What is Chinese?

The Biz.....
More and Less

The topic of Chinese boat building has been a relatively hot one around here, fostered mainly by the new Flying Tiger (83 boats on order) which of course is being built there. Here are a couple of interesting articles, one on the growth of Chinese boat building, and one on the shortage of skilled Chinese boat builders.

04/05/06

Reader Rant

Stigma

We ran a couple of articles regarding boat building in China (See Above) and it engendered this response from a surveyors' POV.

There has been a stigma with Chinese built boat from Taiwan particularly among surveyors since the late 70's. Substandard construction was normal and most problems were covered with good cosmetics so that they did not manifest themselves until after the boat had been in use for a number of years.

Some problems encounterd before I stopped surveying ALL boats from Taiwan was the use of 304 stainless steel below the waterline, some stainless we looked at was found to be Martinsetic, a very poor grade of stainless even above the waterline. Other problems were stick welded fuel tanks found wrinkled due to the lack of baffles in the tank allowing 500 gallons of fuel to free surface in the tank. Wood rot and the use of Juan mahogany for structural members like engine stringers and frames coated with heavy woven roving which never bonded since day one.

W we worked with the late Gary Mull on several big losses where the plans were just thrown away and the builder decided "the plans are nice but this is the way we are going to do it". The builders were essentially on the same streets and areas in Taiwan. They were yacht broker/importer driven which seems to put quality and safety after cosmetics. If the importer didn't like it he would walk down the street and give the work to another builder.

Gel coat blisters and voids the size of soft balls were common. Cradle marks from flipping the hull while still green were repaired after the vessels got to the US. Guidelines were not followed. They never heard of the ABYC or NFPA which primarily address fuel, electrical and other systems.

I recall PVC fuel transfer lines on trawlers and a shopping list of other safety concerns, there there wasn't accountability in those days The insurance would call it a latent defect which means they pay for all consequential damage except the part that failed. In the above case this would be the whole hull. The broker/importer would say "I'm just the middle man" and the overseas builder was not touchable to the common yachtie.

Now, the broker/importer has been made accountable but the damage to the reputation of Chinese builders had already been done. Their product today is better system wise due to federal law but problems can still arise on new boats from poor manufacturing and quality control. Boat building is far more complex than in the past with solid laminates being replaced by cored decks and hulls. After 28 years as a marine surveyor I would need to be convinced that the red Chinese know what there doing. Even with outside supervision, things go on on the shop floor that don't get seen by management.