Propulsion Technology – Pacific Maritime Magazine

01 Jul

Chinese VLCCs to Test New Technologies

Pacific MaritimePropulsion Technology

Hong Kong’s China Merchants Group has ordered a further two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) from the China Shipbuilding Group’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corporation after taking delivery of four similar vessels from China Shipbuilding last year. However, the two latest 307,000-dwt ships will be used to test new technologies to reduce both fuel consumption and ship emissions. One will be fitted with an air-lubricated hull and the other with a newly-developed auxiliary sail assistance system. The former has already been used on several Japanese-built vessels with good results while the latter was previously tested using China Merchants Energy Shipping’s 306,752-dwt…

01 Jul

Bio-Fuel and Hydrogen Ferries

Pacific MaritimePropulsion Technology

The Ada Shipyard in Turkey is completing two double-ended ferries designed by LMG Marin for Norwegian operator Norled that will make use of bio-diesel engines to drive Schottel SRE 270 EcoPellers, one installed at each end of the hull. To be employed in southwestern Norway, each of the 74-meter-long vessels will accommodate 199 passengers and carry 60 cars at a service speed of 11.5 knots. One of the ferries is expected to be modified to test hydrogen propulsion if funding is received from the European Union’s Flagship program, which is already funding development of a hydrogen powered pushtug for operation…

01 Jul

Norsepower Rotor Fitted to Scandlines Ferry

Pacific MaritimePropulsion Technology

Finland-based Norsepower Oy has successfully installed one of its rotor sails on the Baltic Sea ferry Copenhagen, which is operated by Scandlines between Rostock, Germany and Gedser, Denmark. The installation was carried out during a scheduled overnight stop of the hybrid ferry and took place in a matter of hours following meticulous preparation work over the preceding months. The 5-meter diameter cylinder, which stands 30-meters high, uses the Magnus effect while spinning to aid in a ship’s propulsion and the Norsepower unit is expected to save fuel and reduce emissions by approximately 5 percent depending upon daily wind conditions.

Washington’s Skagit County Releases RFIs <br>for Electric Ferry Design

01 Jun

Washington’s Skagit County Releases RFIs
for Electric Ferry Design

Pacific MaritimePropulsion Technology

Skagit County Public Works and vessel designer, Glosten, are seeking technical information and cost estimates from vendors to inform design decisions related to the electrical system, the propulsion system, the shore side electrical system, and the automated charging plug of the all-electric ferry design to replace the M/V Guemes. Skagit County Public Works engaged naval architecture firm Glosten in 2017 to develop an all- electric ferry design to replace the Guemes, a 40-year old diesel-powered vessel. The new vessel will be a double-ended vehicle and passenger ferry with a three-tiered deckhouse. The design accommodates four lanes of vehicles including highway-rated…

01 Jun

Twin LNG-Fueled PCTCs Entering Service

Pacific MaritimePropulsion Technology

China’s Xiamen Shipyard has delivered the pure car truck carriers (PCTCs) Siem Confucius and Siem Aristole to Siem Car Carriers with both vessels being chartered by the Volkswagen Group to transport vehicles from Europe to North America. The 200-meter by 36-meter twins, each with a capacity for 4,700 vehicles, are powered by MAN B&W S60ME-GI dual-fuel, two-stroke engines that deliver 12,600 kW and feature direct injection and exhaust-gas treatment to reduce emissions. The LNG, which will also be used to fuel two 9L28/32DF and one 7L28/32DF dual-fuel auxiliary engines per ship, is stored in two 1,800-cubic meter capacity tanks installed…

01 Jun

World’s Only Nuclear-Powered Cargo Ship

Pacific MaritimePropulsion Technology

Russia’s Rosatomflot has been keeping the world’s only nuclear-powered commercial vessel, the 1988-built Sevmorput, active in the Arctic where the ship has been delivering construction supplies to Alexandria Island, the site of Russia’s northernmost military base, as well as to Franz Josef Land and Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 project in the Gulf of Ob. Later this year the 1988-built vessel is scheduled to load cargo for Russia’s Vostok research station in Antarctica, considered the coldest place on earth.

01 Jun

Fully-Electric Ferries for Amsterdam

Pacific MaritimePropulsion Technology

GVB, the City of Amsterdam’s municipal public transport provider, has awarded Holland Shipyards Group a contract to build five new 41-meter by 13.9-meter fully-electric ferries for operation in the city’s North Sea Canal area. They will have a capacity for 400 passengers or 20 cars and 4 trucks, depending upon requirements. Each vessel will have two battery banks of 340 kWh output each driving two 300 kW propulsion motors and battery charging will be accomplished automatically in approximately 3 minutes using facilities at the terminals while loading and unloading takes place. The first ferry is expected to enter service next…

01 Jun

Box-Mounted VentiFoils

Pacific MaritimePropulsion Technology

Netherlands-based eConowind, developer of the wind-assist product VentiFoil (see Pacific Maritime Magazine, Feb 2020) has been contracted to install two of its devices on a cargo vessel owned by Holland’s Boomsma Shipping BV. The twin units have been integrated into a specially designed flatrack container that can be carried on deck and from which the folding VentiFoils can be deployed. VentiFoils are ridged aspirated non-rotating wing profiles that create thrust by means of the principle of boundary-layer-suction. Because of the additional thrust they generate the thrust of the ship’s propeller can be reduced to maintain the same speed while saving…

01 Jun

French Company to Order Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Pushtug

Pacific MaritimePropulsion Technology

French transport group Sogestran, through its subsidiary Compagnie Fluvial de Transport, expects to have a hydrogen fuel cell-propelled pushtug in operation on the Rhone river between Marseille and Lyon by the third quarter of next year. A design for the tug has been completed and a builder is expected to be selected shortly. The building contract will be supported by a $7.3 million grant to be provided by the European Union’s Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking within its Horizon 2020 project. The new tug will be equipped with a mobile fuel tank that will hold compressed green hydrogen created…

01 May

Twin Double-Ended Bio-Fuel Ferries for Norway

Pacific MaritimePropulsion Technology

Norwegian ferry operator Norled expects to take delivery of twin double-ended ro/pax ferries from the Ada Shipyard in Turkey during the first quarter of 2021. To be employed on the Finnøy connections in southwestern Norway, each of the 74-meter-long vessels will be able to accommodate up to 199 passengers and crew and carry 60 cars. Propulsion and maneuverability will be provided by two Schottel SRE 270 EcoPellers fitted with 1.85-meter diameter fixed pitch propellers – one at each end of the ferry – driven by two bio-diesel engines through twin-in-single-out gearboxes to give a service speed of 11.5 knots.