The worlds biggest ship......a question

[2DDav]

Watching The worlds biggest ship on Quest the other night and I have a question, On part of the programme they went to China where some sections of the of the build had been sub-contracted. Large sections of the ship were built and then shipped back to the main yard. To do this they had the use of a Vessel that was specially deisgned for this type of work (I forget the name), the sections were put on the back of the vessel welded in place and then cut off at the other end.

Now my question. When they first showed this vessel they explained that it was designed to carry 9 sections at one time, yet in the footage shown there were only 2 sections put on and transported, which I thought was odd given there was still plenty space for more, and with the size of project it wasnt as though they were finished. Is there any reasoning behind why it more sections were not transported in one go? Surely it cant be cost effective, a bit like sending a lorry out a third empty, or is it just that the money involved in the project it becomes a little bit of a drop in the ocean (no pun intended).

[Fishtigua]

Maybe, just maybe, some of the more complex parts of the ship are added at a later date. The boring middle bits are all the same and can be shipped all together. The bow and stern sections are more complex and are added later.

This is just guesswork as I haven't seen the show.

Edit to add:-

Just watched this video, maybe it was when the ship was turned around that the last two bits were needed?

http://vimeo.com/62085613

[2DDav]

doogz said:

Down time?

Can't have workers sitting about at the build yard with nothing to do because you won't send the barge til you've built enough sections to fill it.

Could be but I had worked on the theory with the likes of this everything would be timed in or around a just on time basis, and if anything they would have sections already sitting on the dock side in advance of requirement especially given the size of the order thats being fulfilled, its not like they are just building 1 and then job done, is it not like 19 in total and they had 3 docks simultaneously building 3 different ships. But then I know nothing about building ships.

[MBBlat]

It could also be due to the weight of individual sections- some will be heavie than others.
Another factor could be the time of year - if stormy weather is expected the barge could have a loading limit.

[Fishtigua]

MBBlat said:

Another factor could be the time of year - if stormy weather is expected the barge could have a loading limit.

Yes, my thought too. Seasonal storms are around there at certain times of the year.

[CarbonXKR]

The Captain did say that it was a rough trip so maybe there were seasonal load restrictions in place???

[davepoth]

The vessel that was carrying the bits probably had another job to do. A specialist ship like that will have a very long list of jobs, all of which have to be scheduled months in advance with enough time to travel between them. They probably only had enough time to load two, and they'll do more at a later date.