Green shipbuilding is the need of the hour and R&D should focus on the vital aspect for long-term and sustainable maritime activity, according to S.C. Misra, Director of Visakhapatnam campus of Indian Maritime University, here.
He told reporters here on Tuesday that the Visakhaptnam campus was running two schools - a school of naval architecture and ocean engineering and a school of maritime design and research. The SMDR along with the Institution of Naval Architects is holding a three-day seminar here from December 6 to December 8 on technology for sustainable maritime activity.
Misra said the main focus would be on reduction of the so-called greenhouse gases and carbon emissions by altering the design of the ship and the engine. "We need to design ships which run on clean fuels such as LNG and one such ship is being built at Bharti Shipyard in the country for a Norwegian owner. There is also a need to reduce ballast water for running the ships. Ballast water displacement is a huge problem, as it may cause harm to marine species. There is also need to improve the special non-TBT paints used in ship manufacture to reduce corrosion and anti-fouling besides mitigating pollution. These are some of the key research areas on which papers will be presented in the seminar," he explained.
He said four eminent speakers - two from abroad and two from within the country - would deliver key-note addresses on the four key areas. Gokarn would speak on green ships, Hasegawa from Osaka University (Japan) on ship operation and collision avoidance, M. Sudhakar (of the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences) on ocean resources and Chengi Kuo on sustainability. He said 39 papers would be presented and students of IMU here would also present eight papers in addition.
Misra said the Visakhapatnam campus of IMU was offering a four-year B.Tech course in naval architecture and a two-year PG M.Tech course in the same subject. A two-year PG course in dredging and harbour engineering was also being offered. He said the student would have to pay Rs 2.25 lakh a year for the four-year course in naval architecture inclusive of the boarding and lodging expenses.
Besides, the campus was offering consultancy services for various industries and also conducting short-term courses in dredging and related subjects for them. The industries would have to bear all the expenses, he said. After studying the four-year course in naval architecture, he said, the student could expect entry level salary of Rs 30,000-50,000 a month and many industries were willing to employ the students.