The supply for luxury yachts is growing which increases the competition between yachtbuilders. Additionally to lead time reduction, yachtbuilders are trying to maximise their output with the available space. This puts extra pressure on the logistics process. Waste in the logistics process reduces the efficiency and for that must be avoided. The available data of the logistics process of yachtbuilders can be limited since it is not their core-business. The objective of this thesis is to explain how a model of the logistics process of a yachtbuilder can be made and how it can be used to improve and predict the logistics performance. This thesis focuses on improving the interior logistics process at yachtbuilder Oceanco by reducing the non-value added movements waste.

Strict regulations for carbon emissions from ships are introduced by the IMO and the EU. Various emission mitigation measures and low-emission fuel strategies provide solutions to reduce carbon emissions. This paper compares emission mitigation measures and low-emission fuel strategies for short-sea ships, within the constraints of regulatory compliance. Furthermore, cost sensitivity of measures to fuel, EU ETS and TCE price are compared. The results support shipowners and financiers in making robust investment decisions, and provide insight into the effects of regulatory incentives to regulators.

Many recycled materials in different industries are traceable. The recycled content is often known in percentages. Steel is a material which gets recycled almost 100%. However it is not common practice to specify the recycled content for steel products. From a sustainability point of view this information can be very valuable. This thesis identifies the barriers and opportunities for a class notation that specifies the recycled content of a vessel or marine structure. Furthermore, the way certification of steel would influence trust, traceability and transparency of a circular economy in the shipbuilding industry has been investigated. This was done from the point of view of a classification society but to reach the conclusion, the entire shipbuilding value chain has been investigated. Semi structured interviews were held with different stakeholders from the ship building value chain. These interviewees were steel manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, ship yards, recycling yards, classification societies, financial institutions, ship repair yards and shipping companies. Barriers that were found are, amongst others, technical feasibility, steel market, yard logistics, customer willingness to pay, green washing, ship recycling standards, demographic differences, etc. The first conclusion is that, although sustainability is high on the agenda for most companies, the efforts and goals on this matter are scattered and uncoordinated. All stakeholders, except for the steelmakers, see the benefit for certification of recycled steel in terms of increased sustainability. The steelmakers possess the ability to provide all necessary information and there are no technical barriers. This means that they are able to provide steel products with a specified percentage of recycled content. The main barrier for different stakeholders are the extra resources they need to spent to incorporate a new type of certification into their business processes. None of these stakeholders want to take the risk as a single player, but are willing to take part once collaboration amongst all stakeholders are guaranteed. This creates the business opportunity for classification societies to provide this opportunity and take the lead for this innovation. A review of current certification steps for steel products has been made and adapted to include extra steps to certify the recycled contents. The effect of this extra steps with regard to stakeholders downstream has been investigated and validated by means of the interviews. Another topic is the digitalisation. Because of the increased ability to process big data, there are opportunities to tackle certification of recycled products and the subsequent traceability by means of blockchain technology. These opportunities are identified and are proposed as optional further research topics.

The maritime industry faces a lot of uncertainty, and the energy transition has only increased this uncertainty. Ships will probably have to be converted to an alternative fuel during their lifetime and methanol seems to be the fuel with the most potential for offshore ships. By preparing for this, Design-for-Conversion to methanol, the costs of changes can be significantly reduced with only minor investments during the new building phase. The added design preparations pay for themselves only if they are being used in the future. However, due to large uncertainties, it is unclear whether a ship is actually converted to methanol in the future. Therefore, an answer had to be found to the main research question: How to determine the value of Design-for-Changeability under uncertainty to find the optimal DFC level when preparing for conversion to methanol? From the literature is concluded that Design-for-Changeability principles can help to deal with uncertainty during a ship's lifetime. Moreover, Real Options Analysis is selected from the literature, as a method to deal with decisions and uncertainty when designing for conversion to methanol. By means of a combination of these methods, a methodology is established which is used in a case study. In the case study, it was found that waiting with the execution of conversion to methanol results in decreasing added value of Design-for-Conversion. Moreover, it was found that the Discount Rate used for Net Present Value calculation significantly impacts the choice of whether to prepare a ship for methanol. It can be concluded that an instigator is needed so that ships are converted to methanol. Two instigators have been researched, a carbon pricing measure and a ban on harmful emissions. It can be concluded that a carbon pricing measure is only effective if the right price is established, while a carbon ban is highly effective as ships are converted instantly. The combination of methods, the Design-for-Changeability principles together with a Real Options Decision Tree, provides a suitable framework to quantify the impact of Design-for-Conversion to methanol under uncertainty.

The maritime industry has long relied on oils and heavy fuels as main energy carriers. The shipping sector still accounts for an important 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. On top of this, current industry fuels contain high levels of sulfur and release nitrogen oxides upon combustion, which both can be extremely harmful to local environments and ecosystems. The largest body in marine regulation; The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set a goal in reducing total industry emissions to 50% relative to 2008 levels. Additionally,the European Union has passed a series of regulations and targets relating to shipping. However, most of the regulations passed are not yet binding and it is not entirely clear how these goals are to be accomplished. One of the most promising current solutions to this problem lies in the use of biofuels. These sustainably-sourced combustibles can cut-back total emissions by considerable amounts and are supportable in the medium to long term. Past use of biofuels has been centered around drop-in fuels produced from first-generation feedstock sources largely based on oil, such as biodiesel. However, recent European regulations are trying to move away from oil-based fuels and first generation feedstocks due to Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) concerns. Several studies have outlined alcohols (bio-methanol and bio-ethanol) as well as bio-methane as some of the best-positioned fuels for research and development. Similar to first generation biofuels, a large concern surrounding these newly proposed fuels relate to the feedstock availability. The challenge with biofuels is therefore creating cost-effective supply chains that are able to meet market demands while still reducing life-cycle emissions. This paper creates a MILP model under a set of scenarios to understand the best-suited fuels, feedstocks and supply chain paths for the period 2025-2030. Several biomass supply and energy demand conditions are estimated across Europe for the years in question and used to analyze distinct possibilities. It is found that while the supply of these fuels is feasible, a combination of the three is best suited to meet the energy demands. The biggest obstacle to all three fuels are the refinery capacities across Europe, which. It is also discovered that forestry residues represent the most likely candidate for fuel production and to a smaller extent, animal wastes. The production and small scale adoption of these fuels is possible (in terms of supply concerns) however, much is needed in the regulatory aspect to make sure the move towards these fuel options is achieved.

As liquid bulk vessels are berthed in ports, auxiliary engines generate the electrical power demand, which emissions have a negative effect on the environment and local air quality in ports. Shore power is an effective solution for this problem. However, the large costs of implementing shore power and the absence of a technical safe design standard led to no adaption of shore power. Currently, there are no insights in the costs and utilisation of shore power in the liquid bulk industry. This thesis used an adapted systems engineering approach for a framework with a technical background and shore power concept evaluation. The shore power evaluation on costs and power utilisation combines the Life Cycle Costs approach and operational tanker data. By designing a model that evaluates the costs and utilisation for terminal and ships, insights for the business case for shore power have been obtained. Shore power implementation is extremely sensitive to utilisation, if the shore power readiness of ships is low at the terminal, it will be economically unfeasible. As well as for the ships, if no ports with shore power can be visited, shore power is not at all costeffective. The chemical shortsea market has the most potential for shore power implementation, due to the frequent visits of ports in Europe. This thesis has found that shore power can be economically feasible when European shortsea shipping is implemented in EU ETS with a CO2 price. The required CO2 price ranges from 33 to 84 €/ton depending on either 100% to 50% of shore power visits of the vessels, respectively. The terminals are unable to provide low shore power prices with only the vessel utilisation, therefore subsidy ranging from 25 to 100% is required on the investment, depending on the terminal. The emission reduction potential of shore power is good, with no local emissions in ports and the power generation emission reduction of 80 to 90% per pollutant. Currently, shore power for the chemical industry is not economically feasible but provides a good emission performance in the port. For all evaluated shore power systems, EU ETS CO2 prices are required for shipping and subsidies for the terminal investment. The best performing shore power concept on based on technical, economical and utilisation feasibility is the aftship based shore crane and reel, resulting in the best costeffectiveness. In order to introduce shore power to the liquid bulk market, CO2 prices on shipping of at least 50 €/ton is required and subsidies of at least 50% of the investment for terminals are required.

To support Van Oord’s path towards a low-emission future fleet, this thesis has focused on the technical, environmental and economic impact of a methanol hybrid power plant design for new-build offshore working vessels (OWVs). These Dynamic-Positioning (DP) vessels are known for their large and dynamic power plants and have to limit their NOx emissions in order to comply with IMO Tier III regulation. The research objective has been to assess the cost-effectiveness of a methanol hybrid power plant solution to reduce CO2 emissions of new-build OWVs relative to other alternative fuel options. As alternative fuels, both bio-diesel and ammonia have been selected as benchmark options. Two models have been developed to find the cost-effectiveness of the methanol and benchmark power plant solutions to reduce CO2 emissions. These models are a power plant model (PPM) and a cost assessment model (CAM). The PPM consists of an engine model, a battery model and a power management model. For a specific engine type, the engine model determines the fuel consumption and emissions performance by using available engine data. Next, based on the principle of equal energy consumption and relative fuel characteristics, these fuel consumption and emission performance are adapted in order to represent methanol or one of the benchmark fuels in the selected engine type. The battery model is established in line with DP hybrid power plant requirements and the power management model acts as a connecting link to bring the engine model and battery model together on a power level. The CAM uses the PPM output to find the relationship between costs and CO2 reduction for each power plant solution. This is done by comparing the annualized Total Costs of Ownership (TCO) and the Life-Cycle (LCA) CO2 emissions of each solution with a diesel-based configuration. In this comparison, the annualized TCO consists of the yearly operational costs and annualized investments costs of each solution. The life-cycle emissions account for both well-to-tank (WTT) and tank-to-propeller (TTP) emissions of each fuel type. A case study considering the Bravenes, a flexible fallpipe vessel within the fleet of Van Oord, has been carried out to bring the developed models into practice and to provide a solution to the research objective. The technical details of this vessel have been used to create the methanol and benchmark power plant solutions which comply with both IMO Tier III and DP regulations. Next, a representative load profile of the vessel has been applied to simulate the performance of the different power plant solution for a duration of one year. Based on these simulation results, it has been found that the methanol solution has a CO2 reduction potential up to 99% and a CO2 price of 78 euro per ton CO2 reduction. This means that methanol is most cost-effective in comparison to both the bio-diesel and ammonia power plant solutions. Relative to methanol, the battery has a similar CO2 price of 79 [euro/ton CO2], but has a CO2 reduction potential of 8.5% only. To motivate Van Oord to invest in a methanol hybrid power plant solution for new-build OWVs, external or internal incentives are required to bridge the CO2 price gap between the methanol hybrid solution and a diesel-based configuration. As external incentives, the expected CO2 tax and / or subsidy for the use of advanced fuels are particularly interesting to consider for new-build investment decision in 2021 and beyond.

Autonomous vessels carry the potential to increase the profitability of shipping companies. It is believed that an autonomous vessel design operates more efficient compared to a manned design. In this thesis the challenges of autonomous shipping and its consequences on ship design and the operation are identified. This information is used to give a cost analysis on the autonomous variant of a manned vessel. The results from thesis can be used by researchers and ship owners to determine whether its autonomous ship design and its operation are economically viable. This is valuable for investors to decide whether their case is favourable for autonomous shipping. The main question answered is: What are the operational conditions under which an autonomous battery powered vessel design is economically viable over its electric manned variant? The changes in ship design and its consequences result in a change in capital and operational cost. The removed crew systems and additional equipment cost are presented. Overall a decrease in both capital and operational cost is expected. The actual size of the cost reduction is case dependent. Therefore the operational conditions which affect the economical viability most, are identified. They are identified in a case study on a dredger operating in a port. The design and capital cost factors are presented, where after it is concluded that the displacement, battery capacity, distance to shore and the vessels specific operation influence the cost benefit. Therefore they are presented as the operational conditions. The operational conditions are tested in two case studies. For both case studies a significant cost reduction is obtained. These vessels are thus economical viable. The size of the overall reduction is dependent on the operational conditions. It is concluded that the displacement has a relatively small effect on the total cost. The battery capacity however, does have a significant effect. The capacity decrease is largest for vessels with an original large hotel load and large battery capacity. The larger the battery decrease, the larger the decrease in cost. Furthermore, vessels that operate within the Wi-Fi zone are favourable over vessels operating further from shore because of its communication system. Finally, the vessels specific operation regarding crew and accommodation size are most significant. The operational cost decrease for manning is larger for larger crews. In addition, the cost decrease for the accommodation section and its operational benefits are significant.

This research aims to determine the cost effectiveness of yacht emission reducing ret options through marginal abatement cost curves. A broad selection of five refit options is evaluated and implemented in the created tool. Using multiple scenarios by fluctuating fuel price and the implementation of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), the effect of fuel price and type is evaluated on multiple ship lengths. The abatements are determined in global warming potential and external cost, as well the well to wake emissions of the fuels and refitted parts. A technology overview, implementation and capitol and operational cost overview is made of the implementation of solar panels, LED lights, SCR-units, cool water waste heat recovery systems and anti-fouling. It was found that a GWP reduction of 78% and external costs reduction of 70 % is possible at an increase of fuel consumption cost of 47 % for a 54 meter yacht. In this case the main contributing factor to GWP reduction is HVO and the main external cost decrease is due to the NOx removal of the SCR-unit. Furthermore increased cost effectiveness was seen at increased fuel prices.

This article aims at finding a match between Quick Response Manufacturing (QRM) and the preprocessing stage of shipbuilding. Preprocessing is the first stage of the ship production process, where steel plates are cut into parts, that are ground and sorted to build stiffened panels and ships’ sections. Quick Response Manufacturing is a management strategy with the aim of reducing the time from the moment a customer creates an order, along the critical path until the delivery of that order to the customer. The strategy proposes a number of key points, of which the most eye-catching one is the organizational structure with a cellular organization. To test whether QRM can make a beneficial change to the preprocessing department, a numerical simulation model is constructed to resemble the processes taking place. It is found that the critical path of the process is defined by parts that are ground and flanged and that parts spend around ten working days in the preprocessing department. The key points of QRM are applied and a cellular organization is proposed. This leads to a reduction in lead time of 88% and an increase in annual throughput of 73%. It is concluded that indeed there is a match between QRM and the preprocessing stage of shipbuilding and the strategy can make a real change.

Currently there is an energy transition from fossil fuels towards zero emission fuels within the marine sector. In addition to this, improvements are made in system design with regard to standardization of which allows for variation. The combination of these two improvements is found in the EU H2020 NAVAIS project which focuses on customer tailored vessels in combination with a standardized and modularized approach. The specific objective is to use modularity to help support the development of zero-emission propulsion methods for a ferry. The objective is fulfilled by answering the main question of this research: “How can the energy carrier and conversion system of a ferry be made environmentally friendly and modular and how does the inclusion of low emission and modularity objectives impact the power supply and total design of the ferry?” In the approach a Systems Engineering approach is used, including the V-cycle or the RFLP approach. In this approach the design is approached by the elaboration of the Requirements, Functionalities, Logical design and the Physical design. Based on the main vessel requirements, research requirements are defined as well which are the system’s ability to be: future proof, modular, fulfilling the energy and power requirements, the ability to be refitted and technical feasible. A platform approach is defined, which is called a platform approach, and for this research includes: The top-down approach, the common-core approach the design approaches combined in the platform approach are practically applied by using a design support tool which is the Design Structure Matrix. The DSM and specifically the clustering algorithm has the goal to find modules based on minimizing interactions between modules. This is done based on the logical or technical decomposition where only the sub-systems are included in the matrix. The interactions between the sub-systems are defined using a binary definition. The clustering algorithm is used where random groups of sub-systems, named clusters or potential modules, are formed which then are evaluated based on the interactions and parameters to control the size and interactions between the clusters. Simulated annealing is used to optimize the solutions in combination of multiple runs for the defined system configurations. In this way interchangeable modules can be defined which can be used for the diesel generator, dual fuel and fuel cell configuration. The multiple solutions are merged into combined potential modules after which the results are evaluated. The evaluation is done based on the number of interactions, the technical feasibility and physical evaluation of the modules and finally based on the ability to standardize the interactions of the module. These steps result in a suggestion of modules which are interchangeable and are based on a minimization of interactions between or outside the modules. While leaving the ability to extend the method to allow for new alternative fuel systems.

When working offshore on a floating vessel, the vessel will be subjected to wave induced motions and with a moving crane tip, a suspended load can start to swing. When the motions of the load become too large, the operation is interrupted. Alternatives such as jack-ups, function as a fixed platform to which the crane is attached, therefore eliminating the effect of waves on the workability of the vessel. Within the offshore wind industry, jack-ups are used for installation and maintenance of wind turbines. However, due to their slow transit speed and time-consuming jacking process, an alternative is suggested with which wind turbine maintenance can be performed. In this thesis study, the mechanical feasibility of a motion compensated crane for wind turbine maintenance is assessed by comparing three different crane concepts.

This research goes into detail about a quantitative performance analysis of a shipyard. This analysis is based on publically available information. The goal is to define the performance of a shipyard and thereby define the place of a shipyard in the market. Differences in performance can be used as learning and developing opportunities.

This thesis investigates the total environmental impact of various alternative marine energy carriers while taking the powering increase into account due to their disadvantageous spatial requirements compared to conventional fuel. A parametric design tool for bulk carriers, tankers, container ships, and trailing suction hopper dredgers has been developed for the future marine energy carriers to determine the total installed engine power increase. A more environmentally friendly energy carrier can be overturned because the total installed engine power increase is proportionate to the energy consumption increase. A comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) has been performed on fuel oil, methanol, LNG, liquid hydrogen, ammonia, and batteries for the conventional and a bio/renewable version of their well-to-wake pathway. The powering impact results indicate that all ship type and energy carrier combinations require a higher total installed main engine power and consequently a higher energy carrier consumption. The total environmental impact results indicate that only renewable liquid hydrogen and renewable ammonia have less adverse effects on global warming, and cause less damage to human health, ecosystems, and natural resource availability.

An improvement study to the pre-processing process of Damen Shipyards Galati (DSGa) is performed since benchmark analysis shows that the current pre-processing process underperforms, compared to industry peers. The objective is to increase DSGa’s throughput and decrease space utilisation, such that pre-processing facilities S1 and S1a can be merged into S1a and DSGa meets the industry ‘standard’. Lean Manufacturing shows the potential to enable improvement and is adopted to initiate process redesign. The Lean principles drive the approach of this study, which studies the ‘current state’, defines improvement strategies and implements the strategies in ‘future states’. Finally quantitative analysis shows that the objective is met.

With the energy transition taking up speed and strong decarbonisation ambitions offshore wind is becoming a major source of green electricity. European countries are among the leading drivers of the offshore wind expansion on both the wind turbine as well as the vessels side. It is expected that until 2030 170 GW of capacity can be installed, equalling 16000 wind turbines. The wind turbines are serviced using either small vessels or commissioning and service operation vessels (C/SOVs) when parks are larger and in more challenging conditions further away from shore. The C/SOV market is still in development and it is not known how many of these vessels are needed to serve the European offshore wind industry in 2030. It is further unknown until now which factors influence the need for these vessels as both market dynamics as well as operations have not been researched until now. This research first defines the quantifiable factors influencing the need for C/SOVs in offshore wind parks. These are the park parameters such as the distance to shore and the number of turbines in the park. These data are used in a factor model and Monte Carlo simulation to make an assumption on the required number of vessels. The results are then compared against qualitative factors influencing the need for C/SOVs indirectly. Out of a high and a low case, the low case was shown to be the most likely fit for the research results. It showed that to serve the offshore wind market in 2030 between 122 and 138 vessels are needed, which is 12 to 28 more than currently are active or on order. Considering the fact that the industry needs to adapt to a new market, it is crucial to know which factors drive that market and how they influence it. This project allows for researchers to dive further into these factors and research them in more detail. Further the research can assist industry players in their investment decisions and yards can accordingly plan capacity.

Shipping companies aim to reach the climate goals by following the rules from the International Maritime Oranization (IMO), which includes reducing Scope 3 emissions. Maintenance is a great contributor to the Scope 3 emissions of a shipping company, especially the transportation of spare parts. The current state-of-the-art supply chain optimisation for spare parts is based on cost and risks. This study aims to find the potential influence of including Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions into the decision-making process for the logistics of spare parts. The element of the supply chain that makes it possible to plan when a spare part is needed is the maintenance policy. Planning in advance when a part is needed is possible for Preventive Maintenance (PM), which is therefore used in this research. A model can be created by limiting the amount of risk, optimising between the freight cost, the cost of GHG emissions and the cost of capital for alternative delivery locations, using brute force calculations. This model is applied to a case study of a chemical tanker from Stolt Tankers B.V., using available data on its job history and historical location data. From the case study follows that including the GHG emissions in the decision-making process adds an additional saving in emissions and cost with respect to the original situation. It can be concluded that the amount that is saved depends on the choices of the decision-maker. The model presented in this paper is a valuable tool for providing insights into the decision.

The adverse human contribution to global climate change has forced the yachting industry to acknowledge the need to reduce its environmental impact due to the client's increasing pressure and potential future regulations to limit the ecological effects. Unfortunately, current real-world data presents a significant disparity between predicted and actual gathered energy consumption results. Thus, this research aims to develop an approach to accurately predict total dynamic Energy Consumption (EC) using real operation voyage data for the improved early-stage design of future yachts. A grey-box modelling (GBM) solution combines: physics-based white-box models (WBM); and black-box model (BBM) artificial neural networks to provide estimations with high accuracy and improved extrapolation capacity. The study utilizes ten months of onboard continuous monitoring data, hindcasted weather, and voyage information from a Feadship fleet yacht. Upon applying a sequential modelling methodology, predictions are compared between the three model categories, which ultimately indicated propulsion and auxiliary estimates fall within 3% and 7% error of operational conditions. The study is then continued using external range datasets to evaluate the extrapolation potential. While GBM improvements are seen over the BBM, limitations were directly related to the strength between dynamic WBM input-output correlations. Finally, a general consideration decision structure is detailed to provide naval architects with practical knowledge and confidence in future applications of the GBM modelling approach and when such methods are appropriate.

Topology Optimization is an optimization problem based on the distribution of material within a design domain under specific load states. The goal of this technology is minimizing a certain function, such as compliance, mass or frequency. This technology can improve the performance of components in different fields within the shipbuilding industry, depending on the function of the element and which type of ship they belong to. The three areas of application in which this technology was thought to have a big impact were weight reduction, aesthetics and comfort. It is a common thought that Topology Optimization could only help to the diminution of mass of bodies. Nonetheless, this reduction of weight does not benefit to all the ships. Cargo ships with a cargo limitation due to volume are less likely to take an advantage of its lightweight cutback than those with a cargo capacity limitation by weight. Moreover, vessels with a very low center of gravity would suffer stability disorders, such as cruise ships. The area of aesthetics was studied from a different point of view: now the construction industry was not perceived as only dedicated to maintain the integrity of structures, but an artistic point of view was explored with the target of resembling the ideas of consumers and transmitting feelings to customers. Vessels with a greater interest in the appearance are the ones dedicated to the transport of passengers, such as ferries and cruise ships and also those ships with a focus on the luxurious face of the marine construction sector, such as yachts. In the search of improvements regarding comfort, the focus was kept on the vibration phenomenon and the occurrence of noise. Vibrations are harmful for machinery, crew, passengers and the overall structure of the craft and therefore is an issue to be avoided as much as possible. With this target, Topology Optimization was applied on a mast under certain circumstances, taking into account the amount and allocation of navigation devices these elements must carry. This thesis aims to give an introduction to what can be achieved with the technology of Topology Optimization in the maritime sector. Although no decisive results were achieved for some of the previously presented elements, findings were attained and the potential of this application is positive. Nevertheless, more research is required in order to build solid confirmations about the profitability of the implementation of Topology Optimization. Moreover, manufacturing processes, and more specifically Additive Manufacturing is to be grown in order to fulfill the structural requirements of the optimal components. This refers not only to the fabrication process itself, but also to the implementation of this methodology in Regulations by Classification Societies.

Conversion projects are considered as a growing market within the new build and in particular the repair market within the maritime industry, due to ever more demanding environmental regulations. A development that Royal Niestern Sander (KNS) embraces and wants to exploit further. Although conversion projects are already being executed, currently the thought prevails that ‘project efficiency could and should increase’. The purpose of this research is to provide an approach that equips KNS establishing a best fit project organisation for in particular large, unique conversion projects to define, plan and execute these projects as efficient and effective as possible, as this combines both repair yard and new building characteristics. Both individual organisations were analysed through the lenses of The Delft Systems Approach (DSA), to identify the current ‘as-is’ status. Subsequently, the processes and function responsibilities of key-players of both organisations were assessed and compared. The root-causes for fundamental differences between organisational approaches were identified and proved to be project size, the degree of uncertainty and as a consequence of aforementioned causes, the contract form. Literature was consulted to explore already existing solutions regarding these aspects and to provide a wider, theoretical background in mainly organisation forms and the concept of maturity models. The retrieved insight in the individual and comparative analysis in combination with the literature review provided a foundation for the establishment of an ideal framework, thereby integrating the new build and repair organisations in order to cope with large conversion projects, while simultaneously optimising the individual organisations. As input for the defined framework, scenarios were specified and correlated with actual performed projects that served as validation for the ideal framework. The case studies captured the complete range of projects, varying from small straightforward repair projects, to large new build projects and conversion projects in between. From these case studies, organisation proposals for the respective projects, large conversion projects in particular, were distilled; comprising a structured implementation strategy that is to be executed during the order development phase (where project definition takes place). To conclude, a roadmap for the near future is proposed containing the required steps to undertake for achieving operational excellence.