LIFE CYCLE COST OF MAINTAINING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A SHIP'S STRUCTURE AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF SHIP DESIGN PARAMETERS

摘要

In order to maintain shipping capacity to serve seaborne trade, new ships have to be built to replace those scrapped. The cost of building, manning, operating, maintaining and repairing a ship throughout its life is borne by society at large through market mechanisms. This paper investigates, through a cost/benefit analysis, how the average annual cost of ship transport varies with the corrosion additions elected at the design stage. The results of this study clearly indicate that ships built with corrosion allowances dictated by experience, adequate for the ship's design life, when all factors have been taken into account, have a lower Life Cycle cost per annum (AAC) for the maintenance of the integrity of their structure. This despite the fact that they would carry a slightly smaller quantity of cargo and therefore their income over time would be marginally less.