
DATE: Monday, May 12, 1997                  TAG: 9705100345

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  119 lines

MOVING INTO INTERNATIONAL WATERS

If a small Portsmouth business could pick the ideal place for its first international contract, it probably wouldn't select Taiwan. The island nation is half a world away and the language barrier is tremendous, let alone the cultural differences.

But for Tidewater Naval Architects Inc., there was an opportunity in Taiwan too good to turn down. The Portsmouth naval engineering and design firm won a contract worth about $700,000 to consult for the Taiwanese government's Keelung Harbor Bureau as it orders a dredge, floating crane and two hopper barges.

Despite the tremendous barriers, Tidewater Naval Architects expects to do ``OK'' on the contract. It's followed some important rules and learned some lessons along the way.

``It's been an extremely difficult learning experience,'' said Richard R. Hopkins Jr., the firm's president.

With a 12-hour time difference, it's important to be flexible. Tidewater Naval Architects opened an office in Taipei, Taiwan's capital, and sent a partner in the firm there.

It's also crucial to understand local business customs and laws. And perhaps most important, it helps to understand and respect the culture.

That was relatively easy for Tidewater Naval Architects. It had a secret weapon - company co-founder and vice president of engineering Victor Y. Chen.

Chen grew up in Taiwan before coming to the United States about 25 years ago to study naval architecture at the University of Michigan. He heard about the opportunity while visiting friends there.

Tidewater Naval Architects competed against a host of international engineering firms to win the job.

``It just all came together,'' Hopkins said. ``Our bid was well received. But it's not the same as doing business here.''

But the barriers weren't insurmountable for Hopkins' company, which was formed in late 1992, arguably an inopportune time for a new naval design boutique. The Navy was shrinking, the U.S.-flag commercial fleet was in decline and new orders for ships at U.S. yards were nearly nonexistent.

Hopkins founded Tidewater Naval Architects in late 1992 with Chen, Lorraine M. Ulmer, the chief financial officer, and Jon H. Matthews, vice president of marketing. The four knew each other well from industry professional meetings.

``In the United States, Hampton Roads is really the only hub of ship repair, and new construction, both commercial and Navy, Army and Coast Guard,'' Matthews said.

With roots in long-standing naval design firms, ``they had a great deal of experience the day they opened the door,'' said Doug Forrest, vice president of Colonna's Shipyard Inc., a Norfolk company that has done a lot of work with the firm in the past five years.

``Victor Chen is the premiere naval architect in Hampton Roads,'' Forrest said. ``He's as good as anybody I've ever seen - probably better.''

The company employs 65, including naval architects, designers and administrative support and has an office in the Signet Bank Building on the Portsmouth waterfront.

``The goal has been to grow the business 10 to 15 percent a year,'' Hopkins said. ``We've exceeded that.''

He's hopeful that the Taiwan job will serve as a stepping stone for additional growth, he said.

That doesn't mean the company is going to lose focus on its core business, which is providing marine architecture and design services to the ship repair community in Hampton Roads.

``Our thrust has been to be the local naval architect of choice for the small local ship repair yards,'' Hopkins said. ``If you can name one, we've worked for them.''

It's even done some design work indirectly for Newport News Shipbuilding. It was hired by Jamestown Metal Marine Systems Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., to design the deckhouses of four double-hulled tankers now being built at the big Peninsula shipyard.

Its focus is design work for ship overhauls and repairs on both government and commercial vessels.

The firm's first contract was in support of Norshipco on the drydocking and overhaul of the Navy tank landing ship Boulder.

Current contracts include one with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide design support for the government agency's Atlantic fleet, which is based in Norfolk. It won that contract, which could last up to three years and be worth $1.1 million, in partnership with American Systems Engineering Corp. of Virginia Beach.

But a lot of the firm's energy has been focused on the Taiwan job. Chen has been spending almost as much time in Taiwan as in Portsmouth.

``It's been very hard,'' said Chen, who's getting used to 24-hour flights and middle-of-the-night phone conversations with the Taipei office. ``But there's not too many people who can read technical naval architecture documents in both languages.''

Tidewater Naval Architects is advising the Keelung Harbor Bureau in the planning, design, selection of bidders and construction of the dredging vessels. It wrote the bid specifications, and bids will be forwarded to Portsmouth for evaluation. The entire contract will last nearly 2 1/2 years.

That's a long time in the volatile world of Asian politics. Chinese naval maneuvers in the Straits of Taiwan last year threw currency markets into a tailspin and the value of the company's contract fluctuated wildly.

The culture gap is huge, too, Chen said. ``Here we do what's in the contract,'' he said. ``Over there they expect you to do certain things because that's the way it's always been done, even if it's not in the contract.''

For example, Chen had to register a personal stamp with the Taiwanese government because a document is accepted as valid only if its pages are stamped.

``If you sign it yourself, like over here, it's not accepted as an official document,'' Chen said.

But Tidewater Naval Architects is, for now, sailing along in international waters. ``This has been a good introduction and it gives us a foothold,'' Hopkins said. ``We've been through the learning curve and now we're making it work.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN

The Virginian-Pilot

Richard R. Hopkins Jr....

TIDEWATER NAVAL ARCHITECTS

Location: Portsmouth

Founded: 1992

Staff: 65, including naval architects, designers and administrative

support.

President: Richard R. Hopkins Jr.

Core business: Providing marine architecture and design services to

the government and commercial ship repair community. KEYWORDS: SHIPBUILDING