The National Shipbuilding Research Program, 1992 Ship Production Symposium Proceedings, Paper No. 7B-1 Reducing the Construction Contract Cycle for Naval Auxiliary Ships

Abstract : A Mid-Term Fast Sealift Technology Development Program producibility study was undertaken by the Manufacturing Systems Division (Code 125) of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWC) for the Naval Sea Systems Command Computer Aided Engineering Division, Ship Design and Engineering Directorate, SEA 507. The producibility project team was initially tasked to identify and evaluate possible design improvements with regard to their potential impact upon the cost of construction for the Baseline (BL) Oa rough order of magnitude (ROM) geared-diesel option. This particular design varient is a 30 kt twin screw, 289 m (948 ft.) roll-on/roll-off (RO/RO) vessel with four 18 PC4.2V medium speed diesels producing 85,619 kilowatts (114,817 h.p.) of installed power. The construction cost estimate developed by NAVSEA for this particular design varient is $385 million per ship (I). In addition to the NAVSEA-assigned task, the team reviewed the producibility aspects of the Navy auxiliary ship procurement process with regard to finding methods that would facilitate major reductions in the construction contract cycle, as time is now recognized as a major cost driver in ship procurement (2). The construction contract cycle is defined as the amount of time from construction contract award to delivery, and was estimated by NAVSEA to be 42 months for this particular design varient (3).