Synopsis:

The Galleon was considered a masterpiece of shipbuilding in the sixteenth century, but from a modern point of view, the shape of her hull looks archaic and primitive. Common understanding of this opinion is that ancient shipwrights do not have our knowledge about ships - only when the science of shipbuilding was developed in 18-19 centuries, shipbuilders had ability to create the fast and efficient ships. And indeed, we know that during this period, the shapes of hulls of sailing ships have been improved significantly.

However, how accurate is this perception? Is the hull form of Galleon primitive? What were the reasons for its unique design features? This study investigates these questions by directly analysing the hull’s features from the point of view of modern ship’s theory, as well as from a historical perspective.

A careful evaluation of specific design criteria of a typical Galleon, together with analysing a 3D model of its hull on modern software, with further insight for the seakeeping behaviour of Galleon with a comparison to more modern full-rigged ship-Barque of XIX century, showed that these features were not random, but instead had a good rationale behind it, and served specific and carefully decided functions, required at the time.

About the Speakers:

Rasim Asgarov, is a Naval Architect with more than 30 years of experience in offshore shipbuilding.

He is a Fellow Member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (UK) and a Fellow member of Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (UK). From 1999 he is also a Chartered Engineer in the UK Engineering Council.

He was graduated in 1979 from Odessa Marine Engineering Academy, and from 1989 to 1992 he completed Postgraduate Course in Azerbaijan Polytechnic Academy.

In the past, he was involved in many major projects of such companies as SOCAR, BP, McDermott, SantaFe, Technip, JDC, Prosafe, Global Maritime in the different countries. He has involved in offshore operations as a Barge Engineer, in marine R&D as Research Engineer, in fabrication and installation of Fixed platforms, in design and construction of FPSOs, Semi-submersible Drilling Rigs, Jack ups and Fixed Platforms as a Lead project engineer/Project manager.

Overall, Rasim has lived and worked in Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Norway, Korea, US, Malaysia, and Singapore.

From 2002 to till now the author is an active member on Council of Joint Branch of RINA & IMAREST in Singapore. During 2003-2005, 2013-2014, 2019-2021 Rasim was served as an Honorary Secretary of Joint Branch, and in 2010-2012 he was a Vice Chairman of Joint Branch.

He is author of 12 technical publications and 3 patents. His current research interests are Floating farms/ shipyards/ residency and Maritime History/Heritage of Singapore

Dr Arun Dev, a Naval Architect & Marine Engineer by profession, has over 20 years of experience in ship design, especially Tugs, Offshore Support Vessels, FPSOs/FSOs, Offshore Jackets, etc. He has designed many inland and coastal vessels also in his earlier career while working at BIWTA Bangladesh. He is also familiar with rules and regulations of IMO, various Flag State Administration, and International Classification Societies.

Dr Arun Dev received his BSc(Eng) in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering from BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 1977, followed by an MSc by research in Marine Offshore Technology from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, the UK, in 1985. He also worked as a Research Scientist at Delft University of Technology (TUDelft), Delft, The Netherlands, where he obtained his PhD in 1996.

He worked in shipyards in Singapore like Jurong Shipyard and Keppel Singmarine in various positions. Since 2003, he has worked at Keppel Singmarine as Deputy General Manager (Technical) and worked as General Manager of Marine Technology Development Pte Ltd, a ship design & development arm of the Keppel group. Dr Arun Dev believes in a more straightforward design with more remarkable performance. He also has experience in QC&QA, ISO 9001, project engineering management, marine & offshore production, etc.

Apart from industry experiences, Dr Dev has also taught at University Technology Malaysia (UTM), Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA) and is now working as Associate Professor, Newcastle University in Singapore, where he joined first as its Founding Director in 2008.

Dr Arun Dev is a Fellow of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), USA, Fellow of The Royal Institution of Naval Architect (RINA), UK, Fellow of Institute of Marine Engineering Science & Technology (IMarEST), UK and Fellow of The Energy Institute (EI), UK. He was Chairman of the Joint Branch of RINA & IMarEST (Singapore) and served many years in the Council in various positions. He has also organized the first International Conference on technology and operation of OSVs in Singapore since 2005 biennially quite successfully, held six times.

Dr Dev has published more than 100 technical papers in various international conferences, journals, etc. he received Lifetime Achievement Award from the Singapore JB in 2019 and received a Certificate of Appreciation from RINA, UK. His current research interests are Decarbonisation (zero-carbon shipping, transitional fuels, shipping sustainability), Floating Solutions (small city island, offshore renewables) and Digitalisation.