Page 84 - Practical Ship Design

54 Chapter 2

criterion - the relative importance to be attached to operating economy and first
cost, respectively.
The requirements for a ship rarely indicate the relative importance that the
owner attaches to operating economy and first cost, although this should be an
important design consideration.
Designs prepared by shipyards for a competitive tender are almost bound to give
priority to features which will minimise the first cost, unless a clear indication is
given that the potential customer will include an assessment of operating costs
when evaluating tenders and give this due weight when comparing capital costs.
Designs prepared by a shipowner should include features which will reduce
operational costs, with the criterion for any consequent increase in first cost being
that this should be recoverable from the operational savings within an appropriate
timescale.
If an owner is uncertain about the economic viability of any feature he should
include it as an option in the tender specification with a request for an alternative
price along with the main tender. Only in this way is it possible to obtain realistic
prices that enable satisfactory trade-off calculations to be made.