Editorial

Dear readers of International Shipbuilding Progress,

Let me take a brief moment to introduce myself. My name is Peter Wellens and I work in the Ship Hydromechanics Laboratory of Delft University of Technology. The main line of my research involves developing numerical, experimental and analytical methods to assess the interaction between steep and violent free surface waves and maritime structures. Singular wave interaction events cause damage; damage that in some cases can prevent a ship’s safe return to port. Such cases are not even that rare, as Lloyd’s reports show that dozens of ships are lost at sea every year. I would like to see my work contribute to preventing dramatic consequences of wave interaction with maritime structures.

This is the first issue of International Shipbuilding Progress (ISP) for which I have been able to supervise the entire process of submission, review, revision and publication. There have been many issues before this one; ISP has a tradition dating back to 1954. Presently, ISP has an engaged publisher in IOS Press, a strongly committed Foundation ISP and a group of editors that is both knowledgable and enthusiastic. I am proud to have become a member of this group of people.

We are at an important stage in the development of the offshore economy. An increasing part of the infrastructure for energy generation is moving offshore and there are plans for other crucial activities to increase their offshore developments as well, such as food production in the form of aquaculture. With much of the exclusive economic zones of many countries already allocated, new developments will have to move even further offshore, with strong implications for how people will travel to, operate and maintain these installations. Maritime research is required to address these challenges and it is the ambition of ISP to be a part of disseminating the research outcomes.

Articles are only part of the research outcomes. In the editorial board we have recently finished a procedure for sharing research data from – for instance – experiments in a way that credits the researchers that collected the data. And from now on we will encourage researchers to share what code they can so that the maritime community may benefit from their effort and so that other researchers can contribute to existing accomplishments. It is interesting to mention that articles in ISP with co-authors from universities in the Netherlands are published open-access.

Two articles in this issue feature links to repositories where the researchers have shared their code developments. Enjoy this new issue and the research outcomes contained within!

All the best,

Peter Wellens

Editor-in-chief