
package improves the quality standard of the shipping company, reduces the operating expenses
of fleet management, creates a secure channel for data exchange, and offers comprehensive
system integrity.
With “GL ShipLoad”, we are presenting a new, user-friendly software tool for yards and design
offices. Thanks to its far-reaching support in modelling the cargo distribution as well as its efficient
and accurate calculation of the hydrodynamic loads, strength assessments of the hull structure
can be accelerated greatly.
Tangible benefits in terms of time and quality are also offered by “GL Pegasus” to the contractors
all over the world who measure the residual steel thickness of ships’ hulls on behalf of the
shipping companies. This new software has put the work of data acquisition, information
exchange, and evaluation of the thickness measurements on an electronic basis for the very first
time.
The examinations performed in the new testing laboratory for materials and components in
Hamburg-Harburg also belong to the services offering an immediate benefit in terms of quality
gained and time saved. With this “technical pathology” centre, we can speedily give you
the evidence of fatigue, faulty maintenance or external force, making it possible to identify the
causes of material failure without delay.
For topical reasons, this issue of nonstop is focusing on the German shipbuilding industry.
The yards in Germany are profiting from the worldwide order boom and are enjoying the sight of
full order books. The strategy of the yards is directed towards building technologically sophisticated
ships of high quality, the progressive automation of production processes and the tailoring
of special solutions to meet the customer’s specific needs. But see for yourself how successfully
the German shipbuilding sector and its supply industry are asserting themselves.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Hermann J. Klein
Member of the Executive Board
EDITORIAL
nonstop 3/2006 3