13 Essential Practices for Successful Newbuilding Supervision in Ship Construction

Effective management of building projects, from initial design and building yard evaluation through contract and specification to final sea trials, plays a critical role in determining the ship’s functionality, safety, and longevity. This includes providing specialists to manage the project and teams for construction supervision, ensuring attention to detail and adherence to quality standards throughout the process.

This article highlights 13 essential practices that significantly improve ship construction quality and efficiency, ensuring smoother operations in the long run. These practices serve as a roadmap for navigating the challenges of building sophisticated, oceangoing vessels, ensuring they meet both technical and commercial expectations while adhering to current and future regulations. Whether you’re a shipowner, project manager, or part of a supervision team, these guidelines will help you achieve successful project outcomes.

Pre-contract Phase

The pre-contract phase focuses on selecting the right vessel’s design to meet owners’ commercial requirements and selecting the right shipyard. Decisions at this stage are critical in aligning the project with budget, quality, and timeline objectives. Evaluating the yard’s technical expertise, adherence to quality standards, and experience ensures a successful project outcome. Detailed yard audits and design reviews allow us to support owners in making informed decisions, setting the foundation for long-term operational success.

Choosing the Right Shipyard

Choosing the right design and shipyard is crucial for ensuring a project’s success. The yard’s technical expertise, provision of technical services, adherence to quality standards, and experience in managing a building project have a profound impact on the vessel’s lifetime operational costs.

Contractual Framework

• Specification: The technical specification of the vessel is one of the most critical documents in the shipbuilding process. Along with the Shipbuilding Contract and the Maker’s List, it defines the technical and operational framework of the vessel. A well-crafted specification includes all key parameters and allows owners to make adjustments that align the vessel with their commercial goals and innovative ship design. Our extensive experience in vessel management and construction ensures that owners receive tailored solutions, expert guidance, and comprehensive technical services throughout this negotiation process.
  
  
• Selecting the Right Makers: Choosing Makers with a wide service network and proven reliability is essential for ensuring smooth operations and efficient maintenance throughout the vessel’s lifecycle. While lower initial costs might seem appealing, the long-term benefits of a robust service network far outweigh the upfront savings. Leveraging insights from managing over 320 vessels and multiple  ship building projects, we help owners identify optimal equipment packages that balance quality, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.
  
  
• A Comprehensive Drawing List : A detailed and comprehensive drawing list is vital to the success of building projects. As part of the contractual documentation, it ensures clarity and alignment on the vessel’s construction details. Typically consisting of over 300 drawings, this list outlines every aspect of the ship and serves as a blueprint for construction. Retaining drawing approval rights in the contract allows owners to influence the construction to their needs and to ensure that the vessel adheres to specifications and complies with regulatory requirements.

Pre-Construction Period

• Effective Plan Approval: The plan approval process is a pivotal stage where the owner has the most influence over the vessel’s construction. Through meticulous drawing reviews and approvals, owners can ensure the design aligns with their expectations and specifications by leveraging comprehensive newbuilding and technical management expertise. This phase requires experienced project managers and subject matter experts, such as naval architects and engineers, to oversee the process. We employ integrated software for efficient drawing management, ensuring streamlined approvals, robust record-keeping and knowledge transfer to future projects
  
  
• Build the Right Supervision Team for the Project: The site manager and site teams play a central role in newbuilding projects, overseeing construction and representing the owner at the yard. The site manager must have extensive experience in shipbuilding supervision, a strong understanding of maritime operations, and excellent management skills. Alongside the site manager, assembling a competent team of experts ensures comprehensive oversight and quality control throughout the project.

Construction Phase

The construction phase is where the plans and designs come to life, making it a pivotal stage in shipbuilding. It requires close oversight, clear communication, and strict adherence to quality and safety standards. Decisions made during this phase impact the vessel's final performance and longevity, underscoring the importance of careful planning and precise execution.

• Transparent Monthly Progress Reports: Effective communication and the provision of technical support and services are critical to managing the shipbuilding process efficiently. Factory Acceptance Tests are conducted to verify that the vessel is built according to contract specifications and standards. A robust reporting system, including monthly progress reports, ensures transparency and keeps all stakeholders informed about project milestones, deficiencies, inspections, shop tests, and financial updates.
  
  By implementing a comprehensive reporting structure, the newbuilding supervision team can facilitate prompt decision-making and proactive problem resolution. Transparent communication fosters trust and helps align all parties toward the common goal of delivering a high-quality vessel.
  
  
• Good Documentation of Claims through Integrated Software: Accurate documentation of claims and non-conformities is vital to ensuring the shipbuilding process meets specifications, approved drawings, and regulations. We use integrated software to record and share findings across current and future projects. This feedback loop helps identify and resolve issues early in the specification review and drawing approval stages, promoting continuous improvement. Proper documentation also ensures that any non-compliance is promptly addressed, safeguarding vessel quality.
  
  
• Comprehensive Newbuilding Supervision - Construction and Commissioning of Machinery, Equipment, and Systems (MES): The commissioning process ensures that all MES function as intended, covering both technical services and operational aspects. However, effective supervision during the construction phase is equally important. This stage guarantees that MES are built according to specifications and integrated properly, laying the foundation for a smooth commissioning process.
  
  During commissioning, our oversight involves verifying MES functionality, compliance with specifications, and addressing deficiencies promptly. Close collaboration with the yard ensures all issues are resolved in a timely manner, minimizing delays and ensuring the vessel is ready for sea trials.
  
  
• Strong Safety Culture: Building ships involves potential hazards, so the site team must be thoroughly briefed on safety procedures before construction begins. These procedures must align with industry best practices and be reviewed regularly. At Wilhelmsen Ship Management, all supervisors undergo proper training to ensure compliance with yard and internal standards.
  
  Unsafe conditions are promptly reported to the yard and the project team to ensure that safety, as well as the construction timeline, are not compromised. It is essential for all parties to clearly understand the safety protocols and follow them at all times.
  
  We foster a culture of accountability where team members are encouraged to report unsafe practices without fear of repercussions. A strong safety culture minimizes risks, boosts construction efficiency, and preserves the integrity of the project.

Delivery Phase

The delivery phase represents the final and critical stage of shipbuilding projects. It ensures the vessel undergoes rigorous testing, validation, and preparation for handover, ensuring it meets all operational and regulatory requirements. A robust quality assurance framework underpins this phase, enabling a smooth transition from construction to active service.

• An Effective System of Documentation and Filing: Maintaining detailed and well-organized documentation and comprehensive technical services and support is essential for a smooth delivery process. All relevant materials, including inspections, tests, manuals, drawings, modifications, and certificates, should be archived in both hard copy and digital formats and handed over to the vessel, the owner, and the manager
  
  A robust documentation system ensures:
  • Efficient tracking of construction and operational milestones.
  • Fast and accurate negotiations during the commercial delivery process.
  • Clear records for reference in future maintenance or claim processes.

• Strong Verification and Validation Process During Sea Trials: Sea trials are the ultimate test of a vessel's performance and functionality, making them a crucial step in any shipbuilding project. This phase pushes the ship to its operational limits, ensuring all systems and components function optimally and as expected.
   
  The newbuilding team must:
  • Verify the functionality of all systems in accordance with specifications.
  • Identify and document any deficiencies or areas needing improvement.
  • Collaborate with the shipyard to address and resolve these issues promptly before final delivery. Comprehensive feedback from the sea trial informs both the shipyard and the crew, ensuring the vessel is fit for its intended operations.

• Structured Handover of New Vessel
  • 1. Technical Delivery Preparation: The delivery preparation phase ensures the vessel is technically ready for delivery. This includes:
    • Coordinating training and familiarization for the crew
    • Ensuring all supplies are onboard
    • Ensuring all certificates, drawings, manuals, and other documents are onboard and updated to as-built standards.
    • Closing any outstanding items
  • In essence, this phase ensures that the vessel can be technically delivered to the owner.
    
    
  • 2. Commercial Delivery Support: This phase focuses on the commercial aspects of the delivery, ensuring the smooth transition to the owner. This includes:
    • Reviewing and preparing delivery documents.
    • Ensuring the accuracy of final lubrication oil invoices.
    • Ensuring that the owner's representative has a clear and comprehensive overview of any outstanding issues.
  • Both phases work together to ensure a seamless and successful handover, addressing both technical and commercial requirements.

• Follow-up on Guarantee Claim Management: The first year of a vessel’s operation is typically covered by a warranty, allowing owners to raise guarantee claims for any deficiencies encountered. Efficient guarantee claim management involves:
  • The project manager should handle warranty claims. This ensures continuity and enables the site team to focus on operations while staying informed about recurring issues, which can be addressed in future vessels of the same project.
  • Claims are systematically incorporated into future designs through software, driving continuous improvement.
  • Aligning processes during construction ensures a smooth transition to technical ship management and minimizes operational challenges.

This proactive approach not only resolves immediate issues but also enhances processes for future projects, ensuring long-term operational success.

Building a ship is a complex, multi-phase process that requires precise planning, expert supervision, and collaborative execution. By adopting the practices outlined in this article, spanning pre-building, construction, and delivery, shipowners can ensure the success of their projects, from initial specifications to the vessel’s operational readiness.

You can visit our Newbuilding Supervision page to learn more about how we can add value to your operations.