We, The TTSP-ians

By: Vance Madelo    With TTSP, marking its 30th year since its first inception from a small eight-man design office in Cebu City, I could only marvel at how much it has grown into its current 500-man plus workforce in a 1000-capacity design center clattering with keyboard taps, mouse clicks and chats to design ships that are mostly of giant bulk carrier types. The now-staggering 321 overall ship count already delivered to owners amazes me on the resilience, hard work and craft of Filipino shipbuilders amid the challenges they faced throug the decades, thanks to the significant assimilation of Japanese craft and shipbuilding technological prowess through the Tsuneishi Group of Companies. Further down the history lane, I tried to dig deeper into the Filipinos’ knack in sea-related trades. I found it all started with the “Balangay”, a wooden boat employed by the Filipino ancestors in coming over and settling down in the Philippines. Accordingly, about 5000-6000 years ago our Fili