The construction process listed below is general, and some of the initial areas often overlap with the design stage.
Contract and Specifications:
These can either be 2 separate documents or combined into 1. They may be supplied by the shipyard or written up from scratch by the client and their representatives. For the moment lets treat these as 2 separate documents.
Contract:
This outlines what is being purchased and what the clients and shipyards responsibilities are. It will state the price of the project, the start date and the time to complete it, where and when it will be delivered, warranty period, any penalties which may arise from certain situations, what is to happen in the event of a dispute between the contracting parties etc. It is legally binding and as such should be carefully checked over, by yourself, your representatives, and a lawyer. The shipyard will generally have a generic contract which can be modified until yourself and the shipyard agree. Along with this contract will be a payment schedule, which outlines when certain amounts of the contract price are to be transfered to the shipyard as certain milestones are achieved.
Specifications:
This document outlines how the vessel is to be built. It can be anything from 30 to 300 pages long, and contains a lot of technical details. It lists all the materials to be used from the type and thickness of the hull plating, to the maximum moisture content of the wood used on the interior cabinetry. It details how the various systems are to be laid out and constructed, a lot of the specifics of what is expected of each system, the sizes of the equipment, lighting numbers, hatch sizes, bathroom fixtures, gearbox models, the list goes on. It is very important to have someone with a lot of technical background as your representative to go through the specifications to make sure that all of these details are correct. Once the specifications are completed any further adjustments to be made to these will be written up as change orders and charged at a rate which is included in the Contract. This document can take a long time to draw up and finalise, and should be very detailed.
Surveying:
During the entire build process various surveys and surveyors will be employed to make sure the vessel is constructed and functions to certain criteria. The client may have his own surveyor who inspects the vessel 3 or 4 times during the build, and discusses any issues that might be arising with the clients representative. The shipyard will have a class surveyor who will have checked the drawings before construction starts, and will continue to monitor the build to make sure it conforms to which ever class society you are building the vessel to (RINA, BV, ABS etc). Some shipyards also build to an MCA (Maritime Classification Society) class, which is a more stringent safety classification. This is extremely advantageous from a resale point of view. The MCA will also provide a surveyor to make sure their rules are also being followed, who will inspect the vessel 3-5 times during the construction project.
Construction:
Lofting:
This is the beginning of the construction process and requires the steel plates which will be used to make the hull to be cut out and assembled on a workshop floor. The plates are cut using a C&C plasma cutter, which is simply a robotic plasma cutter (cuts with an electrical arc instead of a gas flame) which is run by a computer that accepts CAD (Computer Aided Drawings). The drawings are loaded into the cutter, and the plasma arm moves up and down the cutter frame cutting the plate, which sits on a bed full of water to extinguish the molten metal and prevent the plate from warping from a build up of heat. From the cutter the plates move to the lofting floor after being inspected and any small burrs being ground off. The floor is marked with details of how each frame is to be assembled. Each frame will consist of many pieces of metal of different shapes which will be required to be welded together precisely to make one frame, and each piece is scribed out on the floor. As each frame is finished it is moved to a place where they are stacked until they are needed on the hull.
Hull Construction:
The keel is laid and a laser beam is used to make sure that this is perfectly straight. The keel extends from the top of the bow of the hull, to the aft of the swim platform. The frames are then welded onto the keel one by one, between the watertight bulkheads, and braced with bars until the longitudinals can be welded in place to give the structure support. Once most of the frames are in place the basic piping and tank work can be commenced. The hull plating is then welded into place, and all of the equipment bases, like the main engine and generator supports, are installed.
Superstructure Construction:
While the main deck and hull are being assembled the other 2 decks are cut, lofted, and then welded as complete units. Once these are complete, and the main deck is welded in place, these are lifted onto the vessel and welded. As the hull is steel, and the superstructure is aluminium, a product called Tri-Clad is used which is simply a square bar with one half steel, and one half aluminium. These are fused together under extremely high pressure which bond the 2 metals on a molecular level, and so no electrolytic corrosion takes place.
Carpentry:
The carpentry is begun for the interior of the whole vessel. Each deck is laid out in the carpentry workshop with each cabin being assembled piece by piece, until you can walk through an entire deck from bow to stern, as if it were already on board. This area is one of the most labour intensive and time consuming tasks in the whole vessel build, and will continue for the length of the build programme.
System Installation:
Next the systems are installed, beginning with the piping and wiring. These systems include the fuel system, fresh, black and grey water systems, air conditioning, hydraulics, ventilation, power generation, navigation and entertainment systems, galley, and the list continues. Each one of these must be carefully managed to make sure of proper installation and correct function. Once each system is completed all the piping must be blown out to make sure they are clear of any debris, wiring checked, and a “dry” run is completed. Once the manager is happy that the system should start up, it is “boxed” up until the commissioning stage at the end of the build project.
Coatings:
Before any coating can be applied the substrate must be checked over for any corrosion which may have begun during the build process so far. Once this has been removed then a primer is applied, depending upon the metal it is applied to. After this a fairing compound is applied to all of the surfaces. Once applied and allowed to dry, this fairing is sanded over and over again until all of the defects are sanded out. This may mean that the fairing must be reapplied many times until all of the defects are removed, and the vessel is then called fair. From here a high build primer is sprayed on and the whole vessel is sanded once more. The vessel is now ready for top coating. This may be postponed until the project nears completion. There is also the underwater hull coating, which will consist of primers, epoxy barrier coats, and anti fouling coatings to complete this.
Commissioning:
When the vessel is nearly completed it is ready to be launched into the water and dockside commissioning and trials can begin. Typical dockside trials include the generators, main engine runing and gearbox engaging, air conditioning, fresh water treatment systems, hydraulics, fire and hotel systems. One by one the systems are started up and put through their paces. Each one is checked for correct operation, and any alterations needed are completed or noted for further investigation. Once the vessel and systems are stable then the sea trials can begin. During the sea trials the vessels handling can be checked, drive train checked, all the navigation systems are checked, watermakers, stabilisers, vessel speed and fuel consumption. This will generally require a few sea trials so the initial problems are identified, remedied, then trialed again for confirmation.
Paperwork and Handover:
Once the vessel is fully functional and the owners representative and the surveyors are happy that it has been completed to each of their criteria, the vessel is ready for hand over. The various class societies issue temporary class certificates, the shipyard provides the necessary paperwork, the vessel is registered with a registration authority, radio license is obtained etc. Once all of this paperwork is completed then the vessel is officially signed over to the new owner at the said place in the contract. Apart from any warranty issues which may arise over the warranty period, the contract is now closed.
This completes the superyacht construction process. Although it may appear brief as written here, it is a huge task and consumes an incredible amount of time. It must be carefully supervised not only by the shipyards management, but also by the owners representative to make sure every detail is taken care of. When done correctly building a new superyacht can be an extremely rewarding and satisfying experience. Please feel free to contact us should you have any further queries.