ITIC's comprehensive professional indemnity insurance is tailored to suit the specific needs of naval architects involved in services such as:
• Design
• Hydrostatics
• Hydrodynamics
• Structure and stability analysis
• Lines design and fairing
• Weight calculations
• Marine engineering
• Hull strength calculations
• 3-D modelling
• Isometric analysis
• Ship conversions and modifications
• Piping & electrical layout design
Commercial Passenger Vessel
A naval architect was instructed to design a successful commerical passenger ship, which could reach speeds of up to 20 knots in reasonable weather conditions. During sea trails in extremely unfavourable weather conditions, the ship reached speeds far in excess of 20 knots. However, soon after the ship was put into service, she suffered various cracks in the hull, which the owner alleged was caused by inadequate welding design - not inadequate welding. The naval architect advised that the cracks were not due to inadequate welding design but due to the ship being operated beyond its recommended parameters in unfavourable weather conditions. The ship was repaired but the cracks returned on a number of occasions. A replacement had to be chartered by the owner while the ship was being repaired. A further dispute arose concerning the quality of the repairs by the shipyard and the whether the alleged poor standard of repair work had led to further cracks appearing in the hull.
The owner brought a claim against the architect and the shipyard for the costs of repairs, loss of profits, loss of use of the ship, chartereing cost and diminution of the value of the ship. ITIC settled the matter for the cost of repairs and the cost of hiring a replacement vessel only.
Yacht Design
A naval architect was conducted by a company to design a race yacht. The yacht was built and sailed over 10,000 miles without fault. However, when the yacht was lifted from the water, several cracks were noticed along the keel blade. Both the manufacturers and the naval architect were notified that the cracks had appeared. The naval architect realised subsequently that an error had occurred when transposing the design specifications onto blueprint drawings which were then passed on to the manufacturers. This error in design meant the keel did not meet the strict strength specifications required of a racing yacht. The naval architect informed the company of their error. However, a subsequent survey completed by a third-party surveyor found the cracks to be caused by incorrect manufacturing techniques.
The manufacturers offered to repair the keel but if they had done so it would still have been unsuitable for racing due to the design error. ITIC agreed that a keel of the correct specification should be supplied and additional costs were settled by the Club.
