Alright, so the culture is cool right? But what about the ships? To be honest with you all, it is a little tricky writing about our experiences in the shipyard. This is because HHI is very concerned with corporate secrets and security. Every one of us signed a non-disclosure agreement, and some of our experiences have pointed to the fact that what we would consider common knowledge, they consider a corporate secret. The pictures you see in this post were found on the internet, including HHI's website.
Anecdotally, we have heard a few stories that put their policies into context. As the story goes, post World War Two Japanese shipyards were the best in the world. Having almost zero functioning industry remaining in August of 1945, they were able to build an industrial base from the ground up and incorporate the technology to go with it. Toyota is an example of this explosion of industry, and is arguably the world’s most copied company. Koreans experienced a similar set of conditions, with the Korean War. Except that the Koreans had the advantage of seeing what their Japanese neighbors were doing right and wrong, and could improve it. Currently Korea has the world’s top three shipyards. HHI in the lead.
In modern times, it is China that is on the rise. And, anecdotally, the Chinese are quite eager to learn exactly how the Koreans are making ships. One of the stories that we have heard involves Chinese classification society representatives. It usually takes two or three classification reps to certify a new engine, but for one particular ship six reps showed up. During the certification, one of the reps went missing and was later found by HHI police to be photographing other parts of the yard. HHI does not allow cameras at all, we know firsthand. There are signs everywhere. Additionally, it has been said that a Chinese shipping company bought a ship from HHI just to take it back to China and copy the design. The truth of these stories is unknown, but everyone at HHI has learned them. The lesson is that secrecy is a priority. So, in order to keep from violating my non-disclosure agreement, I will describe in vague terms how HHI builds a ship.
First, there is steel, and lots of it. There are ships coming into and out of the yard constantly delivering plate steel. HHI claims to be a just in time style company, and I believe it. The steel is cleaned and primed to keep it from rusting and then distributed throughout the yard. The next step is to make small pieces of ship. There are flat pieces, called panels, which can be pieces of decks, parallel midbody (the flat sides of ship), bottom plates etc. These are all made on massive assembly lines with automated welding and cutting where possible. For pieces (or units in HHI parlance) that are curved, there is a totally different assembly line.
To curve steel in complex ways, such as bow and stern plates, line heating is used. This is an ancient art, and despite modern technology remains an art. Basically you take a flat piece of steel, heat one small strip of it and then douse it in water. The contraction of that heated strip curves the metal. By repeating this process over and over, and after many hours, you can develop almost any shape you want. Once all these units have been produced, they are welded together into blocks.
Blocks are the biggest pieces possible that can be moved around the shipyard, or lifted by crane. The transporters at HHI are capable of lifting up to 1000MT, and some cranes up to 1600MT. That tells you how big the blocks are. All shipyards want to do as much outfitting (rigging of pipes, ventilation, wiring, walkways etc.) into their blocks as possible. It is much easier and cheaper to get into the tight spaces of ship when working on a small chunk with daylight and ventilation. HHI is no different, and they call this process pre-outfitting. Blocks are also painted in advance, in the largest paint booth anyone has ever seen.
Next there are the dry docks. A dry dock is ship sized sunken Jacuzzi with a removable dam at one end, holding back the sea. Blocks are lowered one by one into a dry dock where they are welded together. The main engines almost always exceed the capacity of the cranes, so they are lifted in three large pieces. So like legos, piece by piece the ship is erected. Once the blocks are all together, the dock is flooded, the dam removed, and the ship floats out. It is then tied to the quay (pronounced “key” in Korean English) where all the remaining work is completed. This includes final outfitting, dockside testing, cleaning, final painting etc. The ship is then taken to sea trials, and delivered on time every time.
Owners have the right to not accept a ship for delivery if there are deficiencies in the work. Due to the economic crisis, people have ordered ships that they can either no longer pay for, or no longer need. Owners are now checking over things ever more thoroughly to try and find reasons to delay delivery, and thus delay payment. HHI is a quality builder, and they deliver on time every time.
We have toured every one of these processes and more. Shipbuilding is quite cool, but the Engine and Machinery Division really got my attention. HHI is the world’s leading supplier of low speed marine diesels, and also produces the largest one at over 100,000hp. The main brands of low speed diesel are MAN B&W, or Wartsila. HHI is under license to manufacture both these brands. Perhaps the most critical part of the engine is the crankshaft. HHI has developed their own advanced technology to build crankshafts which makes them a large supplier beyond their own yard. They are the world’s leading producer of propellers as well. After having made medium speed diesels under license for generators and power stations, HHI figured they could do it better. They designed their own medium speed diesel brand, called Himsen. The HI-touch Medium Speed Engine, or Himsen, means “strong” in Korean.
Shipbuilding here is a vertically integrated process. If it is part of a ship, HHI probably makes it. This enables them to keep costs down, profits up.
Anecdotally, we have heard a few stories that put their policies into context. As the story goes, post World War Two Japanese shipyards were the best in the world. Having almost zero functioning industry remaining in August of 1945, they were able to build an industrial base from the ground up and incorporate the technology to go with it. Toyota is an example of this explosion of industry, and is arguably the world’s most copied company. Koreans experienced a similar set of conditions, with the Korean War. Except that the Koreans had the advantage of seeing what their Japanese neighbors were doing right and wrong, and could improve it. Currently Korea has the world’s top three shipyards. HHI in the lead.
In modern times, it is China that is on the rise. And, anecdotally, the Chinese are quite eager to learn exactly how the Koreans are making ships. One of the stories that we have heard involves Chinese classification society representatives. It usually takes two or three classification reps to certify a new engine, but for one particular ship six reps showed up. During the certification, one of the reps went missing and was later found by HHI police to be photographing other parts of the yard. HHI does not allow cameras at all, we know firsthand. There are signs everywhere. Additionally, it has been said that a Chinese shipping company bought a ship from HHI just to take it back to China and copy the design. The truth of these stories is unknown, but everyone at HHI has learned them. The lesson is that secrecy is a priority. So, in order to keep from violating my non-disclosure agreement, I will describe in vague terms how HHI builds a ship.
First, there is steel, and lots of it. There are ships coming into and out of the yard constantly delivering plate steel. HHI claims to be a just in time style company, and I believe it. The steel is cleaned and primed to keep it from rusting and then distributed throughout the yard. The next step is to make small pieces of ship. There are flat pieces, called panels, which can be pieces of decks, parallel midbody (the flat sides of ship), bottom plates etc. These are all made on massive assembly lines with automated welding and cutting where possible. For pieces (or units in HHI parlance) that are curved, there is a totally different assembly line.
To curve steel in complex ways, such as bow and stern plates, line heating is used. This is an ancient art, and despite modern technology remains an art. Basically you take a flat piece of steel, heat one small strip of it and then douse it in water. The contraction of that heated strip curves the metal. By repeating this process over and over, and after many hours, you can develop almost any shape you want. Once all these units have been produced, they are welded together into blocks.
Blocks are the biggest pieces possible that can be moved around the shipyard, or lifted by crane. The transporters at HHI are capable of lifting up to 1000MT, and some cranes up to 1600MT. That tells you how big the blocks are. All shipyards want to do as much outfitting (rigging of pipes, ventilation, wiring, walkways etc.) into their blocks as possible. It is much easier and cheaper to get into the tight spaces of ship when working on a small chunk with daylight and ventilation. HHI is no different, and they call this process pre-outfitting. Blocks are also painted in advance, in the largest paint booth anyone has ever seen.
Next there are the dry docks. A dry dock is ship sized sunken Jacuzzi with a removable dam at one end, holding back the sea. Blocks are lowered one by one into a dry dock where they are welded together. The main engines almost always exceed the capacity of the cranes, so they are lifted in three large pieces. So like legos, piece by piece the ship is erected. Once the blocks are all together, the dock is flooded, the dam removed, and the ship floats out. It is then tied to the quay (pronounced “key” in Korean English) where all the remaining work is completed. This includes final outfitting, dockside testing, cleaning, final painting etc. The ship is then taken to sea trials, and delivered on time every time.
Owners have the right to not accept a ship for delivery if there are deficiencies in the work. Due to the economic crisis, people have ordered ships that they can either no longer pay for, or no longer need. Owners are now checking over things ever more thoroughly to try and find reasons to delay delivery, and thus delay payment. HHI is a quality builder, and they deliver on time every time.
We have toured every one of these processes and more. Shipbuilding is quite cool, but the Engine and Machinery Division really got my attention. HHI is the world’s leading supplier of low speed marine diesels, and also produces the largest one at over 100,000hp. The main brands of low speed diesel are MAN B&W, or Wartsila. HHI is under license to manufacture both these brands. Perhaps the most critical part of the engine is the crankshaft. HHI has developed their own advanced technology to build crankshafts which makes them a large supplier beyond their own yard. They are the world’s leading producer of propellers as well. After having made medium speed diesels under license for generators and power stations, HHI figured they could do it better. They designed their own medium speed diesel brand, called Himsen. The HI-touch Medium Speed Engine, or Himsen, means “strong” in Korean.
Shipbuilding here is a vertically integrated process. If it is part of a ship, HHI probably makes it. This enables them to keep costs down, profits up.
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