Shipbuilding Technology

When I was studying Naval Architecture in the University of Pattimura of Ambon city in the South Moluccan islands, I took a lecture named Shipbuilding Technology. The textbook that we used as our main reference was Shipbuilding Technology. It was written by V.K. Dormidontov, T.V. Arefyev, N.A. Kiseleva, V.K. Kuzmenko, E.I. Nikitin, S.M. Turunov.
Shipbuilding technology that is discussed in this book is the processes involved in the construction of seagoing steel ship from the design stage, the mould loft works, the cutting and welding of plates and frames to the joining of sections and blocks to form a hull, the installation of propulsion machinery and equipment, and finally to the launching of the the vessel as a floating structure.
Although the book can be considered as an old book now, the contents are still relevant with the current needs of naval architects who work at shipyards constructing ships or boats.
Shipbuilding Technology is divided into 7 parts as follows:

1. General Features of Modern Shipbuilding, Preparatory Work
2. Mould Loft Work
3. Fabrication of Hull Components
4. Prefabrication of Hull Assemblies and Sections
5. Fabrication of Blocks and Assembly on Building Berth
6. Installation and Fitting Out
7. Launching and Trials

Part 2 of the book, the Mould Loft Work explains in details how the lines plan of a ship are laid off into full scale. Besides explaining manual lofting, the book also mentions that the mold loft works can be done using photo-projection apparatus using scale lofting of 1/5 or 1/10 with the levels of accuracy that are better than full scale lofting but 60 % less work.

When I took an internship or on the job training in PT PAL of Surabaya - the largest state owned shipyard in Indonesia, I asked the workers in the Mould Loft department whether they applied Scale Lofting techniques using photo-projection apparatus. They said no. It was in 1998. I was surprised to find out that Sovyet shipyards had been using more advanced technique before 1966. Remember that the Shipbuilding Technology was published in 1966.
The workers in the mould loft department of PT PAL Shipyard said that the company use to have the linesplan of a ship printed or plotted on full scale using the computer at PT Dirgantara, another state owned airplane maker located in Bandung of West Java  of the Republic of Indonesia but the result was not satisfied and could not be used for cutting hull plates and other ship components. So, they returned to manual mould loft works.
Reading this book, I could understand the principal operations of shipyards in the Soviet Union but I don't think if they are still applied now. Of course many of the manual works explained in the book are still used now but with the improvement of computer technology, shipyards tend to employ less workers to be more competitive in today's shipbuilding industry. I don't know if this book is still available or not. When I searched it in Amazon.com I could not find it. Fortunately, there is another similar book entitled Shipbuilding Technology and Education which you can see and order on the top left of this post. by Charles Roring

Also read: 

Wooden Boats in the Dorey bay of Manokwari

Naval Architecture Books