Improving Process Safety in Shipbuilding

Abstract

 In the early 1990s, after losing the eastern market due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the strategic goal of the Slovak Shipyard Komárno (SLK a.s. Komárno) was to transition to the western market and change the focus of its products from river ships to river-sea and eventually sea cargo ships. Simultaneously, they shifted from mass production to custom and small series production. In this article, we analyze this significant change in light of the steps taken to improve the safety of shipyard processes. At SLK a.s., ensuring the safe execution of processes necessitated accelerating the development of new ships and the preparation of construction manufacturing documentation. Therefore, the management of SLK a.s. decided to purchase specialized 3D CAD systems for creating electronic models and subsequently preparing manufacturing documentation.