Shipping World

SH1pbmlder

Contents

FEATURES
decking &
flooring

Downtrodden and oft forgotten

but check the deck

welding

H ow has !neat honed its specialist aluminium welding skills?

training

The dearth of competent and

able engineers and surveyors is
giving rise for concern

noise & vibration

New design solutions are tackling

the invisible pollution problem

low-speed enginesEI
The demands of the legislator are
challenging the low-speed engine
designer to come up with more
energy-efficient systems

Korean
shipbuilding

Greed, inexperience and hubris;

do these words really depict the
current state of the Korean shipbuilding industry?

REGULARS

grey matter

Michael Grey considers the slow

steaming option

news update

Kashagan spurs new breed of

ship design; 'faultless' design for
Arctic operation; Beware the layup deal

repair update

Goltens diversifies and enters the

newbuilld market; Hydrex 'wrestles' with a problem seal

shipyard focus

product update
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Volume 210 No 4253

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Shipbuilder will include
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OPINION AND EDITORIAL - - - - - - - - -

On top of the world

~
~

tch the 7th of September 2009 on the psyche, for it was on

this day that the two multi-purpose heavy-lift project ships,
Beluga Foresight and Beluga Fraternity, broke Arctic summer ice
and charted a course through the fabled Northeast Passage.
The two ships, owned by Bremen-based Beluga Group, succeeded were others had failed and managed to navigate a safe
passage from Ulsan, South Korea, via Vladivostok and through
the treachero us icy waters of the East Siberian Sea, the Sannikov
Strait and the Vilkizki Strait to Novyy Port, Yamburg, Russia,
where the vessels, intact and ship-shape, discharged their cargoes.
The 'new' route is a veritable boon to shippers looking to
move cargoes from East to West, of course, because it shaves
4350n miles off the usual 14 292nmile Asia- Europe via Suez
trade route. But there is a flip side to this maritime tale of twenty-first century derring-do. And whilst the historic voyage may
have shipowners salivating Fagin-like at the prospect of huge
savings in fuel and operational costs - Beluga Group saved about
$300 000 in costs per vessel of which $100 000 was in fuel
costs - the Northern Sea Route may in the end prove otiose to
all but those with time-critical/sensitive cargoes. And even then,
these vessels may need to be uber-safe.
One environmental group told me that while it will be some
time before the Arctic Sea sees a flotilla of merchantmen navigating unchartered waters, it is inevitable, and 'so very important
to prepare for this development now'.
There is currently no consensus on when exactly global
warming will rid the region of summer ice, it could be in ten,
twenty or forty years from now, but since the effects of global
warm ing affect the Polar regions more rapidly than other areas,
the earlier prognosis may be the one on which to place your bets.
One thing is for sure: that the Arctic ships of the future will
need to be completely oil-tight, since it is oil pollution, rather
than ship-to-air emissions, that are giving environmentalists
great cause for concern and fear Exxon Valdez-type events more
than anything else.
C0 2 emissions, a global issue requiring a global response,
will, of course, be addressed this coming November, in Copenhagen, with proposals to cut current C0 2 emissions levels by 80%
by 2050, but there are also proposals demanding legislation that
will abrogate completely any oil discharge to sea, whether it be a
flood or a just a little trickle.
Groups like WWF have already lobbied IMO and other organisations for a mandatory requirement similar to those rules
agreed earlier this year that will ban the transportation and use
of heavy grade oils by ships in the Antarctic Ocean . That proposal, agreed during the 2009 meeting of the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee and schedu led to come into force in
2011, means that only ships that use lighter grade oils which, if

www.abb.com/turbocharging

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spilled, evaporate more easily, are easier to clean up and are far
less damaging to the ecology of the area, will be able to operate
in the Southern Ocean.
However, if similar legislation is passed and heavy fuel oil is
banned in the Arctic, then it could have a significant bearing not
only on the development of port infrastructure and bunkering
stations throughout the area - facilities that do need to be in
place before shipping can really benefit from use of the Passage
- but also the exploration, development and production of Arctic oil and gas.
Beneath the Arctic ice sheet is thought to hold massive
reserves of natural resources which will be made more accessible as the ice recedes. Only then, perhaps, will government
interest in the Arctic intensify and the Arctic States sit down
with one another to hammer out a general agreement on the
region and how resources can best be exploited without impacting on the environment or putting another nail in humankind's
coffin.
Essentially, it is down to scientists, engineers and architects
to deliver systems that will allow us to benefit from the reduced
sailing times afforded by arctic sea routes without detriment to
sensitive ecologies . And thankfully, young, talented and forwardlooking naval architects and marine engineers, as you will read
in the news update pages of this bumper edition, are already
thinking about how the industry might transport cargoes across
the top of the world.
If you think about it, the world is in their hands - a notion
not lost on the UK's Minister for Science and Innovation, Lord
Drayson , who has already called on high profile figures from
the worlds of science, engineering and business to join
together to help highlight the endless possibilities of science
and engineering.

Patrik Wheater - Editor

To comment on this or any other article in Shipping World & Shipbuilder,
please send your feedback to the Editor at: patrik.wheater@btinternet.com

a1n1
l'U919
September 2009 SW&S

I 3

THE SHIPPING WORLD

Can OECD deals really manage market distortions

he sound of stable doors slamming while the sound of galloping hoofs grow fainter has been all too audib le this summer
as both European and Japanese shipyard associations have
talked up a new Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) agreement on shipbuilding capacity.
Laudable as this idea might be to some, it fails to reflect the
fact that, in the global economy even more than in the shipbuilding sector, the world has moved on. The idea that anyone would
look to an un-ratifed agreement as a future so lution might be
seen as eccentric even without two contributing factors.
First, the economic boom in China that transformed the country into the undisputed driver of the global economy created supply
and demand forces unmatched elsewhere. Second, the collapse of
the global financial system in 2008 saw governments around the
world hose the markets with money in an effort to keep the system
going in a way that was completely unprecedented.
Both will keep economics students busy for decades but the
idea that the OECD agreement can be resurrected as a tool to
manage 'market distortions' on the one hand and the unfettered
growth of capacity in China sound like the complaints of developers who have dug a canal in the age of the rail way.

By Neville
Smith

European and Japanese yards might disagree but shipbuilding - far more than the steel industry - is a business that fol lows
the money. European yards know this only too well but Japan has
clung to its position even when Korea assumed the lead in Asia,
only to cede it to China.
State support for Korean and Chinese yards might make po licy-makers fume but since other national governments have
propped up far less deserving causes in the last 12 months, they
must be sensitive to charges of hypocrisy.
Put simply, the growth of shipyard capacity in China is a market-distorting factor by definition. Whether or not there is the
means to control it is one thing, whether that is a practical or
achievable objective is quite another.
Though not an OECD member, China would take part in the
negotiations but to view that as progress is to fatally misjudge
China 's economic policy objectives. As has been seen in the few
short weeks since the command went out to tighten economic
policy in China, the new game is played to new rules.
No-one disputes that China is the new titan of world shipbuilding. The rest of the world must do more than attempt to
tame the dragon with a blunt instrument. D

Builders do not make good owners

t is axiomatic that shipbuilders do not make good shipowners

but that does not seem to stop them trying. In normal times,
the practice is harmless enough: marketing innovative designs
safe in the knowledge that they will sell the series to a good
client, perhaps before the keel is laid.
But these are not normal times. Indeed, they are so far from
normal that many of the Asian yards stuck with unwanted orders
now their customers have retreated to lick their wounds have
decided that the best decision is to build and trade those ships,
setting up affiliates to manage the process for them .
This is bad news for builders and owners. The ordering boom
that led the market to its current tonnage overhang might have
been a re-run of Tulipmania or the South Sea Bubble but the seeds
of its collapse lie as much with the yards as with their customers.
Most analysts agree that the yards lost the ability to say no
to new orders well after they were already over-committed in
terms of delivery schedules. Delays were inevitab le and gave 'traditional' owners cause to pull the plug at a time when they needed it most.
One decisive difference between this bust and the 1980s is

[4

SW&S September 2009

that a new breed of 'speculative' owners have joined the market,

with no strategy beyond grabbing slots then flipping them for a
profit. The other is that the shipbuilders are not prepared this
time for their products to make a single voyage from launching
ceremony to the breaker's beach .
With the possible exception of those shipyards receiving
state support, this begs the question as to whether these owners will trade the ships in the same manner that they were
ordered - speculatively and at any price.
Clearly many ships are past the point of cancellation but
there is more risk of damage to freight rates by putting them into
the market than by swallowing hard and accepting that more
ships equals a worse market, equals fewer orders.
And emerging yards have plenty of work to do on their core
business, improving quality and seeking better energy efficiency
- perhaps even charging higher prices in the process. Anecdotal
evidence suggests that some minor yards are building ships so
cheaply that they might be good for 10 years rather than the customary 25 . It is the ultimate irony that if true, that would actually be good for the market. D

A need
for speed?
Shipping World columnist Michael Grey considers the slow steaming option

Goaded by the shrill shrieks of the global warmists, who are

busily upping the ante before the Copenhagen Climate
Change Conference, when a huge pall of greenhouses
gases wi ll ascend from the Danish capital, the shipping
industry is considering its options.
From solar panels to sails, ultra-slippery hull coatings, and
intelligent engines, there seems to be a fair chance that the 'carbon footprint' of a future shi p can be substantially red uced
through tec hnical means.
'Just give us a bit of time,' said an engine builder who was
working on new 'c lean ' engines, 'and we wi ll give the shipping
indu stry exactly what it wants'. Wheth er, in a world driven by
political posturing and environmental grandstanding, along with
th e fact that climate change is very big business these days,
there wil l be time for incremental and rational engineering solutions, only time will tell. There is a great deal of enthusiasm for
'market based' solutions, which probably don't ultimately solve
anything and make market t raders rich. But that is just my prejudice, as a paid up member of the 'denier' community.
If one runs down the long list of proposed technical and operational answers that will reduce the carbon footprint of a ship, it
is the reduction in speed which seems to provide the biggest percentage reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. There is some
gain from appendages around propellers to enhance the wa ter
flow, propeller polishing and employing electronics to ensure the
engine is operating optimally. There is more from better hull
design and waste heat recovery, and much potential from the
avoidance of long periods at anchor after a fast passage. But it
is the reduction in operating speed which is seen to be most
attractive, as it links the environmental targets with the utilisation of ships in a new era of over-capacity, and of course, substan ti al fuel cost reductions. And unlike other methods which
involve substantial investment, speed reduction can be put in
place immediately.
At a time like the present, when demand has slumped spectacularly, speed reduction is doubly attractive. Shippers wil l be
less li kely to object to the extension of sea passage times, as factories are running at slow time, and 'just in time' deliveries are
not so urgent. Speed reduction uses up the capacity like nothing
else, it keeps ships running which might otherwise cease to earn ,
and there is this environmental bonus which gives everyone a
warm glow.
It is, of course nothing like as uncomplicated as it might first
see m. If you remember that the who le justification for fast ships
is thei r great productivity, that asset once considered important
is dimin is hed with every knot of speed reduction .
Who remembers the fu lsome praise lavis hed upon Malcom
Mc Lean 's amazing SL-7 33kt conta inerships, each powered by a

battleship propulsion t rain

and a thirst (which eventually
killed them) to match? But it
was the productivity of these
ships; twice the size and twice
the speed of the ships they
rep laced , which was their raiso n d'etre. And while it was
unusual for shipowners of fast
tonnage to earn a premium for
their speed, it was the short
passage time that enabled
them to get the business in
the first place, and around
which the users of those ships
wou ld base their production
sc hedules or sales campaigns. Slow it all down, and
there are inevitable consequences.
The se wi ll surely kick in
when world trade increases,
and if the speeds are not to be
increased, then more ships
wi ll be needed to pick up that
lost producti vi ty. It will be
interesting to see if the environmental message revolving
around lower emissions is
recei ve d with equanimity,
once the pressure to deliver
goods as quickly as possible
is resumed. The gains from
fuel cost reductions may wel l
be cancelled out by the costs
of the additional ships, even
though these might seem
spectacu la r, especially in the
case of containerships, where
a six knot reduction on 25kts
can produce a 40% lower fuel
bill. It is worth considering the
costs of de-rating machinery,
and the higher mainten ance
costs for machinery which is
operating below its designed
optimum power output.
Another significant issue

w hich has hitherto eluded

those enthusing about environmental benefits from slow
steam ing is the effect on manpower. And this involves
rather more than the mental
strain on seafarers having to
endure far longer sea passages in their claustrophobic
steel boxes. It is that once
trade has increased , even to
pre-recession levels, a lot of
additional seafarers will be
needed to man the additional
ships crawling across th e sea
routes at much reduced
speeds, providing far less productivity.
We are worrying ourselves
to death wondering how we
can find sufficient seafarers
for the existing fleet. Look for
crew costs to steeply increase
with the recovery, and a surge
in demand. 'More days, more
dollars' will be a saying enjoying a certain renais sance .
Sooner or later, cleve r engineers wi ll be delving away to
devise means of increasing
speeds again, wi thout necessarily adding to the burden of
global warming. That is of
co urse if the whole monstrous
costs of the required reduction in C0 2 and its effects on
economic
growth
being
imposed by environmental
activists, based upon highly
dubious statistical projections, have not been rumbled
by the long-suffering public,
notably in the developing
world . There is, it seems, an
encouraging scien tifi c backlash against the so-cal led certainties of climate change .
Bring it on! D

SW&S Septem_b_er_ 2_0_0_9_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ - - - -- - - - - - - - -

Kashagan spurs design development

hen the three (plus

options) Ice Class IA
Super Special Service icebreaking tugs leave Romania 's
STX RO Offshore Braila yard
they will become the first in a
series of two different Bureau
Veritas-classed vessels
destined for operation in the
massive Kashagan field in the
northern Caspian Sea, the
most important find since
Prudho Bay, Alaska, in 1961,
with an estimated reserve of
16 billion barrels .
These 66m long vessels
with
50t
bollard
pull,
designed by Finland's Aker
Arctic, will each be capable of
breaking up to 0.6m level ice
thickness and operating year
round in ice conditions up to
1m thick.
The design, says Gijsbert
de Jong, manager, Bureau Veritas, has been tailor-made for
optimum performance in the
'very tough ', shallow waters
of this landlocked sea.
In addition to towage and
pushing barges in open water
and in ice conditions, the icebreakers will be capable of ice
management operations in
astern working mode, clearing ice rubble.
The design, verified by BV
which evaluated the hull
structure under ice-breaking
loads, taking into account the
specific conditions of the

North Caspian Sea, by performing a direct assessment

of the ice pressures under different operating scenarios,
also lends itself to fire-fighting, rescue and evacuation
tasks and offshore suppl y
functions.
The second series of BVclassed vessel for Kashagan
operation is currently out to
tender, but when the yard has

been selected it will deliver

shallow draught ice-breaking
AHTS vessels for Silverburn
Shipping operation .
Designed by Netherlandsbased Offshore Ship Designers
these 49 .6m long vessels,
capable of operation in 70cm
of ice, will have a significant
load carrying capability on a
shallow draught and provide a
minimum 45t bollard pull.

Stopping cracks in their tracks

xtensive research carried

out by Japanese classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai
(ClassNK) into brittle crack
arrest has resulted in the publication of a new set of guidelines.
The guidelines, released
as a technical reference to
help prevent the propagation
of brittl e cracks in hull structures, are deemed essential
to carryi ng ou t effective pre-

SW&S September 2009

ventative measures.
As part of a primary
research and development
project, ClassNK established
a research committee on brittle crack arrest design together with shipbuilders, steel
manufacturers, universities,
and research institutes in
2007. The committee studied
and investigated the propagation behaviour of brittle

cracks and the technical

measures that would be necessary to prevent their propagation with respect to the
extremely thick steel plates
used in the construction of
very large containerships.
These efforts also included
the conduct of large-scale
model tests and advanced
computer analysis of brittle
crack arrest designs.

Model tests at Aker Arctic

showed the hull form can perform in ice to Finnish/Swedish
Ice Class 1A Super standards.
The first ice-class floating
storage and offloading system
(FSO) to be completed at a
Caspian Sea-based shipyard
and deployed for Caspian Sea
service, meanwhile, is to be
delivered under ABS classification. The Yuri Korchagin, which
earlier this month was towed
out of Baku for installation,
hook-up and commissioning,
however, is destined not for the
Kashagan but for the Yuri Korchagin Field in the Russian sector of the in-land sea where it
will operate for Lukoil.
Singapore ' s Keppel
Singmarine will construct the
vessel in two longitudinal
halves for towage through the
Volga-Don River Canal. It will
then be assembled at Keppel
Fels' Caspian Shipyard Company (CSC) in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The unit has been built to
the ABS class notation +A 1,
Floating Storage and Offloading System, Ice Class CO,
+AMCCU, FL (20). The unit is
132 .Sm in length, 32m in
width and has a depth of
15.7m. It has a fatigue life of
20 years and is dual classed
with the Russian Register of
Shipping. The FSO can withstand ice conditions of -20 C
and ice thickness of 0.6m. D

The results of these studies have been summarized in

the Guidelines on Brittle
Crack Arrest Design. It also
describes measures developed by ClassNK for arresting the propagation of brittle
cracks at appropriate locations in the event that such
cracks do occur, including
the formulation and implementation of measures for
brittle crack arrest design as
a backup to preventing brittle
fracture . D

Amateur design is
'faultless' say the professionals

t looks like rolling stock, is a

breathtaking 1.8km long,
can be wind or hydrogen-powered and it can navigate Arctic waters. But the concept
produced by 13 Norwegian
naval architecture students
has been verified as a viable
solution.
Although such a vessel is
about 40 years away from
reality (because it has been
designed for year-long ice
operation when the Arctic
Ocean will be free of summer
ice and if ice does form in winter then it will be easily breakable), the design, called the
AMV (Arctic Modular Vessel)
Njord, has been deemed 'fau ltless' by classification society

Det Norske Veritas (DNV).

The concept is based on a
train of several inter-connecting modules, each of which is
200m long. A sail attached to
each ship-train module efficiently catches the wind at a
height of 300m and at each
end is a propulsion unit with
an engine and submersible
propeller thrusters . In addition to wind power, the ship is
also run by hydrogen fuel
cells.
Since the ship-train is to
sail right across the Arctic
Ocean, there is very little
need for detailed navigation
and the navigation is otherwise based on advanced
satellite technology.

Experienced DNV staff

have been able to do calculations regarding the concept
and have been unable to find
any 'faults' in the students'
work. On the contrary, many
of them have been full of
enthusiasm and admiration
for the innovative concept,
says DNV.
When the concept was presented at DNV's head office,
representatives of three Norwegian ministries had asked to
be allowed to attend and shipping companies, including
Wilh . Wilhelmsen and Maersk,
were represented.
The students had to give
their presentation twice so
that everyone could see it. D

News in brief
Cairo and Riyadh
The Government of Egypt's
two Austal-built high speed
vehicle ferries, Cairo and
Riyadh, have officially commenced operations between
Egypt and Saudi Arabia,
introducing a new standard
of ferry service across the
Red Sea.
Each 88m vessel has
the capacity to carry 1200
passengers, 120 cars and
15 trucks at an operating
speed of 37kts. It is operating on 1OOnmile route
between Dibba in Saudi
Arabia and Safaga in Egypt.

A certified
scrubber
DNV has issued a compliance certificate for the first
ship fitted with an exhaust
gas cleaning system capable of meeting the requirements of SOx Emission
Control Areas. The pilot
SOx scrubbing system was
fitted to the exhaust pipe
of an auxiliary engine on
the product tanker, MT
Suula, owned by Neste Oil
Shipping of Finland. The
two-year project was a collaboration between Wartsila, Neste Oil Shipping,
DNV, Aker Yard and Metso
Power.

Stone Marine increase capacity

aced with increasing

demand for its propellers, Stone Marine Singapore has invested in two new
furnaces which will increase
the melting capacity of the
foundry in Singapore by over
50%.
The furnaces, which are
currently being installed ,
have a capacity of 1800kg
each, and together with the
firms existing furnaces, will
give a total melting capacity
of approximately 9500kg.

At present most of Stone

Marine Singapore's production of high accuracy propellers falls in the 500 2500kg weight range and,
while it is expected that this
will remain the situation for
the foreseeable future, the
new furnaces will enable the
company to manufacture
propellers up to 5000kg finished weight.
Gerry Mcloughin, Managing Director of Stone Marine
Singapore comments: 'We

find ourselves in the happy

position, particularly at this
stage in the world's economic
cycle, of having a very healthy
order book. In addition, several customers, impressed by
the quality of our products,
have expressed a wish that
we supply propellers for their
larger vessels. We shall be
able to satisfy this demand
with the new furnaces and
the other recent changes we
have made to our production
facilities.'

The investment in the furnaces in 2009 follows the

considerab le
investment
made by the company during
2007 and 2008 on the purchases of conventional and
CNC lathes; combined, these
investments ensure that
Stone Marine Singapore continues to have 'state of the
art' production facilities
capable of manufacturing
the highest quality propellers
and associated propulsion
equipment. D
September 2009 SW&S

News in brief
P&O behemoths
The first of two huge new
ships being built for P&O
Ferries has passed a major
milestone
construction
with its keel laying in
Rauma, Finland.
At 49 OOgrt, and with
an overall length of 212m,
the new ships are by far
the largest ferries ever
designed for the DoverCalais route. The first will
come into service at the
end of next year followed
by the second in September 2011.

Smart move
for SKOV
China's Shin Kurushima
Dockyard
(SKDY)
has
selected
lntergraph's
SmartMarine 3D design
solution after a two year
benchmark. SKDY expects
improvements in productivity and production planning by using this next-generation software.

Aland Islands
served
Skarven, a new 350dwt ice-

class passenger ferry,

ordered by the Aland
Islands' government for
year-round operations in
the Baltic Sea has been
named in a ceremony at its
builder's, Western Shipbuilding Yard in Klaipeda,
Lithunania.
The Aland Islands are
an archipelago of more
than 6500 islands in the
northern Baltic Sea and
they form an autonomous
region of Finland .

Tanker victory

Hyundai Heavy Industries

has delivered Athenian Victory to its owner, the Greek
shipping company Athenian Sea Carriers. The vessel is the first of a series of
four 318 OOOdwt VLCC
tankers built to Germanisch er Lloyd (GL) class.
SW&S September 2009

MOL unveils its next generation

ship design

he technology utilised in
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL)
newly unveiled next-generation
car carrier will now be incorporated into next-generation
designs for ferries, bulkers,
tankers and containerships.
The car carrier design,
designated ISHIN-1 (which
stands for Innovations in Sustainability backed by historically proven, Integrated Technologies),
adopts
largecapacity solar power panels
and rechargeable batteries to
remove
ship
completely
borne C0 2 emissions while in
port during loading and
unloading operations .
While underway, the vessel
would feature multiple new
technologies capable of reducing C0 2 emissions by 50%.
Overall, and in comparison with
current 6400-capacity PCTCs,
the new design would achieve a
41 % emissions reduction.
What is particularly interesting is the wider use of the
solar panels hitherto only partly adopted on such vessels.
The new design sees the adoption of the technology across

all areas of the

upper deck to
achieve
zero
emissions while
in port and during loading and
unloading by installing largecapacity rechargeable batteries (lithium ion) and combining
them with an electric propulsion system .
Increased propulsive efficiency has been taken care of
by way of a contra-rotating
propeller drive combined with
a diesel-electric propulsion
system . A pair of propellers,
facing each other at the stern,
share the burden of powering
the ship and spin in opposite
directions, allowing the rear
propeller to absorb the rotational energy of the front propeller. As a result, the system
greatly increases efficiency,
but when needs for larger vessels arise, adoption of twinshaft propellers will allow
greater
improvement
in
propulsion performance and
fuel efficiency. This will reduce
C0 2 emissions per unit transported by up to by 50%, com-

pared to current vessels.

Advanced propeller boss
cap fins (PBCF), a MOL-developed energy-saving device
which has been adopted on
more than 1700 vessels all
over the world . Another feature is an advanced wind
resistance-reducing design .
Again developed by MOL,
this, along with an innovative
hull design, compatible with
the new Panama Canal,
reduces wind pressure from
the bow and sides, while the
shape of the stern smoothes
air flow to increase hydrodynamic efficiency.
MOL says its next-generation vessels will use ultra-low
friction ship bottom paint.
These paints trap water on
the coated surface to eliminate friction drag caused by
minute patterned indentations formed on conventionally painted surfaces. D

Beware the lay-up deal

he International Transport
Intermediaries Club (ITIC)
has urged its shipmanager
members to seek legal advice
before entering into any contracts with shipowners relating to the laying-up of vessels .
!TIC says there has been a
recent sharp increase in the
number of lay-up contracts
which it has been asked to
review. Some of these agreements are based on amended
shipmanagement contracts,
where the manager acts as
agent for and on behalf of the
owner. Other agreements
involve the manager offering

lay-up services to the owner as

a principal rather than as agent.
ITIC points out: Where the
manager offers these services
as an agent of the owner, it will
arrange for the appropriate
anchorage to be sourced and
also arrange for the maintenance and repair of the vessel.
If the manager contracts to
actually undertake the maintenance and repair of the vessel
itself, the contractual relationship between the owner and
the manager changes completely. In those circumstances, the manager is taking
on the role of a contractor and

therefore may require ship

repairers' liability insurance in
the event of damage being
caused to the ship by anybody
who is actively engaged in its
maintenance and repair on
behalf of the shipmanager.
Such maintenance and
repair insurance is available,
but it may be substantially
more expensive than existing
professional indemnity insurance. As such, shipmanagers
should have any lay-up contracts reviewed by their legal
advisers prior to making any
decisions about the insurance
cover they are likely to need,'D

Zhejiang shows some

front with first X-Bow design

ourbon Front, the recently

launched first ship in a
series of four Ulstein PX 105
platform supply vessels under
construction at China's Zhejiang Shipbuilding Co shipyard for Bourbon Offshore, is
'so efficient that it's almost
impossible to make them any
better,' claims the Norwegian
shipowner's newbuilding and
project
manager,
Bj0rn
Bergsnes.
The ships, the first X-Bow
vessels built in Asia, are
designed in compliance with
Bourbon Offshore Norway's
demanding specifications, and
could hardly be more efficient.
Conventional supply vessels
have dedicated tanks, meaning
they can hold only a few types
of cargo.
The company stipulated
that MACS tanks be used .
These can hold both dry and
liquid bulk . While conventional
supply ships typically carry six
or seven types of cargo, these

designs can carry 21 different

products at once. The ships
can carry a much wider range
of products, which means
greater flexibility.
Bergsnes explains: 'The
ships have eight MACS tanks
onboard, four of which are low
flashpoint tanks - meaning
that they can carry flammable
goods. The vessels also have
12 conventional tanks. All of
the tanks have separate pumps
which allow them to be
unloaded independently of
each other through their

respective piping system . This

makes unloading safer and
more efficient.
Each of the newbuilds will
feature FiFi class I fire fighting
systems, with fire monitors
placed rearmost on the stern
in order to improve ship and
crew safety and provide a better overview for fire-fighting
operations.
Crew comfortability, along
with environmental concerns,
of course, was also behind the
inclusion of a Mecmar exhaust
system, which releases the
exhaust through the hull sides
just above the waterline. It also
frees up space in the ship's
accommodations where conventional exhaust pipes would
otherwise be fitted. This way
the ship runs more quietly and
provides a 360 degree view
from any point on the bridge.
Without exhaust pipes in their
accommodations, with superquiet side thrusters, the X-Bow
concept and carefully planned

News in brief
HRP bought
ZF Marine has acquired
thruster manufacturer HRP
Nederland. ZF Marine' s
CEO said : 'With the addition of the new ZF Marine
HRP company, can swiftly
apply HRP's extensive
propulsion know-how, for
our future growth in the
commercial craft market
segment.'
interiors, these vessels are
claimed to provide maximal
comfort for the crew. 'Catalysers keep NOx emissions low,
and other exhaust gases that
would normally be released
into the air are now partially
mixed in with the seawater,'
adds Bergsnes.
While these will be the first
X-Bow designs built by Zhejiang Shipbuilding, the yard has
previously built four ULSTEIN
P105s, the latest of which was
delivered at the end of the
year.
'These ships function well,
and we have great confidence
in this building project,' says
Bergsnes. D

CODOGAEL ships proved

a challenge for STX Europe
7idekongen,
Tideprinzen
I and Tidedronningen , the
three LNG-fuelled ferries built
by STX Europe's facility in
Lanester (France) have now
entered Tide Sj0 service.
The three mix-electric
diesel/liquefied natural gas
(CODOGAEL)-powered ferries
connect the Oslo business
area to the residential neighbourhood of the Nesodden
peninsula, with 33 crossings
per day distributed between
the three ferries.
The innovative and environmentally-friendly vessels
are claimed to emit 80% less
nitrogen oxide (NOx) than a
classic diesel-powered vessel.

It was, however, the simultaneous construction of the

three ferries - a technical first
- that proved to be the real
challenge . Despite the complexities involved in building
three ships simultaneously
and within a very short
timescale of eighteen months,
the shipyard mastered the

integration of the machinery in

a very confined space, and
managed to adopt technical
solutions in order to adapt to
the operational constraints of
the vessels (crossing time limited to 23 minutes; numerous
rotations; turnaround time of 7
minutes only, etc).
As Jean Roche, director of

STX Europe, Lanester shipyard remarks: 'Building these

ferries was a particularly
motivating challenge for our
shipyard. To have succeeded
naturally constitutes a great
source of satisfaction for our
teams and also our partners
in this projects. Together we
have demonstrated our ability
to manage this propulsion
mode both innovative and
respectful of the environment. This will certainly provide us with a competitive
edge . I am sure that this is a
precedent for future projects,
especially in the fields of river
cruise ships, tugboats or
cargo vessels ' D
September 2009 SW&S

Goltens to enter newbuild market

A

s part of a wider US$10M

investment into facility
expansion, Goltens, the Dubai
head-quartered repair specialist, will set up a small shipbuilding division, specialising
in aluminium and carbon-fibre
composite newbuildings of up
to 50m in length.
The plan, which follows a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bmdrene Aa, a
Norwegian builder of composite structures, is to set up a
joint venture to build, outfit,
promote and market composite high-speed ferries and special purpose vessels in the
Middle East.
Goltens, which has been
interested in adding vessel
building to its portfolio for
some time, needed to find the
right partner and product to go
forward with . It found them in
Bmdrene Aa .
'In addition to its engineering know-how, capability, capacity and project management experience, we
were also attracted to the
way Bmdrene Aa builds vessels. Its carbon-fibre production is not only more environment friendly than aluminium, but also emphasises flexibility, strength, superior fuel
savings
and
lightweight
design . The end result is vessels with reduced upkeep and
ease of repair,' says Juerg
Bartlome, Goltens' UAE managing director.
The synergy between the
two firms certainly bodes well
for the delivery of 'turnkey'
projects, from the building of
hulls to the total outfitting,
marketing, servicing and aftersales of a vessel.
However, whilst ship hulls
will initially be built in Norway,
vesse l production will take
place in the UAE in order to
benefit from Goltens' technical
capabi lity, facilities and competent workforce.
'We see great opportuni-

SW&S September 2009

An artist's impression
of the upcoming Goltens
Dubai workshop and office
building at Dubai Maritime
City

ties for high-speed ferries and

special-purpose vessels in the
UAE especially, but in the [Middle East] region as a whole,'
Bartlome says. 'Bmdrene Aa 's
ability to build vessels for
harsh weather as well also
gives us the possibility of
expanding the geographic
boundaries of the deal in the
future if it makes financial
sense.'
Indeed, the company's
ability to construct vessels
that can operate in inclement
conditions can be gleaned
from the Oyvakt monohull
ambulance vessel, which
serves almost the entire Norwegian coastal strip between
Kristiansund and Trondheim.
The composite vessel is more
or less constantly exposed to
harsh weather yet, while the
route is challenging, the vessel's qualities make easy work
of navigation and manoeuvring
operations. Another example
is Tide Sj0's recently delivered
passenger catamaran Tidebaronen (see news update).
According to the conditions of the MOU, Goltens
Dubai and Bmdrene Aa will

use this 12-month period to

engage in discussions with
potential customers, define
market potential and agree to
the roles that each party will
play in the proposed business
venture, along with putting
together a marketing concept
going forward.
' If everything goes as
expected, in a year's time we
could be on our way to offering
the complete vessel value
chain - from construction and
outfitting to after-sales and
services for the remainder of

the ship's life,' Bartlome says.

Goltens is nearing the
completion of an extensive
$10M expansion programme
with the opening in October of
new workshops and offices in
Vietnam, India, Saudi Arabia
and South Korea. New facilities are planned for Qatar and
a training acad emy in the
Philippines could be on the
cards. However, the move to
new head-office premises in
Dubai Maritime City continues
to be held up due to delays in
the $1 billion development. D

Walvis Bay service

centre set in Stone
T

he recent opening of
Stone Marine Services
new facility at Walvis Bay in
Namibia, Africa has already
proven successful , according
to the propeller manufacturer.
From its new 5000m '
workshop a gamut of repair
and refit services are being
contracted, including the
repair of propellers, thrusters,
control systems, steering gear
and rudders, and deck
machinery.
The workshop, the largest
in Namibia, is well equipped,
supported by Sm and 2m
heavy duty centre lathes, a

horizontal borer with 8t table

load capacity, other facing
and horizontal borers and ,
among other pieces of kit, a
universal milling machine .
Movement of items around
the workshop is facilitated by
two overhead cranes, with lifting capacity up to 12t.
Stone Marine is only a five
minute drive from Walvis Bay
Port with its flo ating docks
and Syncrolift; the floating
dock can handle vessels up to
150m in length while the Syncrolift lifts vessels up to
2000t displacement with an
80m overall length

Aegir Marine submits to the flexible

'mobdock' technique

t sounds as though it could

be used by 'tag-teams' in
pro-wrestling bouts, but whi le
the 'flexible mobdock' might
sound like the kind of manoeuvre Mick MacManus might
have used to inflict pain upon
less worthy contenders, it is,
in fact, the technique used by
ship repairers to carry out
underwater stern tube repairs.
Pioneered by Belgiumbased Hydrex, the 'mobdock'
was used recently to carry out
an in-situ underwater stern
tube seal repair to a 292m
long containership that was
leaking oil into New York harbour. The technique allowed
divers to create a dry environment in which to grapple with
the leaky seal assembly.
Being able to carry out the
work underwater but in a dry
environment, saved the owner
the time and money that
would have otherwise gone
into securing drydock space.
The mobdock facility allowed
the shipowner to get to grips
with the problem in a manner
that didn't flout the US Coast
Guard's strict policies concerning environmental risks.
The USCG restricted the ves-

'

back to its optimum condition.

Meanwhile, the Hydrex
diving team installed the flexible mobdock around the seal
assembly after removing the
fishing lines. Next they established a communication line
with the monitoring station.
seals were then
Three

replaced one by one by new

seals which were prepared
onshore by the Aegir Marine
technician.
The mobdock was then
disassembled and after a successful pressure test the vessel could sail again, free of oil
leaks .. D

Provence proves provident for Belfast yard

T
itanic shipbuilder Harland

& Wolff's diversification

sel's movements, preventing it

from sailing to a different location before the oil leak had
been permanently fixed. To
prevent any unnecessary additional loss of time, a diving
team was mobilised to New
York together with an Aegir
Marine technician and all the
required equipment.
After a monitoring station
had been set up on site, the
team started with a full underwater
inspection
which
revealed that huge quantities
of fishing line and nets tangled
around the assembly, causing
the oil leak. Moreover, the
inspection also revealed that
part of one of the propeller
blades was also missing, causing it to lose its balance and its
optimum efficiency.
Liaising with the Hydrex
technical
department
in
Antwerp, arrangements were
made with a local service station to perform a propeller
repair while the Hydrex diving
team was working on the seal
assembly. By cropping the
opposite blade to exactly the
same specifications as the
worn blade , the propeller's
performance was brought

into building renewable energy systems is paying off with

the yard successful ly winn ing
a bid to build the complex
under-sea steel foundations
for the biggest offshore wind
farm in the Irish Sea, but
thankfully this and other new
ventures is not to the detriment of its bread and butter
work: shiprepair.
That the historic Belfast
yard remains a force in the
shipbuilding, repair and con-

struction market is indicative

in the contract it was awarded to carry out survey work to
one of the world's most
advanced tankers.
The Stena Provence, managed by Northern Marine Management in Glasgow, dry
docked at the Belfast yard for
her first periodic survey, which
required steel modifications,
hull maintenance/blasting/
painting, propeller polishing,
modifications to piping systems, main engine planned
maintenance, installation of

winch remote control boxes

and a V-Sat system. The work
was completed within 15 days
as planned.
The three-year-old, 65
200dwt vessel can reach
15.5kts laden and has a
range of 14 000 nautical
miles. It is one of a series of
P-MAX vessels built in Croatia by Concordia Maritime and
commercial ly operated by
Stena Bulk AB. The major difference to similar sized tonnage is that the P-MAX class
is 30% broader than standard

tankers operating on the

same draught.
'This
broader
beam
makes it more appealing to
charterers in view of the fact
that for the same draft
restriction 30% more cargo
can be carried. Twin engine
rooms also increases redundancy and safety which is
another plus point,' says Billy
McCracken, Marine Sales
Manager for Harland & Wolff.
'Harland & Wolff has the
capacity to take such broadbeamed ships.' D
September 2009 SW&S

I 13

staleiro Atlantico Sul, which is today well on its way

to becoming the southern hemisphere's largest shipyard, had a dubious and inauspicious beginning originally as a term of abuse for what its detractors called a
'Virtual Shipyard'.
With the Transpetro president Sergio Machado - supported
by Brazil's President Lula himself - trying to regionalise its shipbuilding industry, there were entrenched interests in Rio de
Janeiro who wanted to stop this tendency by almost any means.
Step in the enigmatic Wagner Victer. Rio de Janeiro's wellmeaning former Secretary of State for Energy, Oil and Shipbuilding is keen to keep up Rio's hegemony, which, at the turn of the
21st century accounted for more than 90% of all shipbuilding in
Brazil. Today, that percentage - in tonnage terms - has fallen
back to 70%, mostly due to a process initiated by Machado's
decentralisation policy and the emergence of EAS .
'This is crazy', said Victer at the time of a tender opening for
a series of Suezmax newbuilds. 'How can this "virtual " entity win
a bid from Transpetro when it has no yard, no welders, no cranes
and no [ship] designers. It is a virtual yard; they haven't even
built a fishing boat. We will oppose them in the courts.' .
While the court's opposition failed to gain momentum, leaving Victer to mutter that 'this could only happen in Brazil ', Angelo Bellelis, the chief executive for EAS told SW&S that no longer
would anyone dare call the northeast shipyard a 'virtual ya rd 'although, it has to be said, it is still not quite the complete and
finished article.
He said: 'The growth of EAS has been quite simply phenomenal. The words of Mr Victer are very famous but I have said in

}61

S W&S September 2009

many speeches our yard is

not a "virtual" one . If people
come here they will see that
we are an "actual yard" and a
very modern actual yard at
that.'

Determination

An aerial view of EAS

Bellelis actually owes a lot

to Sergio Machado, for despite
- or perhaps because of - the
biting criticisms of Victer, the
Transpetro
president
ploughed on with his EAS project for Suape despite objections from powerful interest
groups.
Machado is nothing if not
determined and his brief from
Lula - from the northeast him-

 Wagner Victer, Rio de

emerge to take on the challenges of the future. It is in this

context that the emergence of
Atlantico Sul must be seen .
We have attracted new yards
into Brazil and new foreign
investment, such as Samsung.
We feel totally vindicated and
EAS is, and will be, a complete
success. '
Today, nearly four years
after the yard was formed,
EAS is on a roll and is indeed
'making history' . First it
picked up the Transpetro
contract to build 10 Suezmaxes and then, after another yard failed to come up with
the shipyard guarantees,
managed to win the contract
for five aframaxes, as a second tranche of Promef 1 for
Petrobras (see SW&S March
2009, p24).
Bellelis told SW&S: 'We
picked up that contract just
five months ago and we will
start building the Aframaxes
in 2012 because we must first
complete the Suezmaxes for
Transpetro . We are very
pleased with the way our first
newbuilds are going. The
arrival of the two Goliath
cranes gives us tremendous
lifting capacity and will speed
up our construction processes tremendously.

Janeiro's former Secretary of

State for Energy, Oil and
Shipbuilding

self - was to 'modernise and

regionalise if necessary' the
country's moribund shipyard
industry which had been stagnating around its Rio de Janeiro
heartl and for years. Around
90% of all shipbuilding has traditiona lly been generated from
the Guanabara Bay region
(incorporating Rio de Janeiro
and Niteroi, its twin across the
bay) and an impressive and
extensive cluster of shipyards,
shipyard workers and ancillary
service industries.
Speaking earlier this year,
Mac hado said: 'For me there
was never a problem with the
"Virtual Yards". If, in the world
today, we tried to stop the
emergence of new companies,
then the whole world of commerce would stop spinning. I
think we should not judge the
past through the lens of the
present, and we should not
judge yesterday from the values of today. We should also
not judge the values of today
with the values of yesterday.
Every moment calls for a new
history and new actors must

Transpetro president
Sergio Machado at the

Angelo Bellelis, the chief

executive for EAS told

signing ceremony at the

SW&S that no longer would

anyone dare call the
northeast shipyard a 'virtual
yard'

Atlantic Sul shipyard for the

Transpetro Suezmaxes

Diversification
Bellelis is also keen to
diversify operations
and
intends to expand into another part of the 162 hectares it
owns within the Suape Industrial Port Complex. A second
yard would be dedicated to
the offshore industry.
'At the moment we are
restricted by having just one
dry dock and by space,'
explains Bellelis, 'but in the
future we cou ld move into
another 30 hectares area,
which has another quay, and
then we could target the offshore industry. We could build
more semi-submersible oil
platforms, and platform supply vessels.'
That area could also be
the place to build Brazil's firstever drill ships. There has
been a lot of talk this year that
Transpetro/Petrobras would
like a large proportion of their
future drilling requirements to
be met by vessels and rigs
built in Brazil.
'We are very interested in

these,' enthused Bellelis. 'We

may make some agreements
in the near future with companies who have the technology
for this. Petrobras has a great
need for drillships and we are
in the race to build them here
if possible. When they launch
the tenders for these we will
have a serious think about
this and I think we will move
for it. '
Bellelis admitted that
Samsung would play a strong
role in such a bid to build drillships at EAS.
The shipyard was actually
formed back in November
2005, when it became clear
that Machado - with the backing of President Lula - was
serious about his regionalisation plan.
The huge Suape Port
Industrial Port Complex was
the obvious location to site a
brand new shipyard, and its
isolated location, some 40km
south from the region 's capital of Recife and deepwater
draught of 15m were ideal.
September 2009 SW&S

----

7 ]

The fact that Philippinesbased container terminal

operator ICTSI already operated across the bay, and that
Petrobras had installations in
Suape didn't hurt the aspirations of the EAS directors
either.
The directors were given
indications that they would
win at least a slice of the
order for 10 Suezmaxes and
so moved ahead with dredging and basic site works even
before they signed the fist
contract with Transpetro.
During the lead-up to winning that historic first contract, construction company
Andrade Guttierez pulled out
of the consortium but Samsung Heavy Industries decided to become an equity partner rather than just a technical adviser.
Today the two huge Brazilian construction companies
Queiroz Galvao and Camargo
Co rrea each have 40% of the
EAS equity, Samsung is in the
pro cess of buying up 10% and
PMJR has the other 10%, with
each of the directors having
2.5% eac h.
Today EAS has the capaci18

SW&S September 2009

The EAS drydock under

ty to build all types of carrier

very supportive and with so

construction

vessels of up to 500 OOOdwt),

as well as offshore platforms
of the semi-submersible type,
FPSO {Floating Production,
Sforage, and Off-loading), TLP
(Tension-Leg Platforms) and
SPAR, among others.

many other companies setting

up in the port area we are
developing a very good cluster
of shipyard and shipping services here. The very impressive
logistics here will help us
become a long-term viable
alternative to Rio de Janeiro.'
One SIPC initiative - the
Suape Global programme - is
a kind of road show which has
recently been taken to Houston, London, Lisbon, Oslo and
even rival Rio de Janeiro. Visiting the first four cities show

Support
However, as Bellelis has
emphasised: the role in which
President Lula, Transpetro
and the Suape Industrial Port
Complex (SIPC) had played in
helping EAS to make the rapid
progress it has made over the
past two years cannot be
undervalued.
'SIPC,' he said, 'have been

how EAS and Suape could be

attracting the interest of
multi-national companies in
the very near future.
So the future looks very
bright indeed for EAS and its
various component parts.
Thanks to Machado, its enterprising directors and the consistent political will from President Lula it has well and truly
broken the mould of Brazilian
shipbuilding and taken it rapidly down the path of modernisation . It is literally making history and revolutionising the
shipyard landscape in Brazil.
Eat your heart out Wagner
Victer! 0

.~
~

s
~
~

l-J
0
\...)

d!)

~
~

nternational ship operators have a raft of rules and regulations to comply with, from import and export rules to
major health and safety and employment legislation, all
across a variety of jurisdictions. Therefore, it is perhaps understandable that checking the latest regulations regarding deck
coverings sometimes falls to the bottom of the pile.
However, with major changes to legislation set to take place
over the next few years - including SOLAS 2010 - Simon
Andrews, maritime sales manager at Altro, says that now is the time
to check deck coverings and replace them if needed in order to
avoid costly litigation, prevent fire risk and avoid decommissioning.
The majority of ship operators take safety onboard extremely seriously, and health and safety legislation has been in place
since the first International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS) was introduced in 1914 following the Titanic disaster
(see July/Aug 2009 edition). Obviously, this was introduced to
cover all aspects of maritime safety, however, the amendments to
the SOLAS Convention to be introduced in October 2010 will
specifically look at fire safety requirements, and could result in
hundreds of ships being decommissioned if they do not change
flammable products for non-flammable equivalents.
SOLAS has already introduced amendments for better fire
protection on passenger ship cabin balconies following the fire
onboard the cruise ship Star Princess in 2006. The 2010
amendments will require all older cruiseships (pre-1980) to be
updated to current regulations - which will require them to
replace almost all combustible materials in their construction or risk being decommissioned. Clearly, for some ship operators
across the world, this will require significant investment if they
want their older vessels to still be afloat after October next year.
Floor coverings will be included under SOLAS 2010, so it
will be important that any products used onboard pass tests for
both fire protection and toxicity.

Fire protection
Currently, marine floor coverings for high risk areas, such
as passenger corridors and escape routes, have to be tested and

testing methods for flooring

products are open to question due to inconsistencies
across test houses.
The main area of contention lies in the actual testing methods. The current test
method is not standardised
because the test house can
use whatever method they
want to for smoke and toxicity analysis, provided it is
traceable. Products only need
a test certificate from one
test house.
Unfortunately this can
lead to a disparity in results,
for example a product could
pass at one test house and
fail at another. These discrepancies could leave ship operators open to potential claims
if accidents, such as fires
onboard, occur.
Encouragingly, the IMO
is undertaking a major review
of the FTP Code and within
this, a new more stringent
and standardised test method
for gas analysis, which could
see a demand on manufacturers to demonstrate consistency over more than one
test house. The fact that the
IMO has given a full year for
industry to evaluate the
impact that this will have on

IMO/MED (Marine Equipment Directive)-compliant

under the IMO Fire Test
Procedure (IMO FTP) Code
for flammability (Part 5) and
smoke/toxicity (Part 2). They
also have to gain two levels of
MED approval - Schedule B
(product related) and either
Schedule F (batch related) or
Schedules D or E (process
related). When approved, the
product receives the wheel
mark of compliance and the
manufacturer should also be
able to provide a Declaration
of Conformity, which should
then be kept onboard for
inspection by Port State
Control.
However, the current fire

September 2009 SW&S

-

I 21

~
s
~
~

\..,)

J:J

i-tC
\..,)

existing approved products is

an indication that many of
these may not pass the fire
tests under the improved and
m ore reliable test standard.
Interestingly this is something that the rail and avi a ~
tion industries have had for
m any years and the m aritime
industry is only just coming
in to line.
Although a firm timescale
for full adoption has yet to be
announced, this move by the
IMO should lead to only the
safest products being proved
fit for purpose and should be
'Nelcom ed as a positive one.
Altro T ransflor's G allium
product complies with both
parts 2 and 5 of the FTP
Code and all the relevant
MED regulations, and can
demonstrate consistency of
results over at least three different test houses .
Claimed to be the first
sheet safety flooring for the
m aritime sector to be thoroughly tested and approved,
it represents a significant
development in marine flooring. T he technology consists
of high-quality plasticised
polyacrylate to provide firstclass resistance to the spread
of fire. It is also highly slipresistant and has low smoke
emission levels and toxicity
as well as a high resistance to
UV rays.
Aluminium oxide granules, dispersed through the
wear layer, maintain a high
ith 250 flooring systems
to its name, Netherlands-based Bolidt has a systern to suit most marine applications. However, it was the
introduction of the environmentally-friendly Bolideck
Future Teak in 2005 that has
delivered inspiration to a
cruiseline's R&D departments
and naval architects every'Nhere to push the design
envelope.
D esigners are becoming
increasingly a'Nare of its
potential for other applications, including bulkhead

22

S W&S September 2009

he transport division of
commercial flooring
specialist Polyflor Ltd has
expanded its range of coverings for the marine sector
deck 'Nith the introduction
ofVoyager MarineSafe, a
sheet vinyl safety flooring.
Available in four bright,
attractive colours, the heavy
duty covering is considered
an ideal solution for use in
areas which are normally
dry but 'Nhere occasional
liquid spillage can threaten
underfoot safety - including stair'Nay enclosures,
control stations, staff quarters, en-suites, back of

house corridors, circulation

areas,serviceareas,'Nashrooms and toilets, bar
serveries, food preparation
areas, kitchens and canteens.
It meets Marine Equipment Directive 96/98 EC,
indicating compliance 'Nith
all required regulations and
standards for the marine
environment, and provides
assured sustainable wet slip
resistance throughout its
guaranteed life in strict
adherence to HSE guidelines.
The new range adds
another significant dimen-

degree of slip resistance during the long life of the material. T he surface layer contains
silicon carbide and coloured
quartz, and structural support is provided by a glass
fibre reinforced polyester eellulose scrim, which helps
maintain dimensional stability, without compromising the
flexibility and lightweight features of the product.
Speaking during the
product launch late last year,
Andrews said: 'What makes it
so special is that it is completely PVC free. In the
event of fire, PVC can produce heavy black sm oke
which can hinder an evacua-

tion and be fatal if inhaled,

Despite this, m any m aritim e
operators are unwittingly
installing PVC-based flooring
products on their vessels.'

cladding, deck furniture,

planters, stair treads and capping rails. Indeed, since its
introduction, Bolidt has
already applied a lighting systern to the decking and has
incorporated this technology
into a number of ne'N products including a revolutionary
Future Teak helideck
lighting/guidance system.
These applications have

sion to the Voyager Maritime Collection, complementing Voyager Maritime

decorative 'NOod, stone and
design effect luxury vinyl
tiles - already 'Nidely specitied for onboard retail,
leisure and general public
areas - and the decorative,
lo'N maintenance heavy
duty sheet vinyl portfolio
and studded rubber tiles
used in cre'N quarters and
other back of house areas.
Polyflor systems 'Nere
recently selected for covering a number of decks in
RCI's soon-to-be-delivered
flagship Oasis of the Seas.

The future
Preventing fires onboard
ships is a m ajor concern fo r
the regulators, and 'Nhile previously it has taken a major
incident, such as the Star
Princess fire, to force a
change in regulations, the
SOLAS 201 0 amendments
will ensure older ships confo rm to the high levels of
safety seen onboard more
modern cruise ships. For
other types of maritime ves-

sel, the updates to the IM O

FTP Code should also be
watched closely, as these 'Nill
have an impact.
In conclusion, ship operators need to act now to
ensure their floor coverings
are fully compliant 'Nith all
international regulations, or
risk potential litigation or
even decommissioning.
Altro products have been
specified by leading maritime
operators such as Cunard,
Royal Caribbean, Exxon
M obil, Farstad and the
Swedish Navy. In 2008 it
'NOn the equipment category
at the 'Safety at Sea lnternational' awards. []

enabled shipowners, and in

particular cruise shipowners,
to emphasize several specific
parts of the ship and to make
their design and decoration
even more exclusive.
According to a statement
on the manufacturer's website,
the cruise industry has
embraced the concept:
increasingly more cruise companies are turning to Bolideck

Future Teak for newbuild and

for the renovation of existing
vessels.
Celebrity Cruises, one of
the world's largest cruise
lines, recently used the teakeffect deck covering on its
Solstice class. These Meyer
Werft-built ne'Nbuilds have
used the system on a scale
hitherto unseen. Five Solstice class vessels will have a
total of some 55 OOOm2 of
Bolideck Future Teak decking applied to the vessels'
promenade, pool, balcony
and sundecks.

"N

~I
I
I

lncat, the builder of the world's largest

all-aluminium 'fast cats' has honed its
specialist welding skills with a little help
from its friends

hen Australian shipbuilder Incat delivered the 'fast

cats' Natchan Rera and Natchan Wbrld last year to
meet Higashi Nihon Ferry's operational service
requirements, the hullabaloo surrounding these 112.6m long,
30.5m wide vessels was such that the welding technology used
to build these all-aluminium beasts went largely unnoticed.
Amongst the largest welded aluminium constructions ever
built, the success of these high-speed wave-piercers is indicative of the symbiotic partnerships that Robert Clifford, Incat's
founder and chairman, has established over many years with
key suppliers of aluminium welding wire and systems such as
Pacific Industrial Supplies, ESAB and AlcoTec.
The principal material traditionally used to build Incat
wave piercing vessels is aluminium-based alloy 5083, which is
usually welded with its companion welding filler material 5183.
A few years ago, however, !neat evaluated and then adopted
5383 alloy as a replacement base material to 5083. The
improved strength of this material allowed further design
enhancements but placed additional weld quality, strength, and
porosity control demands on the filler metal to be used.
AlcoTec worked with !neat to provide a 5183 type welding
wire with tighter controlled porosity limits, chemistry, and
diameter than described by nominal Standards Australia or
American Welding Society specifications.
In 100% radiographed welds, joints are typically designed to
avoid fillets, by milling radii on heavy corner sections and butt
welding. Techniques such as material tapering to match butt weld
thickness and using run-off tabs, are commonly employed.
Uniform welding techniques assure uniform weld appearance and quality throughout the yard. As the business was
developing, Incat worked with the state ofTasmania to establish a Technical and Further Education campus adjacent to
site. Here, welders were taught the principles of aluminium
welding - alongside Incat's own company welding techniques
- before being allowed to weld in the yard . Interestingly, carpenters were often the preferred choice of candidate for uaining as they were considered to be easier to train than to retrain
steel welders.

Welders are the first-inline for quality assurance

control. If any operator experiences a problem or
observes a possible discontinuity, they are expected to
stop welding and involve
yard supervision in evaluating the situation. Such methods and policies ensure
Incat's cost-effective quality
control and productivity.
Generally, as each vessel
has slightly different topside
requirements from a base
vessel design, !neat produces
a standard sea-frame for the
main hull. This sea-frame has

strength stiffness and integrity separate from the superstructure. Since it is desirable
to separate passenger spaces
and bridge from the machinery and dynamics of a vessel
transiting the open ocean at
75km/h, the superstructures
are separate structures
mounted on rubber brackets
on the sea-frame.
Along with the centre
forward bow, the wave piercing bows are important elements in the ship's design.
The hydrodynamics and
aerodynamics of these bows
demand that they be particularly rigid elements. There
are areas in these bows where
the skin thickness is up to
25mm. The ship 's propulsion
jet room assemblies are welded aluminium, as are the
propulsion nozzle connecting
flanges. To avoid distortion,
the flanges are welded first
and then milled in place. D
The above is an abridged version
of the article published in
edition No 1, 2009 of the ESAB
customer magazine Svetsaren. It
is published here with the kind
permission of ESAB

24

SW&S September 2009

UTURE~-HIPPING
Safety and the
Environment
2009

Ii

'

I'. . lmp~rt1a

adv1.ce
fo;,r -,a:~safer
worl.d.
We are known around the world for the quality
of our advice and for our independence, providing
long term confidence through our assurance and
verification services. We help organisations comply
with regulations and industry best practice so
they can operate safely and productively. In a
time when reputations are increasingly linked to
' green' performance, we can also help you meet
stringent environmental standards and develop _
truly sustainable businesses .

')

Learn more about our global network go to .www.lr.org/maririe

,;.
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FUTURESHIPPING
D

elegates to the 15th

conference of the
parties (COPlS) of
the Kyoto Protocol
have been urged to forego
some of the more dubious
charms that Copenhagen
nightlife has to offer but many
delegations will be in need of
relief in one form or another
by the end of the meeting.
By then, if all goes to plan,
the shipping industry will
know whether or not it has
managed to convince the secretariat of the UN Framework
Convention
on
Climate
Change (UNFCCC) that the
IMO is the right body to manage and mitigate C0 2 emissions from shipping.
While probably pointless to
try and second-guess the outcome of the meeting, it seems
certain that shipping will move
from a position of virtual optout under Kyoto to inclusion
proper in its successor.
The success of the IMO mission - backed by some shipping heavyweights will
depend on whether the UNFCCC agrees that the IMO can be
trusted to set and implement
C0 2 emission reductions or
whether it should set them itself
and let the IMO find a way to
meet them.
The media interest in the
meeting, not to mention strong

Shipping is heading into troubled waters - it is

under attack on its environmental performance
and is once again having to cope with a major
global economic crisis. The future therefore, holds
many challenges and in this supplement we look
at some of the issues and potential solutions. But
top of the agenda, and for the immediate future, is
the need to solve the emissions problem and
reach a satisfactory conclusion to the upcoming
Copenhagen conference
lobbying by both shipping interests and green groups, means
that even if the first option is
pursued, the argument will continue to be made that shipping
has not done enough in the 10
years since the signing of Kyoto
and should be given a clear
message of intent in the form of
a draconian target.
That the IMO must hope
for the first and plan for the
second, just in case, makes for
a delicate position - especially since the national delegations at Copenhagen are not
the shipping-friendly voices at
IMO. From its critics' standpoint, the IMO must be concerned that the UNFCCC looks
on shipping as a handy source
of supplementary income at a
time of global shortfall.
Some estimates put potential annual receipts from a
global bunker levy or emis-

sions trading scheme (known

as market-based measures MBMs) in a range between
US$4Bn and $10Bn but all estimates of what shipping might
actually have to pay are theoretical until some firm C0 2
reduction targets are set.
The IMO must hope that
the desire of the UNFCCC to
raise money to help finance a
programme of climate change
action
that
could
cost
US$100Bn is kept in check by
the realisation that too stiff a
target for shipping could be
impractical to pursue and
impossible to collect.
The impact of MBMs isn't
likely to be felt soon. Draft
designs for a bunker levy or
emissions trading scheme
might exist on paper but it
could be three years before a
new convention necessary to
enact them is adopted and -

if recent evidence is anything

to go by - several more before
that convention is ratified.
In the short term, the
industry will have to find a way
to work with the proposals
agreed at the last Marine Environment Protection Committee
- the 'technical and operational measures' that form the
other half of the IMO's greenhouse gas strategy. These items
- an energy efficiency design
index for new ships, an energy
efficiency indicator for in-service engines, and a shipboard
energy efficiency management
plan - sound impressive until
one realises they are no more
than voluntary guidelines.
Many industry owner
groups will press for them to
be made mandatory as soon
as possible and other voices in
the industry - notably class
societies - argue that with
innovative use of technology,
additional strides can be made
towards energy efficiency that
might make the need for
MBMs unnecessary.
That sounds like wishful
thinking and probably fails to
take account of the political
reality. Even with the pursuit of
energy efficiency gathering
steam after a long gestation, the
IMO knows it needs to be seen
to be pushing the MBM concept
at Copenhagen.
...illl

ADVERTISING Paul Hubbard

September 2009 FUTURESHIPPING

As we move further
into the 21st Century,
the world is
increasingly focussed
on the problems of the
environment and in
particular pollution
from fossil fuels. At the
same time some
pundits predict that
the world's supply of
oil, the main fossil fuel
in use today, is now
past its peak and going
into decline. What
should the marine
industry do?

nos1s
I

n the immediate future attention is being directed to measures

to minimise the emission of SOx, NOx and C0 2 from the burning of fossil fuels . Already the IMO has developed standards
and it is clear that SOx and NOx emissions can be successfully
tackled, albeit with ever more complex technology. Now the focus is
moving to the suppression of C0 2 as a 'green house' gas (GHGs).
Between December 7 and 18 this year the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) will take place in Copenhagen.
This is intended to be a follow-up to the Kyoto Protocol which
entered into force on 16th February 2005 and runs out in 2012. In
Copenhagen IMO will present its submission on controlling green
house gas (CHG) emissions from shipping. In July, its Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 59) agreed to disseminate a
package of interim and voluntary technical and operational measures
to reduce CHG emissions from international shipping; and also
agreed a work plan for further consideration, at future meetings, of
proposed market-based instruments to provide incentives for the
shipping industry.

FUTURE SHIPPING September 2009

,,. Submarines, such as the

class, are the first
areas were fuel cells have
made an impact
U212

However IMO's proposals

have not been well received by
various sectors. For example, it
appears that in the opinion of
the European Commission (EC),
MEPC 59 did not achieve an
acceptable formula for reducing
GHGs from shipping and could
well be bypassed in future global discussions. The feeling
appears to be that after some
three years of work, IMO has
only agreed to look at marketbased mechanisms with no
guarantee that anything will be
implemented by 2011. As a
result there is a threat that the
European Commission will take
unilateral action, and the possibility that the UNFCCC might
adopt an agreement on shipping
at Copenhagen independently of
the IMO. In the case of the EC, it
could bring in unilateral measures to curb shipping emissions,
notably a proposal to include
ships visiting EU ports in the EU
Emissions Trading Scheme.

,, An impression of the Planet Solar revealing the extensive

solar panel deck that will provide the vessel's propulsion energy

Alternative fuels
But if fossil fuels are increasingly 'suspect' and reserves may
be in decline what are the alternatives? On the one hand work
is progressing on using fuels
such as LNG and bio fuels
though the latter is still in the
early days and the former is
largely limited to LNG tankers
(in the form of boil off) as it will
be a while before an effective
infrastructure for the supply to
sectors other than gas carriers
exists. Norway is currently one
of the few countries in the world
with an established infrastructure for the supply of LNG.
Although not currently used
commercially, there have been a
limited number of projects using
biofuels in ships which have
demonstrated that existing
engines can be modified to operate on biofuels. The most promising biofuels for use in ships are
biodiesel and crude vegetable
oil, however pyrolysis oil and
other biofuels may prove to be
potential alternatives. The preferred choice of raw material is

,, The Flettner rotor concept, using wind energy, is once again

being looked at as an energy saving propulsion aid
rape oil or soya oil, but residual
oils (waste cooking oils), palm
oil, sunflower oils and others
can be alternatives. Biodiesel is
most suitable for replacing
marine distillate and vegetable
oil is most suitable for replacing
residual fuels.
Recently Wartsila successfully performed a number of
tests that demonstrate the ability of its engines to run on a
range of vegetable and animalbased oils. This enables a
wider range of renewable fuel
options for the Wartsila
engines, while at the same
time enabling further C0 2
emission reductions. In the
tests, conducted between February and April of this year at
the VTT technical research
centre in Espoo, Finland, a
Wartsila Vasa 4R32 engine successfully operated on jatropha

oil, fish oil and chicken oil.

Future options
Other routes to propulsion,
but certainly longer term in
their applications, include fuel
cells and, perhaps, solar power
while wind energy should not
be overlooked.
Fuel cells have so far only
made progress in the marine
sector for submarines where
Siemens has developed 34kW
and 120kW units based on
Polymer Electrolyte Membrane
(PEM) technology and using
hydrogen and oxygen stored
onboard. These are already
being installed in submarines
of the U212A class (34kW unit)
and U209PN and U214 classes
(l 20kW unit). Wartsila has
also developed a 20kW prototype unit that uses solid oxide
fuel cell (SOFC) technology.

Hydrogen is also in use in

another fuel cell development
involving what is claimed to be
the world's first hydrogen
fuelled boat, running in Austria. Developed by a consortium of companies that operate
in specialist fields, this hydrogen fuelled propulsion system
has been fitted into a small
sports boat built by Frauscher,
which is known for its range of
classic styled powerboats that
operate mainly on lakes and
rivers in Europe.
In developing the hydrogen
fuelled boat, the consortium
used established technology
and has tried to create a craft
that is simple and easy to operate and re-fuel. The established
technology comes in the form of
electric propulsion with the
electric power coming from batteries that in tum are powered
from a fuel cell. The innovative
part of the development is the
way that the hydrogen fuel that
powers the fuel cell is contained
in cartridges and to refuel the
boat it is simply a matter of
exchanging cartridges.
The boat can be refuelled
from a standard hydrogen filler
coupling but at present such
facilities are only available at
garages and then only in very
limited number of places. The
cartridge system allows for the
simple exchange of a cartridge
when it is empty at a fixed
price and by carrying a spare
cartridge the exchange can be
done when convenient with
virtually no interruption to the
boating enjoyment.
The hydrogen cartridge system has been developed by a
company called Bitter and
which has established a network of cartridge exchange stations as part of a programme to
facilitate the use of hydrogen as
a fuel. At the distributer end,
the process is simple with automated payment whilst removing the old cartridge and
installing the new on board
takes only minutes with a simple coupling system.

September 2009 FUTURESHIPPING

Fuel cell developments

The fuel cell system has
been developed by an experienced of fuel cell technology
company called Fronius. The
hydrogen enters the fuel cell
where it is converted into elec' trical power with the only emission from the cell being pure
water that can be discharged
overboard. Frauscher has experience of fitting electric motors
powered by batteries in its boats
that are designed to operate on
sensitive water areas but was
aware that the long charging
period necessary and the limited range reduced the pleasure
of the boating experience.
The use of the hydrogen
powered fuel cell overcomes
these problems. The 6m
Frauscher boat is powered by a
4kW electric motor. The fuel
cell is designed to produce
4kW of power at 48V de on a
continuous basis and this will
allow a range of SOkm from
one filling of the 261 hydrogen
tank with the motor operating
at full power. The batteries fitted between the fuel cell and
the motor give a good reserve
of power so a spare cartridge
only needs to be carried if the
cartridge exchange station is
not conveniently located. The
whole unit occupies the space

in the boat where an internal

combustion engine would normally be located.
Fronius claim that it has
developed the first fully sustainable energy system with
electrical power being generated from solar panels and a biomass system. This electrical
power is used to separate water
into hydrogen and oxygen and
this hydrogen is then used to
power the fuel cell with water
as the only emission.
Meanwhile
Norway's
Nordic Power Systems has
demonstrated the feasibility of
a reformer-based fuel cell system that delivers lkW of electric power when operating on
diesel fuel. The generator is
based on common autothermal
reforming technology of Diesel
fuels and a High Temperature
PEM fuel cell. The demonstrator uses diesel fuel. A wide
range of liquid hydrocarbon
fuels with a sulphur content of
less than lOppm are suitable
for the application. When other
fuels with higher sulphur contents such as AVTUR fuels are
used a sulphur removal unit
can be added onto the unit.
This removal step requires
thermal energy and affects the
system efficiency. No hazardous or detectable emissions
are discharged from the unit.

II' The Russian vessel

Sevmorput is currently the

only nuclear-powered
merchant ship in service
(excluding the Russian
nuclear icebreakers) but may
be indicative of a future
option as fossil energy
becomes more problematic

FUTURESHIPPING

Round the world

by solar power
To date the marine use of
solar power has been mainly
restricted to its use for auxiliary
battery charging and for operating unmanned navigational
aids etc. Now this may change
dramatically as a French team
is planning to go round the
world with a craft that will
solely use solar power.
It is a big challenge but the
30m vessel is already under construction in Germany and the
after proving trials the voyage is
planned to start in 2011. The
team will be following the Equatorial route in order to maximise
the available sunshine but even

September 2009

then it is a considerable challenge because the boat will have

to run both day and night.
The Planet Solar project has
been under development for
several years and is the brainchild of Raphael Domjan. 'During the Round the World attempt
we will have to manage on
whatever energy nature gives
us', he explains. 'We will have
to constantly optimise the route
and speed in line with the available sunshine and the medium
range weather forecast.'
The 30m long vessel, Planet
Solar, is based on a SWATH-like
design where the main centre
hull is supported by two long
thin pontoons. Although it is
boat-shaped the centre hull will
normally run clear of the water
with the pontoon hulls providing the buoyancy and the centre
hull only likely to make contact
with the water in rough conditions. The side and centre hulls
will be connected by a series of
side struts between the main
and supporting hulls.
The pontoon hulls, shaped
for minimum resistance, are
around 2m in diameter and will
house the electric propulsion
motors and the batteries with
internal access via the side
struts. These pontoons will act
in a semi-submerged mode so
that the vessel is in effect a
SWATH design that should
minimise the motions in a seaway and offer the minimum of
resistance.

Solar deck
Accommodation is in the
centre hull and it is the flat top
deck of this hull where the
solar panels are located. The
area of fixed solar panels can
be extended by opening up
folding side wings and a stern
panel that are also covered in
solar panels to produce a total
of 470m' of panels to harness
the power of the sun. These
wing flaps add Sm to the lSm
beam of the vessel and the
stern flap adds another Sm to
the length. When underway

these additional panels are normally open but would be

closed up when entering harbour. The total area of the panels is estimated to produce
120kW in bright sunlight when
they are fully extended.
The two electric propulsion
motors will have an average
consumption of 20kW and with
the batteries that are charged
by the solar panels it is estimated that the vessel will have an
endurance of lOOOkm when the
panels are not supplying
power, allowing the vessel to
keep going during the hours of
darkness. The electric motors
are estimated to give the Planet
Solar a speed of Skts under
optimum conditions.
Planet Solar is under construction in the Knierim shipyard in Kiel and at present the
two pontoon hulls are complete
with work continuing on the
centre hull, all being constructed from a carbon fibre laminate
to keep weight to a minimum.
Launch and initial testing is
planned for the beginning of
2010 and during the summer
the vessel will undertake a
European tour. Departure on
the round the world voyage is
scheduled for April 2011 from
Marseille with the vessel taking
a westerly route around the
world. There will be stopovers
in various major ports such as
New York, Miami, San Francisco, Cairns (Australia), Singapore and Dubai to make the
voyage a total of 40 OOOkm,
which it is estimated will take
around 140 days.

A plan for 2030

The ultimate expression of
what might be feasible for
future ship propulsion without
using fossil fuels is the Orcelle,
a design study from WalleniusWilhelmsen which features
sails, solar panels, wave energy
and fuel cells. The Orcelle was
developed in 2005 as an exercise in seeing what could be
achieved with technology over
the following 25 years.
.o<lllll

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Cleaner exhaust
calls for further
Marine engineers have
proven resourceful

over the years in

adapting to operating
and maintaining plant

introduced to improve
efficiency, safety and
fuel treatment but new
challenges are faced
from systems required
to meet tougher
emission regulations

commitments
P

rimary (in-engine) refinements have generally been adequate to meet IMO Tier 1 emission limits but stricter
regional and international controls may dictate the use of
secondary methods - exhaust gas treatment techniques
- either alone or in combination with engine modifications.
Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems, developed from
land-based power station installations for shipboard applications,
can cut NOx emissions by over 90 % . An SCR system thus gives
engine designers greater scope to pursue primary in-cylinder
measures without increasing fuel consumption.

SCR approach
In an SCR system the exhaust gas is mixed with ammonia
(preferably in the form of a 40% solution of urea in water) before
passing through a layer of special catalyst at a temperature
between 290C and 450C. Urea decomposes into ammonia and
C0 2 on injection into the hot exhaust gas stream, the ammonia
reducing the NOx to harmless water and nitrogen; parts of the soot
and hydrocarbons in the exhaust are also removed by oxidation in
the SCR process reactor.
The catalytic conversion rate of SCR systems is highly depend-

MAN Diesel's newlydeveloped EGR scrubber

applied to the company's
t'it engine

FUTURESHIPPING

September 2009

~,

t
1

ent on the amount of urea

dosed: increased dosage yields
increased conversion. Excessive urea, however, causes
ammonia slip downstream of
the reactor which is detrimental to . bot)1 the process and
operational economy.
Urea dosing must therefore
be very accurate under different
load conditions. The set point
for dosing is derived primarily
from the engine speed and load;
in addition, control is adjusted
by measuring the residual NOx
level after the reactor. The NOx
measurement data are used for
tuning
the
stoichiometric
ammonia/NOx ratio and maintaining the ammonia slip at a
constant level.
An impressive de-NOxing
efficiency has been demonstrated by SCR technology in
deepsea and coastal tonnage
installations since early 1990.
NOx emission reductions up to
95 % are yielded by pioneering
shipboard SCR plant serving
the MAN B& W 6S50MC low
speed engines of bulk carriers
on a dedicated trade between
South Korea and California,
where particularly strict environmental regulations have to
be satisfied.
The amount of ammonia
injected into the exhaust gas
duct is controlled by a process
computer, which arranges dosing in proportion to the NOx
produced by the engine as a
function of engine load.
Approaching the Californian-regulated
wa ters,
the
engine feed is switched from
heavy fuel oil to fuel complying
with California Air Resources
Board rules (gas oil}. The
exhaust gas is then gradually
passed through the SCR reactor
and, when the temperature has
been raised to the right level,
ammonia dosing is started to
effect near-full NOx emissions
control.

!>l.

'"e

Maintaining engine dynam-

The 8500TEU container

ship Gudrun Mcersk,

powered by a Warts1la 12RTFlex96C rated at 68 64okW
at 102rev/min

ics and turbocharger stability

at transient loads can be a
problem in an SCR installation,
MAN Diesel notes, but its electronically-controlled
MAN
B& W ME and ME-C low speed
engines are considered very
compatible with such systems.
A faster load-up by early
exhaust valve opening and late
fuel injection timing is facilitated, while modulated exhaust
valve timing stabilises the turbochargers.
Further SCR system development is required, however,
to enable two-stroke engines to
meet future IMO Tier III limits,
suggests MAN Diesel, which
also cites these disadvantages:
bulky equipment with high
thermal inertia; the need for a
consumable (ammonia or
urea}; catalyst fouling at low
loads from fuel with a normal
sulphur content; risk of ammonia slip at transient loads; and
continuous emission measurement is required as proof of
compliance due to use of

bypass at transient loads.

An early SCR installation
serving medium speed marine
engines was commissioned in
1992 on a diesel-electric ferry
plying short crossings between
Denmark and Sweden. The
number of SCR systems in
service has proliferated, applications in newbuilding and
retrofit projects smoothed by
the efforts of system designers
to reduce reactor space requirements and offer compact solutions.
SCR reactors can now be
installed separately in the
engine room or integrated in
the exhaust manifolds of both
four-stroke and two-stroke
engines, doubling as efficient
silencers.
Growing demand - by last
year it had supplied more than
100 engines equipped with SCR
systems - encouraged Wartsi!a to develop a range of Nitrogen Oxides Reducer (NOR}
units sized to cover its fourstroke engine programme.
Standardised elements reduce
the number of components
involved, lowering costs and
reducing delivery time.
All the elements can be
combined on a single skid or
built directly on the reactor.
Urea pumping and dosing

are combined with the SCR

control system in a single compact unit rather than as a traditional configuration having the
control system, pumping and
dosing units arranged separately. The control system matches
the different functions of the
ancillary equipment to the
engine's working point, ensuring that the right quantity and
mix of ammonia is injected into
the system.

o:ns

Exhaust gas recirculation

(EGR}, a method of modifying
the engine inlet air to reduce
NOx emissions at source, is
widely and successfully applied
in automotive practice. Some of
the exhaust gas is cooled and
cleaned before recirculation to
the scavenge air side.
The effect on NOx formation is partly due to a reduction
of the oxygen concentration in
the combustion zone, and partly due to the content of water
and C0 2 in the exhaust gas.
The higher molar heat capacities of water and C0 2 lower the
peak combustion temperature
which, in turn, curbs the formation of NOx.
EGR is an efficient technique for reducing NOx emissions (by 50-60 %} without

September 2009 FUTURESHIPPI NG

'
affecting the power output of
the engine but has been considered more practical for
engines
burning
cleaner
bunkers, such as low sulphur
and low ash fuels, alcohol and
gas. Engines operating on high
sulphur fuel might invite corrosion of the turbochargers, intercoolers and scavenging pipes.
An EGR system pursued by
MAN Diesel for use with its
two-stroke engines is based on
recirculating exhaust gas on the
engine side of the turbocharger,
part of the exhaust being recirculated from the exhaust gas
receiver to the scavenge air system downstream of the turbocharger compressor.
An electrically-driven high
pressure blower forces the
exhaust gas (at 3.3bar) through
a wet scrubber to the higher
pressure (3. 7bar) scavenge air

10

The Brotherhood
turbogenerator set for the
Gudrun M~rsk as used in
conjunction with the
Warts1la main engine. The
exhaust-gas power turbine
is on the left, the generator
on the right, and the steam
turbine to the right of centre

were reduced by up to 70 %
(compared with the economy
engine layout) using 30% recirculation of exhaust gas. At
maximum continuous rating
using 24 % recirculation, NOx
was reduced by 60% with only
a slightly negative impact on
specific fuel consumption.

Alternative solutions
receiver. The scrubber cleans the
exhaust gas by removing SOx
and particulates, and also cools
it through humidification before
re-introduction to the combustion chamber. The resulting
NOx-reducing effect is due to
part-replacement of the oxygen
by C02, which lowers the maximum peak temperatures by
decelerating combustion.
NOx emissions from MAN
Diesel's 4T50ME-X two-stroke
research engine at 75 % load

FUTURESHIPPING September 2 009

A derivative of EGR
Combustion Gas Recirculation
(CGR) - is a more energy efficient and somewhat simpler
system which draws gases
directly from the combustion
chamber for cleaning and piping back to the charge air
stream. Some engine efficiency
is lost by 'stealing' a portion of
the combustion gas but a benefit over EGR is that no blower is
needed, less gas is pumped
through pipes and the system is

more compact. A combination

of EGR and CGR is another possibility, says MAN Diesel.
Both MAN Diesel and
Wartsila have also sought
NOx reductions by increasing
the humidity of the charge air
with water vapour. MAN's
Scavenge Air Moisturising
(SAM) or Humid Air Motor
(HAM) system has been tested
and applied in service, the
process reportedly capable of
reducing NOx formation by up
to 65%.
Turbocharged combustion
air is saturated with water
vapour produced onboard from
raw sea water using the engine
heat sources. Compressed and
heated air from the turbocharger is passed through a cell that
humidifies and cools the air
with evaporated water, the distillation process making it pos-

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sible to use sea water rather

than fresh water.
Humidifying the inlet air
lowers the combustion temperature peaks that result in over
90 % of NOx formation in the
cylinder. When the water
vapour is mixed with the compressed air charge, two mechanisms can be identified: an
increase in the specific heat
capacity of the mixture and
dilution of the charge air
(water vapour replaces air).
SAM's advantage, MAN
Diesel asserts, is its use of the
heat of the engine to raise the
sea water temperature : no

external energy source is needed. In addition to the heat of

the charge air after the turbocharger, in many applications heat from the engine
coolant and exhaust gases can
be introduced into the charge
air to increase its capacity to
absorb moisture.
As well as curbing NOx
formation, the presence of
water vapour in the combustion chamber yields cleaner
combustion, reducing deposits
in the chamber, on the turbine
side of the turbocharger and in
the rest of the exhaust gas
tract.

Air

.,.
I

!~g:
SCA reactor

Air outlet

Air intake \

--'--l'l--------1~

I Exhaust gas outlet

Deck

Air
High efficiency turbocharger

The scrubbers route

In targeting SOx and particulate matter (PM) emission
reductions, MAN Diesel is
developing and testing seawater scrubber technology as an
exhaust gas after-treatment as
well as co-operating with a
number of specialist companies. The latter include the
UK's Krystallon, whose scrubber systems have been successfully trialled on P&O and
Holland America Line tonnage.
Shoreside tests of various
scrubber
designs
have
achieved SOx emission reductions up to 100% and PM trapping efficiency up to almost
80% . Further shipboard tests
were planned on prototype
scrubbers from June this year.
Scrubbing technology well established in land-based
installations brings the
exhaust gases into contact with
an alkaline aqueous spray to
absorb and neutralise the SOx
constituents as sulphates. PM
is also washed out into the
scrubbing medium, which can
be sea water or a sodium
hydroxide solution .
Cleaned onboard to remove
solids and oily material, the
used wash water can be dis-

Preheating and sealing air

Schematic layout for an
MAN Diesel SCR system

charged overboard (as long as

it meets the IMO-specified
wash-water discharge criteria)
or stored onboard for short
periods for later discharge
ashore. The oily sludge separated from the wash-water is
stored onboard for eventual
disposal ashore.
Wartsila's SOx marine
scrubber recently became the
first to be granted Sulphur
Emission Control Area (SECA)
compliance certification from
DNV and GL following successful tests on a Finnish product
tanker. The full-size plant was
used to clean the exhaust gases
from a Wartsila 20 medium
speed genset engine.
The system is said to comply with IMO guidelines,
adopted in July, for cleaning
SOx emissions from two-stroke
and four-stroke engines as well
as oil-fired boilers.

Turbo changes
Engineers at sea may also
have to become more familiar
with two-stage turbocharging
systems in the future . Charge
air pressures required by most
engines to date have been met
by single-stage turbocharging
systems but future market
requirements for lower emissions and increased power ratings will dictate even higher
mean effective pressures.
Low and high pressure turbochargers linked in series via

Sanitary Systems
- made to please

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12

FUTURESHIPPING

September 2009

intercooling can create the high

boost pressures required to
support Miller cycle inlet valve
timing.
Variable turbine geometry is
also established as an option in
turbocharger programmes. In
such systems a turbine nozzle
ring equipped with adjustable
(rather than traditional fixed)
vanes enables the volume of
charge air to be more precisely
matched to the quantity of
injected fuel at all points on an
engine's load profile.
Specific fuel consumption
and emissions can thereby be
reduced while improving the
dynamic behaviour of the
engine-turbocharger system.
The high efficiency of modern
large
turbochargers
also
enhances the viability of
advanced waste heat recovery
(WHR) systems serving high
output propulsion installations.

erated by the exhaust gas

economiser is also exploited
for ship's heating services.

or1ng
Shipboard engineers and
shoreside superintendents are
supported by emissions measuring systems, such as UKbased Martek Marine's MariNOx which can monitor, display and transmit NOx, C0 2
and SOx output readings.
MariNOx is complemented
by DataLINK, a software suite

purpose designed for recording

and trending emissions from
each engine, boiler or gas turbine, displaying instantaneous
and historical data. It is further
designed to interface with a
Purplefinder intelligent GPS
device to enable extended
reporting functions, such as
position of the ship, its speed
and heading, and automated
data transmission via Inmarsat.
DataLINK can also signal
alarms for high emissions, system errors or failures and geo-

graphical boundaries, which

can be automatically e-mailed
or sent by SMS to alert shore
staff.
As well as monitoring emissions, MariNOx facilitates continuous optimisation of engine
performance, reportedly fostering fuel consumption reductions of up to four per cent.
Operators are able to re-tune
engines away from the IMO's
'low NOx' mode back to 'economy' mode while remaining
within emission limits.

Hi.. t ecovery

\.

MAN Diesel and Wartsi!a

have developed and applied
WHR systems in conjunction
with specialist suppliers to
boost the overall plant efficiency of large containership
propulsion installations, reducing fuel consumption and thus
C0 2 emissions.
In AP Mailer's Emma
Maersk-headed containership
class, exhaust gases from the
14-cylinder
Wartsila
RTflex96C low speed main
engine pass through an
economiser to create steam for
an SSOOkWe Peter Brotherhood turbo-alternator set. The
set also incorporates a drive
from a power turbine fed with
exhaust gas surplus to the
requirements of the engine's
ABB turbochargers.
An electrical output equivalent to some 12 % of the main
engine power can produced,
the resulting current being supplied via the main switchboard
to two shaft propulsion motors
supplementing the engine
effort. Some of the steam gen-

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September 2009 FUTURESHIPPING

13

IBIXNORWAY
Supplier of :
- IBIMAR Mini sandblasters
- Sandblast pots
- Sandblast hoses, guns and accessories
- Pneumatic paint spray units
- Electrical paint pray units
- Graco Spray Guns
- Graco Spray Tips

AS


integration
B

ack in the 1970s, experts predicted that the waterways

would be full of completely automated, remote controlled ships, carrying cargo from one space age port to
another. Fast forward 40 years, and although this is not
the case, the technology is there to be able to fulfil this prophecy.
It is already being used in some submarines . But is it cost effective
for shipping to do so? Probably not.
But what we do have is components of this futuristic ship concept onboard. With the current technology we are able to monitor
ships and voyages more closely, and this system is working efficiently. But what is needed is a more intelligent use of technology.
The problem with so many different pieces of technology is that
they have all been developed separately.
With regards to navigation, the foreseeable future has been
mapped out. This summer, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) finalised its decision to introduce a carriage requirement for electronic chart display and information systems
(ECDIS), making it mandatory for vessels, depending on type and
size to be fitted with ECDIS .
So after mandation, what next? Moving away from data for
data sake, what consumers want is information in nice tidy packages, enabling the decision makers to make decision.
One such forward thinking company is London-based Pole
Star, who as a world leader in fleet management, ship security and
vessel tracking systems is looking to the future of vessel routing
and tracking and is currently in the process of beta testing its new
voyage monitoring package. Pole Star have taken the next step by
creating in its Fleet Management product a package which will
upload voyages plans, then track and monitor the vessel's progress
against the planned route in real time warning the operator of any
deviations or problems. On the drawing board is the next enhancement which will analyse a completed voyage through its post voyage analysis (PVA) system to examine what actually happened,
ideally overlaying actual observed weather data, but this is still
some time away.
A couple of other companies have developed aspects of this
package, including Jeppesen Marine, who are a provider of vessel
operation services and digital navigation solutions. Using its CMAP Professional+ chart product, Jeppesen have recently
brought out the C-MAP Ocean View which enables the latest wind
and wave forecasts to be integrated into the chart display system
making it possible to plan the safest optimal voyage.
BAE Systems and Marine Electronic Systems (MES) have developed a Panoramic Area Surveillance System (PASS), which brings
together surveillance and data fusion technologies tackling surveil14

FUTURESHIPPING

September 2009

Integration is the key

word for the future.
Between the amount of
technology already out
there, and the large
quantity of data that
will be amassed, the
next challenge is find a
way to supply all this
information in a user
friendly package

lance needs. The PASS provides

a full 360 azimuth, using 24
cameras, which fuses together
infra-red video images with visible band images in real time.
The next phase of this fusion
technology could involve merging real time visual images with
electronic maps, and maybe
using low frequency radar to
elongate the range of sight.

Bright future

'.

'\

In a brainstorming session
with Pole Star's Managing
Director, David Plumer, and
Head of Business Intelligence
Julie Lithgow, the company
had some bright ideas on how
the industry should use the
technology at hand to shipping's advantage. Sensors,
such as accelerometers or
strain gauges, can measure the
forces, and stresses and
strains that a ship structure is
put under during its voyage,
and how different weather
encountered and loading conditions affect the vessels' performance and structure.
Collation of such data,
over a length of time, could
help predict the true state of
the ship structure and indicate
where problems could arise. It
is currently possible to monitor the whole trading history
of a ship and then synthesise
what sort of structural pres-

sures it has been subjected to

since its last survey.
Having a simple system
like this onboard, could be
used by class societies, as the
data, which could be transmitted to a landside database
wirelessly, would indicate
when a vessel needs to be
structurally checked, rather
than the vessel being subject to
regular checks. And when the
vessel does come in for its survey, class would know exactly
where it needs to look before
the vessel comes into dock.
Same again if there is a engineering problem, the engineer
will be able to meet the ship
with the right spare parts or
tools in port.

IT competence
With all this extra data, the
problem is information overload. What the industry would
do is move away from data for
data's sake, and turn data into
information. Looking at information this way, will mean
systems will analyse figures
and disperse data in decision
friendly chunks. The more
sophisticated systems will take
a lot of the paperwork away
from the masters. And if information can be properly managed, the IT driven vessel is
unlikely to have any software
onboard, simply patches and

updates would be sent out

remotely when needed.
Vizada Solution's Product
Director, Reinhold Lueppen,
believes IT competences will
be outsourced to landside. The
bridge system will be a completely different entity, more
complex, with packages such
as cargo loading programs,
security systems and structural
pressure analysis software all
needing to be maintained.
Ships will become more of a
seagoing computer with less
engineering parts. It would be
like taking a modern car to the
garage, and instead of being
met by a mechanic, an IT technician would plug in a laptop.
The role of a seafarer would
be a different animal. Onboard
personnel would probably be
made up of a captain who
would understand traditional
shipping and how to navigate a
vessel, while the rest of the
crew would be made up of IT
technicians. Although available
at the moment, in five to 10
years time, with remote access,
it would be standard for IT
experts to log onto a vessel
from land and do maintenance
and bug fixing remotely, again
saving turnaround time in port.

Satellite management
With all this extra data
flowing back and forth between
ship and shore, there will have
to be more investment in satellites and onboard communications systems. At the moment,
vessels usually only use one
method of communications
onboard such as FleetBroadband or VSAT, but as ships
become more IT dependant,
they will have to have more reliable satellite communications
and an effective service recovery program. Many will resort
to having two systems onboard,
such as using both VSAT and
FleetBroadband. Also it would
be beneficial for bridges to be
equipped with duplicate systems, such as two ECDIS, using
the second one as a backup.

Although land based, Pole Star

is a prime example. The company has a number of different
methods for receiving satellite
and AIS derived information
into its systems via separate
broadband links into its data
centre. It also has two separate
data centres, in two different
locations, so if one system goes
down there is always a backup.
Broader lines might be
needed in the distant future,
but at the moment, the current
satellites have the capabilities,
and the 450kbps which is readily available is more than
enough to even stream videos,
although this facility is not
often used, mainly due to the
high cost of data transmitting.
Although for information
that can wait to be up / downloaded when closer to land, a
couple of ports, such as Marseille, have recently installed
broadband links and a number
of transmitters in the harbour
area, allowing vessels to be
connected to free high-band
width up to SOOm from the
shoreline. This service would
be complimentary to other
methods of onboard satellite
communications.
Up until now Galileo, has
not had such a big impact on
maritime communication, as it
needs a separate receiver or
hybrid system. But researchers
at De Montfort University
Leicester in partnership with
Nottingham Scientific Ltd are
behind a new navigation device
which can tune into different
satellite networks around the
world . The Primo is the first
receiver that can gather information from a number of
sources, including the US GPS,
the European Galileo system,
the Russian Glonass system
and similar satellite systems
currently being developed
across the world.
What is reassuring is that
unlike in the 70s, these ideas
are not far fetched or crazy,
they are a reality, and the
future is happening now.
A

September 2009 FUTURESHIPPING

15

Lifeboat designers
have bent the rules a
little in order to reduce
the time it takes to
evacuate the Genesis
ships, but just what do
you with 7000
survivors once they
have safely
abandoned ship?

n little over two months' time, the world 's largest cruiseship
will leave its newbuild yard in Finland to deliver an additional 5400 passenger capacity to Royal Caribbean International.
This will be followed with another 5400 capacity when a sister joins Oasis of the Seas, in 2010.
There is no doubt that these gargantuan 360m long, Genesisclass vessels have been built to exacting standards and requirements but just how can over 7000 passengers and crew safely
abandon such a vessel, which is almost a quarter of a mile long,
if it encounters difficulties?
One way that RC!, a brand under the larger Royal Caribbean
Cruise Lines' umbrella, and STX Europe, the ship builder, has
ensured that passengers and crew can evacuate safely, swiftly and,
perhaps, more importantly, calmly, has been to select Schat-Harding's CRW55 lifeboats for both the Oasis of the Seas and her sister,
Allure of the Seas.
With a much higher capacity than the SOLAS requirement that
stipulates a limit of 150 persons in each lifeboat, one might wonder
how RC! and STX have been able to get away with a craft that can
comfortably fit 370 evacuees in each one. The answer is because
there is a provision in the requirement for "alternative arrangements '', under which Schat Harding, RC! and STX Europe - then
Aker Yards, of course - were able to jointly develop the lifeboat.
Designed in close cooperation with classification societies
DNV and GL, who tested and verified the unit in full accordance
with the alternative design procedures laid down in SOLAS

,,. The Oasis of the Seas and

her sister, Allure of the Seas
will both feature state-ofthe-art lifesaving equipment

,,. Schat-Harding's CRW55

lifeboats have a 370-person
capacity

17

FUTURESHIPPING September 2009

seating is within a self-draining

inner skin.
Another issue that the
design of the Genesis-class of
vessels would have had to take
into consideration is the
amendment to SOLAS governing lifeboat release hooks. But
knowing just what to do has
proved perplexing.

Release hooks

(DE59/41 Annex 5 & 6),

demonstrating the corresponding level of safety as for a 150capacity craft, th e CRW55 is, by
and large, a bespoke design
mainly for use with Genesisstyle behemoths.

Speedy boarding
Now in full production at
the safety specialist's facility at
Umoe Manda!, the design is
based on a fibre-glass reinforced polyester catamarantype hull form of 16. 7m in
length and a 5.6m beam. The
boat weighs l 7t when stowed
and 45t when fully loaded with
3 70 passengers and crew. Two
70hp diesel engines give the
boat a speed of 6kts and twin

18

..- CRW55 units will hang

from two Schat Harding LHRtype 25t

rudders are said to give a higher degree of manoeuvrability

than other units on the market.
Seating is arranged on two
levels, ergonomically planned
for speedy boarding. 280 persons will be seated on longitudinal seat benches arranged on
the cabin deck, 80 persons at
the upper seat level, between
the longitudinal seat rows, and
10 persons will be seated in the
large steering tower near the
helmsman's position. All walking areas in the cabin will have
non-skid surfaces and all the

FUTURESHIPPING September 2009

In February and March this

year, at the Slst and 52nd sessions of the IMO Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Equipment, a new Correspondence
Group was established to agree
criteria to determine lifeboat
on-load release hooks of 'poor
and unstable design' and consider a time-scale for the phasing out and the replacement of
such hook~. Draft amendments
to SOLAS Chapter III have now
been proposed that will establish a procedure to replace
existing, unsuitable devices.
The UK Maritime and
Coastguard Agency (MCA) has
recommended that a system
should be introduced whereby
maintenance shackles are
rigged to by-pass lifeboat onload release hooks during the
lowering and recovery stages of
lifeboat drills . Many existing on-

..- Viking's award-winning

Viking Evacuation Dual
Chute (VEDC) reflects the
trend for increased
passenger capacities
load release hooks, whilst satisfying the current regulations,
may be inherently unsafe and
therefore not fit for purpose.
Subsequently, the 43 Maritime Authorities of the Paris
and the Tokyo Memoranda on
Port State Control proposed to
carry out about 10 000 inspections of on-load release hooks
and this is expected to be complete by November.
While there are no official
data to substantiate claims that
hundreds of seafarers have been
injured or killed due to the inefficiency of lifeboat release hooks,
Norwegian P&I Club Gard has
suggested that between 19922007, 37 accidents occurred during lifeboat drills, resulting in 13
people killed and 87 injured.
Indeed, last year Gard recorded
two such incidents one of which
resulted in the death of a seafarer. Six were injured. In the cases
Gard has been involved in, all
have been related to the on-load
release functions of the lifeboat
hooks. Most accidents involving
on-load release hooks were
found to be due to lack of maintenance, lack of knowledge or
poor design.
Indeed, the representatives
of Gard that attended DESl
too k a veritable selection of

,. There is no official data

but it is thought hundreds of
seafarers have been injured
or killed due to the
inefficiency of lifeboat
release hooks
lifeboat release hooks to show
the panel just how they work
and in many cases just how
they don't. Of the 72 different
types on the market, no two
were found to be the same and
with MSC. l/Circ.206 calling for
the certification of independent
service providers, then authorising those companies looking
to carry out the work will prove
inordinately difficult.

Genesis hooks
The CRWSS units selected
for the two state-of-the-art Genesis-class vessels will each
hang from two Schat Harding
LHR-type 2St wearless cam system quick release hooks. These
are simple to operate and have
clear visual indication of when
the system is locked or

20

FUTURES

PPING September 2009

unlocked.
Winches
are
designed with a retraction system to lift the lowering block
free from the boat canopy and
a retardation function to
reduce forces on davit, winch
and lifeboat hook when stopping. Optimal stowage and
launching of the craft is by way
of a specially designed LS45
davit which directly lowers the
lifeboat from the stowed position which negates the need to
swing out.

Chutes and leaves

Another company that has
developed ship evacuation systems for the larger cruiseship,
and the Genesis-class in particular, is Denmark's Viking Lifesaving Equipment. Its awardwinning Viking Evacuation
Dual Chute (VEDC) reflects not
only the trend for increased
passenger capacities, but also
meets the requirements for ship
trim and list as it can cope with
extreme differences in evacuation heights. It can evacuate
passengers from heights as high

THE HAMMAR H20

as 16.Sm and as low as 8.9m

The VEDC system selected
for Oasis of the Seas is a Kevlarlined double escape chute that
allows passengers to plunge
simultaneously into a 150-person-capacity life-raft. Tests have
confirmed that the dual system
can evacuate up to 559 persons
per system in 30 minutes.
However, whilst the two
new cruiseships will undoubtedly have systems capable of
ensuring that all passengers
and crews can be evacuated
safely into well equipped
lifeboats and liferafts should
circumstances dictate, rescuing
such a large number of Genesis-class passengers could be a
problem in itself. It will certainly take a significant number of
ships and helicopters to take a
potential 8000 survivors to
safety on dry land, assuming of
course there are enough vessels
in the area that can be redirected to the site. Best take a spare
blanket or two!
..1111

The Hammar H20 hydrostatic

release unit has a weak link.
But it is not a mistake. It is designed this way, to allow the
liferaft to inflate and to release it from the sinking ship.
The H20 fits liferafts of all shapes and sizes. It won't rust.
It needs no annual service, maintenance or spare parts.
You simply install a new one every second year. The H20 has
earned more world-wide approvals than any other unit.
So if you feel strongly about safety and reliability, insist on
the Hammar H20 - the release unit with only one weak link.
Learn more about the Hammar H20 at www.cmhammar.com

BMER SOWTIONS FOR SAFETY AT SEA

HAMMAR
September 2009 FUTURESHIPPING

21

omation in shipyards splits into two very separate sectors.

s a manufacturing industry shipbuilders are able to enjoy
the luxury of reducing their labour force and the man-hours
orked, by introducing automation. As a 'jobbing' industry,
however, shiprepairers do not generally have such an option.
The problem for shiprepair yards is that the very nature of their
business requires them to carry out a different task on each vessel
repaired. This does not usually allow them to introduce automation,
which on most occasions requires a repetitive process.
Looking first at shipbuilding, over the past 20 to 30-years there
have been considerable changes in the way ships are built. Some of
the first companies to develop automation were European yards and
in particular Dutch and German shipbuilders.
European and Scandinavian shipbuilders were the first to experience the high cost of labour and were therefore the first to use automation. The first sectors automated were the vast steel fabrication shops,
which had changed little since the 19th century.
The rising cost of labour, together with a need to speed up production proved a great incentive for high cost regions to automate. At first
this was applied only to the steel trades, construction of hull sections
and superstructures and boiler making. Automatic cutting and welding machines were installed and soon machines controlled directly by
computers fabricated hulls. This type of automation is now common
place in the larger more progressive yards, particularly in those that
offer a standard ship. One German yard who recently built two vessels
to be leased to the MOD's Royal Fleet Auxiliaries for carrying tanks and
troops, can build a standard ro-ro ship in just a few weeks.

A
,,,. One of Lisnave's blasting
robots climbs a ship's side
during a blasting operation

,,,. One of Lisnave's blasting

robots on the quay side

,.. A difficult job to automate

in a repair yard; a bow
thruster is replaced on a
cruise ship

,,,. A cruise ship in Blohm &

Voss's Hamburg shipyard for
a mid body extension

Mass production
The first time techniques of this type were used goes back to the
bleak days of World War 2 when Britain was loosing dozens of ships
a week to German U-boats.
In order to keep Britain supplied with food, fuel, materials and
armaments, the Americans designed their Liberty and Victory Ships,
San Boats and T2 Tankers. These were built by the hundreds, often
partly by fabricating shops far inland who then transported them in sections by road and rail to ports where they were assembled. The average time for building these standard designs, was around three weeks.
Since the 1970s mass production and automation has gradually
spread from steel production to other areas, including plumbing, joinery and even certain types of engine building where component parts
'such as crankshafts and turbochargers' are often bought in from a sub
contractor who can supply more than just one engine builder. In the
case of turbochargers, large corporations like ABB, Napier and KBB
amongst others, produce turbochargers for a vast number of various
engine builders.

,,,. A mid body section is

inserted in a cruise ship in
Blohm & Voss's repair yard in
Germany

Prefabrication
Today it is common practice for yards like STX Europe who specialise in building cruiseships in Finland and France, to prefabricate all
the vessels cabins, as well as other accommodation units, ashore. The
fully fitted cabins and en-suite bathrooms are then lifted aboard the
vessel and run along tracks, to their required position, with everything
22

FUTURESHIPPING

September 2009

,,,. A new mid body section is

fabricated for a cruise ship in
Blohm & Voss's Hamburg yard

It

and decoration already installed

and ready to be plugged in to the
ship's services.
In some instances such as
STX's Turku yard in Finland,
the cabins are bought in from a
sub-contractor who is able to
produce for several companies
and therefore increase production runs and build even more
cabins faster and cheaper.
The advent of computers has
made automation much easier.
Before computer controlled systems became available it was not
always easy to mass produce
large sections of ships. Today
however, most repetitive tasks
can be automated, provided the
product always remains exactly
the same and the volumes warrant the cost of computer controlled production.
One heat
exchanger maker and repairer in
the UK produces and repairs
entire heat exchangers from
drawings held in stock. The
drawing is merely fed into the
computer-controlled machines
[milling machines, borers etc]
and they produce all the necessary parts ready for assembly and
the fitting of the tube nests.
As skilled labour becomes
increasingly difficult to obtain
and labour becomes more expen-

sive, shipbuilders world-wide

will continue to look for new
ways to reduce their work force
and increase automation. One
pitfall that needs watching however is how the computers are
used. Sometimes computers are
used for purposes for which they
are unsuited, usually because
those that install them fail to
realise that it is the machine,
such as a welder or milling
machine that actually does the
work, not the computer.
The ideal way to determine
whether automation can be
achieved effectively by computer
is to start with the function
required and then see if it can be
controlled by a computer instead
of a human operative. Computerisation just for the sake of computerisation is usually a costly
mistake. Today, most major shipbuilders around the world use
automation to some degree. As
skilled Jabour becomes scarcer,
this trend is likely to increase,
with more and more functions
automated.

Another story
As already mentioned, the
very nature of shiprepairing
makes it difficult to automate.
However there are some functions which can be successfully
automated. Shipping World and
Shipbuilder talked recently to
Malcalm Barker Managing Director of Victoria Shipyards [VSL] in
Canada who told us about its latest automated blasting machines
for preparing ship's hulls for
painting.
Using these machines, the
yard recently carried out the
complete underwater blasting
and painting of a large cruiseship, Princess Cruises' 109
OOOgrt Golden Princess. The
Crawlers
are
magnetically

attached to the vessels hull and

traverse or crawl along the ships
side. Importantly they are
remotely controlled providing
total automation and greatly
reducing the amount of labour
required. Instead of SO or more
men blasting the surface area,
the crawlers are each controlled
by just one man. In addition,
they prepare the steelwork to a
fine finish ready for coating, as
well as collecting and removing
the blasting abrasive ready for
disposal.
Malcalm Barker told us.
'Over 100 OOOft 2 of underwater
hull was prepared and painted
with new silicone protective
coatings to increase fluid efficiency and reduce fuel consumption. VSL used six ultra
high-pressure SS OOOlb/in UHP
'crawlers' to prepare the surface for the coatings.
Another yard using a similar
system for automated hull preparation is the giant Portuguese
shipyard, Lisnave. We talked to
one of the company's executive
board
members
Marcus
Schwaeppe who told us: 'In the
shiprepair business it is very difficult to use automation processes and there are only limited
areas where it can be used as
most of the repair specs are each
unique and a bit like patchwork.
Of course we are using state of
the art automation systems in
some areas. For example in our
procurement department and in
project control. We also use them
when we are preparing quota-

While shipbuilders
embrace automation,
shiprepairers are
stuck in a more
traditional process
tions and tenders; we also use
reference databases. Shiprepair
yards are selling man-hours
which is the basis for all our quotations and internal calculations.
However, for hull treatment we
are starting to use robots and we
are trying to get rid of manual grit
blasting step by step for the
future. Also as far as possible we
are using CNC machines eg in
the steel cutting process:

Feasibility study
Mark
Giles
of
A&P
Shiprepair, arguably the UK's
largest shiprepairer, gave us his
views. 'Automation is not generally feasible in shiprepair. The
business is all about selling
labour and every job is different
so there is very little scope for
automation.
However, in our Tyne yard
we have installed a Panel line
steel plate and welding facility:
The facility comprises two
machines, a plasma and inkjet
marking Suprarex P3 8SOO capable of mirror image cutting two
plates 14 OOOmm x 32SOmm and
an Oxy fuel cutting and powder
marking Suprarex P3 8SOO Also
capable of mirror image cutting
two platexs 14 OOOmm x
32SOmm as well as plate stripping utilising 12 heads on multijet cutting torches. The !MG
panel line can take plates of min
6000mm and maximum 13
SOOmm with a width of 12003S00mm, up to a thickness of
3Smm. Throughput is 18 panels/
week/two shift pattern.
~

Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Techno logy (2009). All rights reserved. No part of this pub lication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying, stori ng in any medium by electronic
means or transmitting) without the written permission of the copyright owner except in accordance with the
provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under terms of a licence issued by the Copyrigh t Licensing Agency Ltd, 6-10 Kirby Street, London, England, EC1 N STS, website : www.cla.co.uk email:
licence@cla.co.uk. Applications for the copyright owner's written permission to reproduce any part of this
publication should be addressed to the publisher.
Information published in The Future of Shipping does not necessarily represent the views of the publisher. Whilst
effort is made to ensure that the information is accurate the publisher makes no representation or warranty,
express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness or correctness of such information. It accepts no responsibility whatsoever for any loss damage or other liability arising from any use of this publication or the information
which it contains.

September 2009 FUTURESHIPPING

23

Kemppi reveals
its SuperSnal{e
innish welding specialist
Kemppi Oy has
launched new SuperSnake
GT02S MIG/MAG subfeeders, which can offer up
to 30m more reach to
MIG/MAG welding.
SuperSnake has been
developed to enable difficult
access wire feeding in a variety of applications including
ship and offshore fabrication
yards, and boiler manufacturing industries. It connects with
standard Euro MIG welding
guns, including the Kemppi
WeldSnake range, increasing

gun reach by up to 30m from

the wire feed cabinet. It also
provides a deck based or
boom delivery wire feed system, feeding a wide range of
filler wires including ferrous,
stainless and aluminium wires.
SuperSnake, incorporating Kemppi's GT WireDrive
mechanism, is a tough wire
drive system that combines
with Kemppi's patented DLTeflon liner technology,
which reduces friction loss
and the force required to
push filler wire through the
feed length.

The bright orange composite cable of SuperSnake is

clearly visible at work sites, and
thanks to its flexibility and
streamlined design, you can
easily take it to locations where
other welding brands just can't
reach. This eliminates the need
to transport heavy cumbersome wire feed units and cable
sets to the fabrication. Also, it
gives you the possibility to
adjust welding parameters just
where you need them - at the
welding end.
All SuperSnake models
connect to FastMig Pulse
MXF wire feeders, but can
easily be connected also to
FastMig MXF wire feeders
with an MXF synchronisation kit.

SuperSnake features
include a tough, slim
bumper profile body, easy to
read meter display and welding parameter adjustments at
the operator end.
It also incorporates cabinet lighting, or 'brights',
which illuminates the wire
feed mechanism from
switch-on. It improves visibility and safety for wire feed
mechanism adjustment in
low light conditions.
The water-cooled versions can be used even 25m
above the height of the cooling unit. When not being
used, drain back of water is
prevented, enabling the torch
to remain cooled and primed
for the next welding task. D
September 2009 SW&S

25

The

Apprentice

lthough a receding market and a contracting fleet has,

to a degree, solved the seafarer recruitment problem,
it is now the dearth of competent and able marine
engineers and surveyors for shore-side jobs that is giving rise
for concern.
The problem is that the traditional breeding ground for service personnel, superintendents and classification surveyors - a
ship's engineering department - is becoming an increasingly
dwindling recruitment pool in to which the industry can plunge.
As a result, classification societies, ship owners, shipyards
and engine builders struggling to find experienced marine
engineers are changing tack and are now looking at sourcing
technical personnel directly from universities and colleges and
then putting them through extensive in-house training to get
them up to speed.
Take MAN Diesel. The engine builder is set to open a
number of service centres and workshops over the next three
years, taking its global tally to over eighty, in order to maintain
an experienced hub of marine engineers close to customers,
but finding the required level of competence to man them is a
challenge, 'a real headache,' said senior vice president MAN
Diesel PrimeServ Otto Winkel.
China, where the engine builder is looking to source at least
15 m ore engineers for workshops along its coastline, is a particular problem and MAN Diesel is 'striving to cope with the
demand there' .

Development
The engineering group needs to find about 50 or 60
marine engineers across all of its workshops and the ideal can26

SW&S September 2009

dictate is someone who has

been sailing with a MAN
B&W engine. But this, of
course, is not always possible,
and the manufacturer now
carries out a lot of training
in-house, not only to provide
Continuous Professional
Development for its own
engineers but also for its customers.
'We carry out a lot of
customer training, predominantly for ME and MEP
engines. The interface of
these electronically-controlled engines is very different from a traditional
mechanical engine and we
have found a substantial need
for training on what is going
on inside the engine. For this
reason we have developed a
simulator so that we can put
all the controls, monitoring
systems and main machinery
interfaces in front of the student to simulate various
types of breakdowns and
training exercises.'

An electronically-controlled engine has a number

of computers and software
solutions which means that
some parts are configured differently. The intensive oneweek courses that MAN
Diesel offer, across its entire
portfolio of engine products,
show engineers how to take
out, replace and configure
specific components while
continuing to run the engine.
They can also help reduce a
shipowner's operational costs
since they will be able to optimise the engine's parameters
for maximum efficiency.

Commodities
The in-house training of
engineers is not just the
domain of engine builders
and OEMs. Speaking last
year, at a time when talk of
recession was but a whisper,
classification society Germanischer Lloyd's (GL)
head of human resources,
field service, Dirk Janssen,

 A ship's engineering department is becoming an

increasingly dwindling recruitment pool in to which the
human resource department can dip

emphasised how engineers

should be considered a valuable commodity that must be
attained and retained so that
the industry does not have to
fight to find future talent. He
said that being an attractive
employer is important and
that the onus is on the industry; to be more visible and
market itself more.
But what makes an
attractive employer? Salary is
of course an important factor, he said, but a sound
career development pro-

gramme and structured

training is what will clinch
the deal.
The top five classification
societies now have training
Academies dotted around the
world where both classification society recruits and
shipping industry personnel
can undergo all sorts of
training.
In Chif!-a, where the quality and quantity of technical
ability falls short of meeting
market demand, Lloyds Register has put a number of

Finding the required level of

competence to man them is a
challenge, 'a real headache,'
says senior vice president MAN
Diesel PrimeServ Otto Winkel
(inset)

measures in place to assure a

consistent flow of quality
people into its ranks, to raise
the general level of knowledge in the industry and to
assure that the challenges
brought by a period of rapid
growth for shipbuilding were
manageable.
In 2007, it opened the
Maritime Training Institute
(MTI) in Shanghai and
launched a Technical Performance Group (TPG).
MTI has already recorded a
high demand for its technical
training, both from within
LR and from external clients.
The success of MTI preceded the opening this year

MAN Diesel is to open a

number of service centres
and workshops over the
next three years, taking its
global tally to over eighty

28

SW&S September 2009

of the Maritime Surveyor

Training Institute (MSTI),
which forms part of LR's
US$8M commitment to
maintaining high skill levels
among its employees. More
than 200 newly trained surveyors are expected to graduate from the programme
and in October, the first class
will graduate, throwing
another 20 fully qualified
surveyors into the shipbuilding arena.
The TPG, meanwhile,
was formed in late 2007 as a
support group for Lloyd's
Register's surveyors and
clients. A non fee-earning
group comprising some of
the company's most experienced engineers and surveyors, it is tasked with supporting quality control along the
supply chain from the shipyards to their component and
material suppliers. It is

 LR is showing its clients,

the external regulating
bodies and the society's
own surveyors, that it is
committed to the quality of
the vessels under its class

staffed with experts in existing ships, shipbuilding, components, welding, coatings,

non-destructive examination,
metallurgy and Port State
Control issues.
Differentiator
'By introducing a nonfeeing-earning group dedicated to ensuring our continuous improvement, we are
showing our clients, the
external regulating bodies
and our own surveyors that
we are committed to the
quality of the vessels under
our class,' says Alan James,
senior principal surveyor and
head of the TPG in North
Asia. 'We believe this continues to be a differentiator
when we are compared with
other class societies.'
Ostensibly, MTI is scheduled to deliver 1350 mandays of client training this
year both at the institute and
in the field, at sites where our
clients need us. Internally, the
institute also will provide
3200 man-hours of additional training for Lloyd's Register staff.
Courses include but are
not limited to training in
technical risk management,
hull design, noise and vibration, shaft alignment, nondestructive examination and
the latest regulatory requirements, such as helping yards
and owners to adhere to the
new Performance Standards
for Protective Coatings
(PSPC), which is vital to
long-term hull integrity.
LR was one of the first
organisations to offer training
in China to prepare shipyards for the new regulations.
Seminars in eight different
locations, in conjunction with
a leading marine paint manufacturer, led to the development of a 'gap-analysis' service, ensuring that yards
understood the regulatory
requirements and what they
needed to do to be able to
carry out the required level
of work.
September 2009 SW&S

29

Cavitation Comparison

Powerh:r.~g

Forward
with the

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BALTIMORE
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THE MARSHALL ISLANDS MARITIME AND CORPORATE ADMINISTRATORS

 BV based its rigorous surveyor training scheme on one

that has origins in the nuclear industry. Pictured are BV
surveyors at the Jiangnan Shipyard, China

LR was one of the first organisations to offer training in

China to prepare shipyards for the PSPC regulations

By the end of 2008, it was

involved with 59 shipyards.
Once they had completed the
gap analysis, LR then trained
coatings inspectors to oversee
paint-related quality control
in shipyards across China.
These courses were in Mandarin and delivered in partnership with NACE International, the world's leading
organisation for training and
certification programmes for
the coatings industry.
Bureau Veritas is another
classification society committed to delivering 'homegrown' technical talent to the
market. Claude Maillot,
director of ships in service
for the French company, said
last year: 'I think the reason
why good surveyors join
Bureau Veritas and stay with
us is because they can see a
clear route right to the top.'
BV, regarded as having
one of the most extensive
surveyor training programmes, has based its rigorous scheme on one that
has origins in the nuclear
industry. It consists of a mix
of taught and self-taught
modules, practical training
and regular testing and
upgrading.
'It is a very effective tool
that allows us to monitor the
expertise of our workforce
and to give support where
needed. This helps us to
recruit and retain too, as
good people like to learn. We
take in people from a wide
range of backgrounds, some
ex-seafarers, both engine and

skills to meet the demands of

the new roles. T he key common fac tor is that we seek
excellence from recruits, and

deck officers, some naval

architects and as our roles
continually widen, we take in
people with a wide range of

in return we provide an
excellent career in a fast
growing global company,'
said Maillot. D

A clean, safe and efficient engine room

in relation to the newest fuel trends.
Wednesday, 30 September 2009, 13 .30, Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and
Technology (IM arES T) , 80 Co leman St reet, London, EC2R 5BJ.
Schedule:
13.30

Registration and Lunch.

14.30

John Barnes, Editor MER

Keynote speech: Key issues
facing the industry today.

15.00

Thomas Flauger, KRAL AG

Current development in the
delivery of residue oil - the
KRAL Pump Upgrade Project.

16:45

Thoma s Flauger, KRAL AG

Short remark to the Ma rine notice 2009-3 of the
California Air Resource
Boa rd regarding low viscosity.

17.00

Close of seminar. After the

seminar we invite you to meet
the speakers over dinner.

John Barnes

15. 30

Coffee break .

15 .45

Michael Tiffe, KRAL AG,

Flowmeter Expert
Fuel consumption measurement for diesel engines.

16.15

Thomas Flauger, KRAL AG

Precise cylin de r lubricating
oil measurement for diesel
engines.

Thomas Flauger

Michael Tiffe

Represented by

Ple ase register for our

seminar by 25 September 2009:
Mr. Brian Cooper,
Selwood Pump Co. Ltd.
Tel: 0121 777 5631
brian.cooper@selwood-pumps.com

KRAL

Selwood Pump Co . Lt d., 188 Robin Hood Lane, Hall Green, Birmingham B28 OLG, Great Britain
Tel.: 0121 777 5631, e-mail: brian.cooper@selwood-pumps.com

September 2009 SW&S

assenger comfort, a factor influencing competitiveness in the cruiseship and ferry sectors, provided
much of the earlier impetus for closer attention by
designers and engineers to noise and vibration issues.
However, habitability is now a much more widely considered aspect, because of its acknowledged bearing on crew wellbeing and crew efficiency, and increasingly also on seafarer
recruitment. In addition, airborne transmission of noise from
ships is commanding greater attention within port communities under the rising tide of environmental compatibility expectations, while noise abatement is vital to the growing population of vessels purpose-built for research activities serving the
offshore energy business and scientific community.
With the advances in ship design over the past decade, especially as regards structural optimisation and speed and power
developments, there has been a tendency for noise and vibration
problems to become more pronounced or more complex, creating greater challenges in providing effective technical solutions.
The scale of the issue facing designers, and the need for an
integrated approach in a newbuild project, is implicit in the
manifold sources of vibration and noise in a ship, extending
beyond the main engines to transmissions and shaft lines, propeller-radiated forces, manoeuvring devices such as tunnel
thrusters, intakes and exhausts, water flow over sea chests or
other openings, air conditioning systems, cargo handling and
mooring machinery, and hull slamming. Developments in
diesel propulsion machinery, shaped by market requirements
for increased efficiency and higher power density, have influenced the picture substantially in recent years.

Dampening
When it is not possible to tune the natural frequencies of
an engine structure properly to avoid vibration, and when it is
not feasible to modify the excitation forces, a tuned mass
damper can be an effective solution. The latter is a device
whereby an additional mass is mounted with flexible elements
on the vibrating machine. The damper is tuned in such a way
that its own vibration produces a counter force against the
main structure's vibration.
Wartsila has developed its own tuned mass damper and
observes that the main challenges in designing and tuning this
kind of system, for a marine application especially, arise from
the wide range of running speeds and natural frequencies
involved, and the need to ensure a reliable construction capable
of operating for thousands of running hours without maintenance. Special simulation tools are required for an accurate
prediction of the performance of such a device.
Wartsila considers that the turbocharger can prove to be
the best and most effective location for the tuned mass
damper. 'At that location, the displacement amplitudes are normally much higher than on other parts of the engine, which is
essential for the damper to work efficiently,' the company
counselled.

Compensators
Electric vibration compensators developed by Gertsen &
Olufsen have been specified for a series of very large ore carriers(VLOCs) under construction at Dalian Shipyard to the
account of state-owned China Shipping (Group) Co of Shanghai. The deal represents a breakthrough for the Danish firm's
patented system in application to larger-bore engines with fewer
cylinders, a growing segment of the marine engine business for

The
Gertsen

& Olufsen
compensator
(pictured) is
claimed to
help reduce
vibration
considerably

the higher efficiency and

design advantages afforded by
such engine configurations.
However, the comparatively larger internal openings
and fewer plugs associated
with such machinery increases the propensity for vibration. Gertsen & Olufsen
claims that the application of
its compensator to, for example, a large-bore five-cylinder
engine reduces vibration to
below the levels experienced
with a conventional sevencylinder unit.
By such means, contributing to the attractions
of using large main engines
that have fewer cylinder
numbers, the company
believes that it is assisting
the industry in its move
towards designs and systems
that offer reduced environmental impact arising from
improved efficiency, in
addition to providing the
requisite noise attenuation
solution.
The compensator systems are produced, assembled and tested in Denmark,
and the total number of
installations on ships and in
power plants now exceeds
300. The Gertsen & Olufsen

arrangements focus on the

actual source of the vibration. Accordingly, its vibration compensators are typically mounted directly on the
main engine, neutralising the
induced forces and moments,
such that no forces are transferred from the engine to the
ship's structure.
As an alternative to traditional vibration damping, the
system is designed to do the
exact opposite of the vibration inducer, be it engine or
propeller, by delivering a
cyclic and opposing counterforce in a specific direction at
a precise time. The opposing
sinusoidal varying force and
phase angle simply outbalances the source of vibration.
Two sets of counter rotating
irregular masses, or counterweights, driven by an electric
servo motor instigate the
cyclic counterforce.
High-speed diesel and
power systems supplier
MTU Friedrichshafen has
developed new enginemounting arrangements in
collaboration with the companies Paulstra and StopChoc. The innovative concept of 'active' mountings has
been successfully trialled at

~W&S _s_e_p_re_m_b_e_r_2_0_0_9~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Gertsen & Olufsen's

vibration compensator
arrangements focus on
the actual source of the
vibration

. ...........

-:.

"'

..~)

engine. The concept has initially reached the product

stage in application to large
yachts and naval ships.
Noise disturbance by
ships operating or berthed
within port communities is
much more of an issue today
than it was previously, and
society's decreased tolerance
of noise from such sources,
even from long-established
harbour activities, is a fact of
life that will increasingly
influence controls and regulations governing vessels and
ship design. The former
shortsea specialist FT.Everard & Sons, whose fleet was
taken over by James Fisher
nearly three years ago, adopted a highly considered, wellengineered approach to this
issue in the design project for
its new generation of coastal
tankers, which entered service from 2006 onwards.
One of the distinguish Chile's state-of-the-art
newbuild research ship Cabo
de Homos has been

designed by Skipsteknisk to
the most stringent criteria
for underwater radiated
noise levels

sea as well as on test benches, and is claimed to significantly reduce structure-borne

noise from diesel engines.

Disturbance
The new active mountings support and augment
the special, passive rubber
mountings, and render the
latter's noise suppression far
more effective . The innovative nature of the concept is
that the active mountings
create sound waves with the
same amplitude and opposite
polarity to the original strucSeptember 2009 SW&S

133J

~
~

~
~

..c
~
~

(J;j
~

-~
0

ing features of the

4426dwt Speciality
series was the use and
nature of the diesel-electric mode, chosen not
only for reasons of costeffectiveness and operational flexibility, but also
as a means of minimising environmental
impact, particularly as
regards low external
noise generation. The
company stipulated a
low noise signature
because of the vessels'
intended trading profile,
entailing regular working in
and out of smaller ports and
harbours in the vicinity of
residential areas.

Liquid-cooled
Electric motors have
intrinsically low noise levels,
which are reduced even further when the motors are
powered by liquid-cooled
drive units, and the four
newbuild tankers accordingly
incorporate such arrangements. Liquid-cooled drives
obviate the need for large

Challenges

Wiirtsilii has
developed its own
tuned mass damper
and observes that the
main challenges in
designing and tuning
this kind of system
arise from the wide
range of running
speeds and natural
frequencies involved

fans, and do not require

additional air conditioning or
forced ventilation systems.
The shipowner specified a
maximum noise level of
45dB(A) at 25m, in keeping
with the sensitivities to noise
pollution in residential harbours against the backcloth of
trading requirements which
may call for round-the-clock
working of the ships. The use
of electric rather than
hydraulically powered cargo
pumps and deck machinery
also reflected extensive analysis initiated by Everard into

potential noise sources

and noise attenuation
measures. Sound attenuation
was also applied to the genset
installation.
The minimisation of
underwater-radiated noise, a
major consideration for naval
vessels, is also a vital consideration in the research ship
sector, and the bid for
improved performance in this
regard reflects increasing
operational demands and
market requirements. Propellers are a major source of
noise at all frequencies as vessel speed increases, due to the
phenomenon of cavitation.

T he challenges of meeting
stringent underwater noise
criteria with a single-screw
vessel are exemplified in the
current newbuild taking shape
under Chile's Medusa project.
The 74m Cabo de Homos,
due to be launched by
Chilean shipbuilder Asmar
towards the end of 2009, has
been designed by Skipsteknisk
of Norway as a state-of-theart research ship with multimission capabilities. After
scheduled handover in early
2011, she will be mainly
deployed in the waters off
southern Chile, fitted with
equipment and laboratories to
undertake fishery and
acoustic surveys, oceanographic research, gas hydrate
studies and other tasks.
Main propulsion will be
provided via a single, fixed
pitch propeller driven by tandem-mounted, direct current
(DC) electric motors, in a
complete system supply from
Wartsila. T he arrangements
have been designed to reduce
underwater-radiated noise

New Transas navigationa l simulator is focused on

providing key elements, with new features to
support specialised training applications:
Visualization offering the highest level of
realism: wind generated sea state and
variable swell model with user selected sea
state spectrum, scene reflection, light
refraction and many more
New advanced effects in mathematical
modelling: accurate vessel and wave
interaction, new grounding, synchronous
rolling, broaching and other modelling
features
New instructor station interface and training
tools, S-57 chart support and 30 chart mode
New generation of radar picture simulation
Integ ration with real on-board navigation
system, Navi-Sailor 4000 MFD (ECDIS, radar,
conning)
Advanced research capabilities
Enhanced search and rescue features
Integrated VHF and Intercom solutions, voice
communication, and CCTV video recording,
all available for debrief and assessment
For more details, visit

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--

_____...

,_._

High-speed enginebuilder MTU Friedrichshafen has

developed new engine-mounting arrangements in
collaboration with the companies Paulstra and Stop-Choe

while sailing at 1 lkts. A horizontal wing, known as a gondola, is to be mounted below

the forward section of the hull
so as to meet project objectives with regard to the installation of the sonar equipment.
Wartsila recommended a
process to further optimise
the gondola's shape so as to
reduce its effect on the wake
field, and help meet criteria in
respect of underwater noise.
The industry may have to
adopt a more circumspect

approach to the issue of radiated underwater noise emissions from ships in the light
of growing concern over the
effects on marine mammals.
At IMO's Marine Environmental Protection Committee (MEPC) session last
year, the US representatives
proposed action to minimise
noise from commercial shipping into the sea, so as to
reduce potentially adverse
influences on marine life. It
was claimed that the growing

number and size of ships was

generating more noise input,
which could disturb the
behaviour and critical life
functions of marine animals.
Over the past five years,
Lloyd's Register has been
involved in a continuing
study into the effects of shipping on marine mammals.
John Carlton, the society's
Global Technology Leader,
pointed out that the noise
signatures emitted by ships
are variable, and dictated by
the vessel's type and age,
power, speed, and the type of
propulsor used. 'In the case,
for example of a large cruise
ship, the overall sound level
of the ship may increase by
between 6% and 12% when
the vessel increases its speed
from 10 to 20 knots,' pointed
out Carlton, who explained
that the resulting emitted signature is a combination of
the emissions from the diesel
generators, electric propulsion and the propulsors.
Considerably more study
is needed by the marine engineering and biological com-

Greater understanding of
the effects of noise and
vibration on marine mammals
is required, says LR's John
Carlton, pictured above

munities to get the true measure of the problem.' Such initiatives are required, particularly, in characterising the
noise emissions from different
types of cavitation generated
by merchant ships' propellers
at their various ranges of operating conditions,' he suggested. John Carlton also believes
that greater understanding is
called for as regards the larger
marine mammals' response to
noise spectra. D

KORMARINE 2009
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September 2009 SW&S

Making a new
m a r Ii
The demands of the legislator
and operator requirements are challenging
low-speed engine builders

~
~

~I

he developmental scope afforded by the modern generation of low-speed marine diesels has found new expression
in the Mark 9 version of MAN's K80ME-C electronicallycontrolled two-stroke engine, which has a 20% higher power density than the previous mark.
'We have been able to achieve this using a new construction
and calculation methodology, as we now have more know-how in
terms of where to distribute weight; said Soren Jensen, vice president and head of R&D in MAN's marine low-speed division.
With a cylinder stroke of 2600mm, the K80ME-C9 is 'longerlegged' than the preceding Mk6 design, which has a stroke of
2300mm. Applying the same maximum running speed (104
rev/min) but with a higher mean effective pressure of 20 bar, specific fuel consumption is unchanged from the preceding model, at
171g/kWh, for a very substantial gain in power output.

Type-approved
The first production model completed its type approval programme earlier this year at Hyundai's Ulsan works. The sevencylinder unit, rated for 31 710kW at 104rev/min, had been ordered
by A.P.Moller-Maersk for a newbuild containership in Korea, and
constituted part of a major order from the Danish shipowning
group involving the Mark 9 generation of main machinery.
'With the ME-C9, we have not only a more compact engine
but also one that is easier to overhaul as we have focused on making all components easily accessible for inspection and service,'
observed Jensen. A.P.Moller-Maersk's early endorsement of the
design and its electronic control technology, favouring operating
flexibility and emissions performance, is accompanied by the
group's decision to adopt a configuration that includes a waste heat
recovery system.
The 'super long-stroke' version of the 800mm-bore electronic
engine, the S80ME-C, has also been stretched, from 3200mm to
3450mm stroke, with an attendant gain of nearly 8% in power output to 4510kW per cylinder, for the same fuel rate of 167g/kWh.
This has also been selected by a European operator for a boxship
newbuild programme.
Containerships
Although such machinery, operating at lower crankshaft
speeds, is normally chosen for tankers and bulk carriers, the fact
that it has also been nominated in a containership project has given
wider dimension to the engine's market potential in the face of
changed conditions in the liner trades. The requirement for less
power than that obtainable from more usual choices of plant for
boxship propulsion indicated that the adoption of reduced operating speeds, with consequent fuel cost savings, may form a longterm strategy rather than a short-term expedient in certain fields.
In fact, advances in engine technology can better accommodate
changed operating practices related to market conditions. Many
shipowners are slowing down their ships in the interest of substantial savings in fuel. Since marine diesels were previously optimised

The first MAN S40ME-B main engine is to enter service in

the 25 OOOdwt multipurpose cargo vessel Pacific Adventurer

for full load, running at

reduced load results in higher
unit emissions. Electronicallycontrolled injection systems,
together with other new developments such as MAN's VTA
turbocharger technology, can
counter this effect, as fuel and
air supply can be optimally
adjusted to the changed running conditions.

ME-B
MAN has broadened the
market reach of its ME electronically-controlled, lowspeed engine technology by
rolling-out its ME-B concept
through the smaller end of the
two-stroke range. While the
ME-B design retains a
camshaft-operated exhaust

valve, electronic fuel injection

renders the new ME-B series
well-equipped to meet IMO's
impending Tier II emission
edicts, and confers a flexible
means of managing current
environmental emission
requirements in different
regimes. As with the larger ME
engines, under the ME-C type
designation, the proprietary
Alpha Lubricator is incorporated as standard, giving low
cylinder lube oil consumption.
Commercial release of the
ME-B variants began in mid
2006 with the small-bore
S35ME-B and S40ME-B
designs, followed in early 2007
by the launch of the SSOME-B.
Spanning all bore sizes from
350mm to 600mm, the ME-B
September 2009 SW&S

I 37

range now covers unit applications from 2975kW to 16

020kW A milestone was
reached earlier this year with
the seagoing debut of the first
S40ME-B engine. The recipient newbuild was the 25
OOOdwt multipurpose vessel
Pacific Adventurer, constructed
at HuangHai shipyard in
China. At the time of the
engine's entry into service,
MAN had logged over 100
orders for the ME-B series.

Phase-out
The announcement in July
this year that engine production would cease at MAN's

The first production

model of MAN's Mark 9
K80ME-C9 low-speed engine
was rolled-out earlier this
year from Hyundai's Ulsan
works

Frederikshavn works signals

only the transfer of manufacture of small medium-speed
models to other MAN plant or
licensees, but also the phasingout of the group's in-house
construction of low-speed
engines within 2009. The collapse in ordering since last
autumn has no doubt brought
matters to a head.
Manufacture of large
B&W two-stroke engines, the
legacy marque for today's
MAN low-speed range, had
ceased at the group's Copenhagen factory during the
1980s. Since then, the company has concentrated its two-

The SSOME-C (pictured is

a S80ME-C9) has also been
stretched, from 3200mm to
3450mm stroke, with an
attendant gain of nearly 8%
in power output to 4510kW
per cylinder

stroke endeavours on the technological development front,

acting as a generator and supplier of knowledge, with the
manufacturing process largely
undertaken by licensees, and
primarily by those located
within the major shipbuilding
countries of the Orient.
From a customer's standpoint, where an engine is
built is probably of little
interest, provided that cost,
quality, delivery and aftersales support criteria are met.
From an industrial point of
view, though, the inexorable
shift of production from the
original manufacturing centres in Europe must mean a
loss of certain practical skills.
Close relationships with
licensors are vital if manufacturing know-how is to be
retained and properly reflected in future engine design.

~
38

KORMARINE, Bexco, Busan,

becker marine svstems

SW&S September 2009

Korea, German Pavillion

October 21"-24th, 2009

Licencees
Although the bulk of
market leader MAN's lowspeed engine production is
achieved by licensees in
South Korea and Japan, the
Chinese influence is steadily
growing. MAN concluded its
first licence agreements in
the People's Republic during
the 1980s, and now has as
many as 10 licensing partners for two-stroke engines
in China. By this year, Chi-

turbo out

Turbocharger

supercharger in
A typical example of
a Exhaust Gas
Recirculation (EGR)
system, which is due to

enter seagoing

" """'"'/
il~-t
\~

operation during 2010

exhaust recirculate
Wartsila is using the RTX4 to meet market
requirements for even higher
levels of reliability, longer
periods between overhauls,
greater fuel efficiency,
explained Klaus Heim, vice
president, global R&D

nese licensees accounted for

14% of the business volume.
This year's completion of
a purpose-built, manufacturing plant in China for large,
low-speed marine engines has
given form to the new joint
venture between Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries, China
Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and Wartsilii Corporation. The jointly-owned Qingdao Qiyao Wartsila MHI Linshan Marine Diesel Company
(QMD) will market and produce Mitsubishi-VE and
Wartsilii two-stroke models
under licence. The plant has
been geared-up for the largest
Wartsila low-speed designs
and has an annual production
capacity of 1.2Mbhp. It is
anticipated that global economic recovery and growth in
the Chinese market will
enable the partners to tap the
factory's expansion potential,
which could ultimately see
throughput reach 3.5mbhp
per annum.

RT-flex
Wartsila unveiled two new,
low-speed marine diesel
engines at its Licensees' Conference in Lucerne, Switzerland, last year. Developed in
cooperation with Mitsubishi,
the designs are of 350mm- and
450mm-bore size and cover
the 3500-9000kW power
band. They extend Wartsila

range to the lower power ratings required for many small

and medium-sized commercial
vessels, including the smaller
types of bulk carriers and
product tankers, general cargo
ships, reefers, feeder containerships and small LPG carriers.
Each of the new types is
available as a Wartsila RT-flex
electronically controlled,
common-rail engine, designated RT-flex35 and RTflex40, and alternatively as
Wartsilii RTA35 and RTA40
mechanically-controlled versions. The Mitsubishi products are mechanically-controlled, and have been added
to the two-stroke portfolio as
the UEC35LSE and
UEC40LSE types.
Hanshin Diesel maintains a
prolific output and ongoing
development of low-speed
four-stroke diesels, very much
in the Japanese mould, and has
recently augmented its product
offering with the LA32 engine.
Mainly focused on applications
below 3000kW, Hanshin's low-

intercooler

speed designs account for a

substantial share of the multifarious Japanese market for
coastal and specialised vessels.
The LA series engines are
seen as successors to the longstroke LH-L types. Operational
reliability, and simplicity of
construction and maintenance
are key tenets of the Hanshin
design philosophy, with an
emphasis on six-cylinder configurations, and the LA generation encapsulates these core
values with extra attention to
emissions control, power density, reduced fuel consumption
and C0 2 release.
The LA32 delivers
1618kW at a relatively low
crankshaft speed of
280rev/min, and the stroke-tobore ratio of 2.13 ranks as one
of the largest worldwide in the
In co-operation with
Mitsubishi, Wartsila has
unveiled two new, lowspeed RT-flex-type engines,
RT-flex35 and RT-flex40.
Pictured is the RT-flex96C

trunk piston engine category,

bearing fundamentally on
cycle efficiency. As with Hanshin's other LA models, the
modest running speeds associated with this genre of Japanese four-stroke diesels provides for direct-drive propulsion, without the need for a
reduction gear.
The first delivery from the
LA portfolio was made in
2001, with the selection of the
LA34 design forTaiwanese
fishing vessel, followed by a
succession of coasting vessel
main engine applications. The
smaller-bore LA28 was developed in 2006, such that the
LA32 is the third in the new
family, which Hanshin intends
to expand further.

Tier Ill
Notwithstanding the
accelerated pace of technological advance in the twostroke low-speed marine
diesel category over the past
decade and a half, reflected
in continually enhanced
product design, power and
performance, the engine
designers face further challenges arising from a further
tightening in environmental
controls . Achieving the requisite environmental standard
without detriment to engine
operating efficiency and fuel
consumption is a competitive
necessity.
IMO's three-tier programme for progressively lowering NOx emissions from
new engines has concentrated
minds, and both Tier I and
Tier II limits have been successfully addressed by refining
September 2009 SW&S

39

~
~
~

~I

existing technologies. However,

Tier III, which will be applicable to ships constructed on or
after 1 January 2016, will set
the benchmark at a level that
might have been inconceivable
a decade ago.
With the goal of protecting
the most sensitive marine environments, designated as Emission Control Areas (ECAs),
Tier III proposes a NOx limit
of 3.4g/kWh, 80% lower than
the Tier I level, when the ship
is operating within an ECA.
During navigation outside an
ECA, the Tier II limit would
apply. Tier II, mandated for
vessels built after 1 January
2011 , stipulates a NOx maxi-

mum of 14.4g/kWh, compared

to the 17g/kWh ofTier I.
MAN recently highlighted
several methods as possible
solutions to meeting the Tier
III 80% reduction in NOx that
will be applicable in selected
areas from 2016 onwards. The
Water in Fuel Emulsion (WIF)
technique, Scavenge Air Maisturising (SAM) and the Selecrive Catalytic Reactor (SCR)
have all been tested and are in
service, while the latest Exhaust
Gas Recirculation (EGR) systern is due to enter seagoing
operation during 2010. The
company has indicated that it
will aim to meetTier III edicts
by applying EGR arrange-

ments, possibly in combination

with WIF In the separate area
of SOx emissions, various
investigations into after-treatment or 'scrubber' technology
are underway with industry
partners to develop solutions
that would be highly effective
in SOx removal and PM (particulate matter) trapping.

Ecotech
Wartsila's new, centralised
environmental products knowhow unit, known as Delivery
Centre Ecotech, became fully
operational in early 2009. DC
Ecotech will act as Wartsila's
centre for the proactive <levelopment of environmental

With the aid of the continuos combustion information from the Cylmate System , you
will have minimum engine wear, emission and fuel consumption. The measurement

accuracy enables early detection of emerging faults and the advanced logging
capability allows you to log detailed snapshots as well as long-term performance.
The unique, patented, Cylmate pressure sensor has proven its maintenance and
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40

SIV&S September 2009

Power and productivity

for a better world TM

Alll

technologies. Furthermore, by
promoting and providing
know-how with regard to legislation, the unit will help customers comply with environmental rules and regulations
as they become more and
more exacting. Wartsila has a
broad range of solutions and
emission control technologies,
many of which are undergoing
further development. It is
understood that the group
considers that the complex
field of engine science known
as the Miller cycle, and attendant improvements in turbocharger technology, could
hold the greatest potential for
improving environmental
compatibility and overall performance.
Core to Wartsi!a's Diesel
Technology Centre at Oberwinterthur in Switzerland,
the fountainhead of the
Finnish group's two-stroke
know-how, is the new RTX-4
low-speed research engine .
'We are using this large
engine to advance development ofWartsi!a low-speed
marine engines to meet market needs such as even higher
levels of reliability, longer
periods between overhauls,
greater fuel efficiency and
lower exhaust gas emissions,'
explained Klaus Heim, vice
president, global R&D.
The market leaders in lowspeed marine engine design are
not simply amenable to selective research cooperation as an
adjunct to their independent
endeavours, but believe that
there are areas where collaboration is vital to the wellbeing
of the industry as a whole. The
fact that MAN Diesel's longterm strategy encompasses
working with others is exemplified by its involvement in Denmark's Green Ship of the
Future programme and in the
two-phase, Hercules integrated
research project, the latter
ranking as one of the largest
and most ambitious technological research initiatives ever
implemented by the marine
industries under the aegis of
EU funding. D

on't Get
Fooled Again!
I

n 2006 and 2007 a number of Korean shipping companies, construction companies and marine block manufacturers cottoned on to China's rapidly growing demand for
raw materials and the consequent rise in freight and ship values. Already operating on the periphery of the shipbuilding
sector and with access to an abundance of cheap credit, a
move into what was perceived as the highly lucrative shipbuilding sector looked to make sense.
Daehan Shipbuilding, the brainchild of disgraced former
Daeju Group chairman Huh Jae-Ho, was probably the most
audacious example of the lemming mentality.
Interviewed in mid-2007, Huh announced to the world
that, following the establishment of Daehan Shipping in 2003
and the purchase of Sinyeong Shipbuilding and Ironworks in
2004, he was on the verge of creating the world's largest shipyard by 2015.
Huh's castles-in-the-sky vision included three dry docks
with a combined annual capacity of 4.2Mcgt, for an investment of $2.2bn. And that was not all.
He was also intent on splashing out a further $1 bn on
housing for the workforce and their families in what would no
doubt have been christened Daehan Town.
By the end of 2007, however, chairman Huh was being
investigated for putting his hand in the parent company's till
and the incoming president Ho Chun Kim was making massive cut backs to the original plans despite orders for close to
40 capesize bulk carriers on the orderbook.
In early 2008 Daehan was forced to go cap-in-hand to
Scandinavian shipowner Golden Ocean for a 50% upfront payment on the first of six bulkers it was building. In August, Daehan was pleading with Golden Ocean for another upfront payment.
The writing was now clearly on the wall. And in January
2009 the Korea Federation of Banks, imder pressure from the
Financial Supervisory Service, began to undertake credit evaluations of shipyards thought to be in a financially precarious
position.
In the event Daehan survived the assessment by the skin of
its teeth with an order to undergo a creditor-led rehabilitation.
It was at this point that other shipbuilding supremo
wannabes emerged wounded into the spotlight. C& Heavy,
part of another rapidly expanded industrial chaebol C& Heavy
Group was ordered to close although it limped on until July
this year without building any of its 36 ships on order.
Also shown the exit was Jinse Shipbuilding. Jinse took the
leap from block maker to fully-fledged shipyard in 2007. The
yard claimed that it had picked up orders for forty handysize
bulkers. But by November 2008, twenty of the ships had been
cancelled including ten by Greek owner Metrostar and a further seven booked by Turkish operator Aktif Denizcilik. Reason
42

SW&S September 2009

The rapid expansion of South Korea's

shipbuilding industry since 2006, and its
present crisis has been the result of greed,
inexperience and hubris. Today's
extraordinary upheaval in the industry will
change the face of the sector forever.
Mike Grinter reports
stated: inability to gain
refund guarantees.
Jinse's creditors finally
. gave up on Jinse in June 2009.
Other South Korean
greenfield or emerging shipyards to hit the skids this
year include YS Heavy
Industries which was pushed
into declaring bankruptcy in
March 2009, leaving ten 10
OOOdwt general cargo ships
on its orderbook. At the same
time Seko Heavy Industries
and TK Heavy Industries followed Daehan into creditorled rehabilitation, or cash in
return for the loss of management control.
The legacy of those
heady days in 2005-2007

continue to this day with

news in mid-July that newlyestablished shipyard Kwangsung Shipbuilding was also
being led into creditor-led
rehabilitation despite surviving an earlier credit evaluation in January.
Kwangsung has just nine
newbuilding orders on its
books and with little chance
of gaining further orders and
badly needed instalment payments the future looks bleak.
With the exception of the
sad aberration which was the
demise of the 20-year-old
Nokbong Shipbuilding,
which has also been put
under a creditor-led plan, all
of South Korea's shipyard

casualties ran aground as the

result of an abundance of
cheap credit coming to a
screaming halt in the second
half of 2008.

The money (1)

New money must bear a
sizeable portion of the blame.
The managing director of
Arrow Shipping Robert
Clancy declared in Hong

STX Shipyard

Kong earlier this year that

Wall Street's belief that it was
witnessing a new paradigm in
the growth of the Chinese
steel industry and the consequent increase in raw material prices.
'The reason we have
gone from boom to bust so

fast is that we have had an

unprecedented amount of
liquidity thrown at our industry as a result ofWall Street's
enthusiastic sponsorship of
the commodity boom,' he
said.
But Wall Street was only
a part of the problem, pension funds, shipping funds,
hedge funds, all over Asia littie old ladies knitting in front

of luminous screens detailing

stock indices. All of them
were ploughing in their savings sending share prices
through the stratosphere.
And then, almost a year
ago to the day Lehman
Brothers died and the money
disappeared. Well, almost.
The immediate reaction
of the South Korean government was to limit the damage

 HHI (pictured) started renewable energy production in

2008 when it invested $880M in its own wind power plant.

Is the sun setting on Korean Shipbuilding?

to the industry as a whole by

arranging the removal of
shipyards seemingly beyond
recovery: thus the introduction of a series of credit evaluations referred to above.

The money (2)

But then the same
administration did a u-turn.
Instead, this year it has incrementally introduced loans

European passenger
shippers for eco-friendly
passenge" boats due
tightening of envi

and guarantees through

state-owned finance organs
such as the Korea Development Bank, Korea ExportImport Bank and the Korea
Export Insurance Corp.
Together these institutions
have been granted $18.Sbn in
order to finance shipbuilding
contracts or provide refund
guarantees. Such largesse has
provoked exasperation from

Japan and Europe. OECD

representatives of both
Europe and Japan attempted
to reintroduce a dormant
'Shipbuilding Agreement' at
the Paris meeting in July.
They failed as a result of
South Korea and China
refusing to acknowledge that
their countries' support for
financing of their respective
shipbuilding industries could

power comes from four

17330kWe gensets capable
of running on LNG
A spokesperson fo"

II'he ship reduces NOx

and SOx emissions during

~-:".~ ............ ... :-:i::::~

economically effici
44

SW&S September 2009

be interpreted as subsidies.
' Since September 2008,
demand for new ships
declined 92%. During the
first quarter of 2009 a global production volume of
11.SMcgt was in stark contrast with new orders. In
such a situation substantial
parts of the global shipping
and shipbuilding community will face bankruptcies,'
said the Community of
European Shipyards ' Associations ' secretary-general
Reinhard Luken ahead of
the OECD talks.
The actions of the South
I<:.oreangovernmentin
attempting to keep all its shipbuilding industry afloat will
only prolong the agony. A
recent flurry of newbuilding
orders at Korean shipyards,
notably Sungdong Shipbuilding's receipt of orders for four
180 OOOdwt Capesizes worth
$250M from Brazilian ore
producer Vale in August, and
three suezmax tankers in July
worth a combined $2 1OM,
are not signs of green shoots;
rather they are raindrops on a
scorched earth.

The future
South Korea's leading
shipyards are the world's
largest. And they won't get
fooled again. As the Japanese
yards did before them in the
last great slump of the 80s, the
likes of Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Indus-

tries, Daewoo Shipbuilding

and Marine Engineering and
STX Heavy Industries are
diversifying rapidly.
DSME was the last of the
top four yards to make a
foray into the global wind
power market in August
when it bought US manufacturer De Wind for $SOM
with a pledge to invest a further $70M on new products
and technology.
HHI started the charge to
renewable energy production
in 2008 when it invested
$880M in its own wind
power plant.
In the same year HHI
also invested $220M in solar
panel production.
Together with the increasing importance of offshore
construction, particularly for
SHI, which struck a deal with
Royal Dutch Shell in July
which could be worth $50bn
over 15 year s, such diversification will ensure that the top
four will never be exposed to
the whims of the world's
shipping industry again. D

"""

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OOOdwt ou!K carriers

Wo"rld Biggest Production Facilities

- LHE has installed 50,000ton Hydraulic Press
Unrivaled diversifying Model Line-up

Integrated Manufacturing
- LHE is well recognized the importance of Gask.4 t Quality
- LHE has established(VISER) and controlled qu'41ity
management by its own expertise
j

Development of Cutting-edge Technol

~ LHE co.. L'td.

- LHE has been doing

"University-Government Cooperation" program
- LHE has its own R & D Center

LEADER HEAT EXCHANGER

Head Office 1089. Jangbang-ri. Hanlim-myun, Gimhae-si. Gyungnam, Korea / Zip code : 621-874 TEL. -182-55-340-0100 /FAX -182-55-340-0629
Seoul Office 404 Kolon Digital Tower. 505-14, Gasan-dong, Geumchon-gu, Seoul. Korea I Zip code: 153-803 TEL. -182-2-2082-8731 I FAX -182-2-2082-8736

September 2009 SW&S

A safe sea anchor for every ship

S

hipping World & Shipbuilder

has learned that Oslo-

based salvage company Miko

Marine AS has designed a highstrength sea anchor capable of
being used by the largest vessels.
Trials have already demonstated how the system, intended as a component of the European Ship Arrestor project,
could be an important safetyaid for high-risk ships.
Claus-Christian Apneseth,
project manager for the Norwegian firm , believes that a sea
anchor should be routinely carried by any ship with a dangerous or potentially polluting
cargo.
'Heavy-lift ships and any
with a large deck cargo can be
in danger if they are lying
beam-on to the sea following a
loss of power,' he said.

'The sea anchor is a simple

and well-known device that will
quickly turn the bow of any

small craft, the sea anchor

has fallen into disuse as ships
have become bigger and

ship into the wind. In this way it

will ride more safely and its
cargo will be less vulnerable. It
will also reduce its drift by up
to 50% and this could be a vital
safety element.
Last October a jack-up oil

heavier. The Miko Sea Anchor

uses modern man-made fabrics and lines to create a
parachute-shaped
anchor
that is immensely strong yet
capable of being stowed in a
small container on the fore-

drilling platform was lost from a

heavy lift vessel. This is a typical example of the dangers arising from excessive roll when a
ship cannot turn into the wind.
Similarly, by slowing the movement of a tanker towards land,

deck. Calculations based on

the recent trials have determined the dimensions of the
sea anchors needed for ships
of different sizes and have
revealed that they need not
be as large as might be

the use of a sea anchor could

provide more valuable time for
the ship to be reached by rescue tugs before grounding with
disastrous consequences.'
Although it was wellknown in the age of sailing

assumed to be effective.
'Our trials have confirmed
that a parachute anchor with a
diameter of 30m is capable of
turning and slowing the drift of
a ship of up to 100 OOOdwt,'
said Aspneth. 'Such an anchor
can be stored in a small con-

ships and may still be used by

tainer on the foredeck where it

can be kept ready for immediate use. It could be launched
over the bow by the crew or
installed with an automatic
electrical or hydraulic deployment system. Because it can
be a self-contained unit, the
sea anchor could be moved
from ship-to-ship in a fleet to
suit the cargo being carried
and to meet any instructions
from its insurers.'
Miko Marine is is leading
the European Ship Arrestor
Project which is aimed at
developing a technique that
can enable a tow line to be
attached by helicopter to an
unmanned ship that has lost
power. The tow line would end
in a sea anchor so it would
reduce the ship's drift and create more time for the intervention of a rescue tug. D

Hull cleaning and

inspection machines the main attraction
A

granted product development

funding.
The Magnet Partnership's
Chris Haritou said: 'The funding
means we can use professional
designers to make it a more
appealing product to customers

tion, Design Network North provides design advice and project

management support to companies with new product ideas
and design problems.

system, being developed by

around the world. We aim to

have the finished product ready
in under six months.'

Magnets are also intrinsic

to the SteelClimber Mk 2A, an
inspection and servicing tool for

Redcar-based company The

Magnet Partnership, allows
engineers using rope access
systems to work safely on the
side of ships, oil rigs and cranes
by magnetically fixing themselves in place, saving time and
radically improving safety for
those working in these potentially dangerous environments.
Prototype units have been
in use for over 10 years by
workers at Sunderland's Abfad,
a company that has assisted
clients with maintenance of
tankers, oil rigs and cranes, but
more compa nies will benefit
now Design Network North has
46

Acting as a focal point for

North East design and innova-

system developed in the

UK that allows painters and
engineers to cling to the hull of
ships when painting or carrying
out maintenance work is
attracting wider interest.
The novel magnet-based

SW&S September 2009

ships' hulls and platforms,

developed by the aforementioned Miko Marine in cooperation with another Norwegian
company, Bratberg Producter.
It is hydraulically steered
and driven and adheres magnetically to steel structures
with considerable force. A
patented use of permanent
magnets through two flexible
belts enables the SteelClimber, pictured, to operate
above or below water and to
travel at up to 30m per minute
in any attitude, to offer a number of advantages over existing hull inspection crawlers. It
is capable of carrying a payload of up to 200kg and, and
can simply be attached to the
freeboard of a hull, inspected
to check that its payload is
fully functional and then driven
down the side of the ship and
into the water. D

Feather in the cap for Berg

wo
100m
chemical
tankers under construction at the Dingheng (Jiangsu)
Shipbuilding Co, in China, will
provide first references for
Berg Propulsion's new 'feathering' cp propeller.
The tankers, to be built to
Germanischer Lloyd Ice Class
E3, will each feature two
3600mm diameter BCP950
propellers, driven by 1600kW
engines at 136.1 rev/min, to
provide the vessels with a
higher level of flexibility,
redundancy and manoeuvrability.
Greater flexibility can be
achieved by operating two
smaller engines driving two
propellers because, at lower
speeds, the ship's Master has
the option to operate on one
engine alone, working at its
optimum efficiency. What's
more, says the Swedish

propulsion systems supplier,

two smaller propellers equate
to a 10% efficiency gain when
compared to a single screw
solution.
.
The concept of feathering
one of two propellers at lower
speeds, so that the other can
run at higher output, closer to
optimum efficiency, is by no
means new. Developed as a
more efficient alternative to
locking or clutching out an
unneeded shaft line, 'feathering' sees the propeller blades
rotated through 90 degrees
so that they are in parallel to
flow. Putting a propeller in the
feathered position during an
emergency or at low-speed
minimises drag, with consequent fuel savings .
However, feathering techniques to date have featured
a complex and often cumbersome mechanical solution, or

'Ill:~---._-_-.-~~-~

hubs that cannot offer astern

pitch due to their internal
mechanical limits. Thus the
attractions of feathered hubs
have been limited to ships
operating within complicated
mission profiles.

Keeping cool about speed control

eing able to efficiently
control the speed of a
vessel's
cooling
pumps
according to the temperature
of the sea significantly
reduces energy consumption
and costs below deck. Grundfos' speed-controlled cooling
solution could offer savings
of up to 50%.
The advanced technology in the Danish manufacturer' s system adjusts the
speed of the cooling pumps
according to the actual temperature of the seawater. This means that
no energy is wasted cooling the
engine at maximum speed when
there is in fact no
need for it.
The
Grundfos
system is said to
offer a variable-speed

alternative that is claimed to

be as beneficial to the environment as it is to a shipowner 's bottom line since
reduced energy consumption
equals reduced C0 2 emissions and fuel costs.
The solution controls the
speed of virtually any Grundfos
pump, new or old, irrespective
of size and power range. The
series is suitable for a variety
of marine applications, including: seawater cooling pumps,
freshwater cooling pumps,
boiler feed and utilities such
as HVAC and water generation.
The versatility of
the advanced solution makes way for
enormous
energy
savings on a vessel.
In addition, the solution keeps everything
under automatic control,
says the company. D

Berg says that its new

BCP design offers the capability to feather propeller
blades within its standard
hydraulic hub. The result is an
expansion in the propeller's
operating pitch range. A
patent application on this
aspect of the design is currently pending.
'We saw it as critical that
we developed a solution that
could match Berg's hub core
standards for performance,
efficiency and reliability,' said
Linus ldeskog, Berg Propulsion Technology product
manager.
' Using the Berg BCP
Feathering hub means that
pitch can range from full
astern, via full ahead , to full
feathering . For the ship
owner, this means that the
feathering concept can fit in
with any type of ship operating with more than one propeller that demands flexibility in the driving mode,
while also bringing fuel sa vings and environmental benefits.'
Orders for the system
have also been received from
Florida 's Eastern Shipbuilding
Group for installation to an
85m long ferry. The LRclassed ferry will be propelled
by 2600mm BCP760 units. D
September 2009 SW&S

HHI - Building a better future

Global Leader

www.hhi.co.kr

We Build a Better Tomorrow

As the world's leading shipbuilder, Hyundai is unrivaled in building quality
ships as well as in meeting clients' specific needs.
Whenever we build ships for our clients, we build ships of shared dreams.

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