Technical Presentation –– 30 April 2024
Carl Linkenbagh, a Senior Systems Engineer working within the Department of Defence on maritime projects, gave a presentation titled SS President Coolidge: Sinking and the Shipwreck to a meeting at the View Hotel, Brisbane, on 30 April, and streamed live. The presentation was attended by *** with a further *** participating online.
SS President Coolidge was a passenger ship built for the Dollar Steamship Company (later American President Lines) by Newport News Shipbuilding. Entering service in 1931, the ship was homeported in San Francisco and used on the Trans-Pacific route to China, the Philippines and Japan via Honolulu. At 22 000 GT and 200 m in length with a turbo-electric propulsion system and luxurious art deco fittings, she represented the best of American passenger ship design of the time.
SS President Coolidge
(Photo from ocealinersmagazine.com website)
Requisitioned as a troopship in 1941 following the outbreak of WW2, the ship was lost in Espiritu Santo (Vanuatu) on 26 October 1942 when she struck a friendly minefield at the entrance to the Segond Channel. Today, the ship is one of the largest ships accessible to recreational divers. Diving the wreck is a spectacular awe-inspiring experience. This presentation provided an overview of the fascinating story of the ship, how and why she was lost, her condition today and some direct observations on what it is like to dive the wreck.
For further details and photos, see The ANA, November 2023, Pages 10–15.
The Presenter
Carl Linkenbagh is a Senior Systems Engineer who specialises in maritime systems. His career started in 1999 as a Marine Technician in the Royal Australian Navy on amphibious ships and guided-missile frigates and, for the last 10 years, he has worked as a consultant on a variety of maritime projects for the Departments of Defence and Home Affairs. He holds master’s degrees in Systems Engineering and Project Management from UNSW Canberra. Carl relocated to Brisbane in late 2023 after one Canberra winter too many and in his spare time he drives heritage steam locomotives, rides road and mountain bikes and is a qualified technical diver and proud member of Global Underwater Explorers with a passion for historic shipwreck exploration.
Annual General Meeting –– 6 March 2024
The Queensland Section held its AGM on the evening of 30 April, immediately prior to the April technical presentation at the View Hotel, Brisbane, on 30 April, and streamed live. The AGM was attended by *** with a further *** participating online.
The AGM covered annual reports from the Chair and Treasurer, and a new committee was elected for the coming year. The new committee comprises
Chair Jalal Rafieshahraki***
Deputy Chair Hamish Lyons
Secretary Tom Ryan
Treasurer James Stephen
Member Cameron Whitten
Tom Pipo
Timothy Vaughan
Gerard Anton
Mark Deveraux
Dean Biskupovich
Tommy Ericson***
Technical Presentation –– 2 February 2024
Olivier Degrand, Technical Software Manager with Bureau Veritas, gave a presentation on Bureau Veritas 3D Digital Plan Approval to a joint meeting with the Institute of Marine Engineering Science and Technology in the Boardroom at Bureau Veritas, 340 Adelaide St, Brisbane, on 2 February and streamed live. The presentation was attended by 8 with a further 19 participating online.
Bureau Veritas now has a 3D approval process in place and naval architects are interested to investigate the new methods of approvals. The advances in 3D modelling software and their use in design offices give rise to a need for a streamlined 3D approval process rather than converting all models to 2D plans and submitting them. Although 2D plans are still required for construction, it is not necessarily best for the approval process. With 3D model approvals, naval architects and class surveyors can communicate much more efficiently, identify gaps, and make improvements if necessary. This requires interacting platforms where design offices and class surveyors can exchange and view designs.
The presenters explained the advances in the plan approval process in BV, and gave details of their surveyors, office locations, and type of surveys which they cover in Australia.
