Shipbuilding and marine engineering covers a wide range of fields, not only ships but also offshore plants, which play an important role in marine resource development, environmental protection, research, etc. It is essential to understand the importance and characteristics of offshore plants.
When I tell someone that I’m majoring in shipbuilding and marine engineering, they usually ask: “Wow, so you’re going to build ships afterwards?” It’s been four years since I decided on my major, but I’ve never been asked any other question. As you can see, the image people have of shipbuilding and marine engineering is all about “ships” or “vessels”. However, ships are not the only thing that shipbuilding and marine engineering deals with.
In fact, it encompasses much more than just designing and building ships. The discipline encompasses all structures and systems related to the sea, including offshore plants, offshore wind turbines, marine research platforms, and even marine environmental protection equipment. As one of the many branches of marine engineering, offshore plants are now as important as, or even more important than, ships in the world of marine engineering. However, their importance in the current era is woefully under-recognized.
In its broadest sense, offshore plant refers to all infrastructure at sea, including industries that exploit the energy resources of the ocean, desalination plants, nuclear waste facilities, or even maritime buildings such as airports and seaports. However, in the marine engineering world, it is primarily used in a narrower sense: equipment required for resource development activities, such as the exploration, drilling, and production of oil, gas, and other marine resources. As resources and usable space on land have become increasingly scarce, mankind has turned to the sea to tap into an almost infinite storehouse of untapped resources and space. At first, we started with the shallow waters close to land, but as our energy needs have grown, we are now finding ways to tap into the resources of the deep ocean. Offshore plants are the equipment to exploit these ocean resources.
What makes an offshore plant different from a ship? While there are many offshore plants that are completely different from ships, there are also offshore plants that are similar in structure to ships, even to the point of being converted from actual ships. So, what are the characteristics that make offshore plants different from ships? First, unlike ships, offshore plants are fixed in a location with a specific environment for a long period of time. While ships are characterized by their ability to move economically, offshore plants do not need to do so and are often moved with the help of tugboats, even when moving to their installation site. Second, because they are fixed to a specific location, they must be fully optimized for their environment and the nature of the resources to be exploited. Every offshore plant is therefore a one-of-a-kind installation. Unlike ships, whose design is based on a parent ship as a reference, offshore plants are usually designed from scratch and customized to the conditions of the waters in which they will be installed. Third, unlike the ship industry, where shipowners want to reduce transportation costs and shipyards want to be price competitive to compete, in the offshore plant industry, shipowners want safety and reliability of drilling/production and delivery of projects without delays, so shipyards prioritize quality and technology rather than price to meet shipowners’ requirements on time.
So, what are the different types of offshore plants? According to the installation method, offshore plants can be divided into fixed and floating types, and according to their purpose, they can be divided into drilling and production. Installation methods have varied as the scope of offshore installations has expanded from nearshore to offshore waters. In nearshore waters, fixed offshore plants are typically installed, where the lower part of the plant is anchored to the seabed and designed to support its own weight and environmental loads. In remote waters, where the depth of the water makes it difficult to anchor the offshore plant to the seabed, floating offshore plants are installed, which float and are secured in position by a mooring system. Examples of the former include gravity-based structures, jack-ups, and pile-mounted structures, while examples of the latter include barge/vessel-type structures, tension-angle structures, semi-submersible structures, and floating FPSOs.
Offshore plant uses are mainly divided into drilling and production, with jack-ups, drill ships, and semi-submersible structures used for drilling. Production offshore units include fixed platforms, FPSOs, and FPUs.
The world’s energy demand has been on the rise since 2008, and onshore energy resources continue to be depleted. Offshore plants are an alternative solution to this situation and will continue to be needed in the future. Korean industrial companies, which are leading the world’s shipbuilding and offshore industry, are already focusing on offshore plants as their main business, and the government is preparing programs to foster human resources in this field. The Department of Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering at Seoul National University hosts the ‘Offshore Plant Characteristics Education Program’ as part of this system, and has recently increased the number of offshore plant-related classes in its curriculum.
Furthermore, offshore plants are not only used to develop energy resources, but also contribute to marine environmental protection and sustainable development. The skills and experience gained through marine plants can be used to solve a variety of environmental problems, including marine ecosystem preservation, marine debris disposal, and climate change mitigation. For example, marine energy generation using offshore plants plays an important role in reducing the use of fossil fuels and reducing carbon emissions. These environmental benefits make offshore plants even more valuable.
Advances in offshore plant technology also help marine scientific research and exploration. Deep-sea exploration equipment and ocean research platforms provide critical data for marine biodiversity studies, geological exploration, and climate change research. This allows us to gain a deeper understanding of uncharted areas of the ocean and explore ways to sustainably utilize marine resources.
In conclusion, shipbuilding and marine engineering is an important discipline that encompasses not only ships but also various fields such as offshore plants. Offshore plants have great potential in many aspects, including energy resource development, environmental protection, and marine research, and are expected to become more important in the future. As a student majoring in shipbuilding and offshore engineering, it is important to understand these various fields, build expertise, and prepare for future challenges. With the development of offshore plants, the field of shipbuilding and marine engineering will continue to grow, and the possibilities are endless.
