Digital class

TRIALS OF LR DIGITAL TWIN TOOL UNDERWAY

Mark Darley, Director Marine & Off shore at Lloyd’s Register (LR) told The Motorship that the class society is planning to bring a machine learning based tool based on a digital twin model of systems aboard individual vessels to market later this year

“Trials of the technology are currently underway,” Darley confi rmed in an exclusive interview at Nor-Shipping, adding that the solution was likely to be launched before the end of the year.

The digital twin-based solution has been developed by LR drawing on its experience with digital twin solutions in the aviation and offshore and gas sectors, Darley confirmed. LR has been carrying out research into digital twin solutions for a number of years, and sees particular areas where the class society can add value for shipowners.

Unlike current digital twin solutions, which typically are not updated with conversion or repair work after the launch of a vessel, the new LR solution is intended to act as a central repository of component and system level data.

Darley compared the situation with the current highly distributed process of maintaining records on equipment. “The records of inspections of pieces of equipment, carried out by superintendents, managers, surveyors… are maintained across so many spreadsheets, so many pieces of paper at the moment. Just by maintaining this digital representation of your ship would have a value when you come to S&P activity.”

The platform will then be able to incorporate data supplied from assets around the ship. “By building out that digital repository picture with in-service notes and surveys, layered on top of the ship component information that LR gathered from our involvement with the shipyard during construction, will allow us to offer insights”.

One of the immediate focuses will be on the application of machine learning analytics to the data, Darley added. “This will let us start to break down failure periodicity”, opening up the door to advances in predictive maintenance.

Darley cited experience in other industries where predictive maintenance was more widely used. There were also specific advantages to a change in approach for some systems. “We know that there are certain systems that perform better when they aren’t physically opened up repeatedly over time.”

Longer term, the introduction of digital twin based solutions is expected to contribute to a wider debate around reforms to the current periodic survey and maintenance cycles, which are based on traditional five-year cycles. “From a class perspective, it's about working with data providers and the IMO to build the case, so that we can start to move away from five-year survey cycles,” Darley concluded.

MAN ES digital chief expects digitalisation roll-out to accelerate

Gregory Puckett, Head of Group Digital at MAN Energy Solutions tells The Motorship he expects further enhancement of realtime monitoring solutions and “predictive services” to reach the market “within 12 to 18 months”.

Puckett noted that MAN ES intends to continue to focus on developing digitised solutions around predictive services. One of the advantages of the recent deal to select Amazon Web Services as MAN ES’ preferred cloud provider was that it would provide the foundation for advanced analytics, machine learning, and Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities for MAN’s CEON platform.

“To give you a concrete example, we have recently introduced a Health Score Algorithm in our Industrials segment. It is an AI based anomaly detection algorithm, which monitors incoming data 24/7 and therefore provides a holistic machine train supervision. The Health Score allows to check the train status at a glance and guides the domain expert to the critical component via different hierarchy levels: train, sub-asset, sub-component, sensor.

The deal with AWS is likely to help MAN ES accelerate the roll out of the solution to the maritime segment “within the next 12 months”, simply by shortening the development cycle of the machine learning models.

The Motorship notes that identifying upcoming replacement component requirements with long lead times is also likely to create opportunities for PrimeServ to minimise downtime by scheduling maintenance around operational requirements.

A second area of development included extending the scope of MAN ES’ existing digital services. In addition to its monitoring and advisory service (PrimeServ Assist) MAN ES can offer data services for customers who prefer to integrate raw, or enriched MAN data feeds into their own systems.

“And finally, MAN-ES digital, engineering and automation teams rapidly developing Edge-based services on board a vessel,” Puckett adds. The initial focus is on using AWS services like GreenGrass or IoT Core to provide insights – or “Advice on Vessel” – around engine performance monitoring and operational optimisation.

However, the range of MAN ES’ digital offerings is set to expand, meeting increasing customer demand for solutions around their emissions footprint. Decarbonisation was one of the key focuses of MAN ES’ recent MoU with DNV, Puckett added, along with digitalisation. added, along with digita ta t lisation.

WinGD EYES BROADER DIGITAL CONSULTANCY OPPORTUNITIES

Stefan Goranov, WinGD General Manager, Sustainability Solutions explains to The Motorship in an exclusive interview how the engine designer plans to leverage its modelling expertise

Since we last spoke in person, WinGD’s hybridisation programme has continued to advance, Stefan Goranov begins. The fi rst reference for WinGD’s battery-hybrid solution, the fi rst PCTC in a series for NYK Line, will be delivered from the shipyard in December. “The components have been successfully shipped and our inhouse development work is on track”.

Commercial confidentiality prevents Goranov from discussing the order book, but “we have been selected for a number of other projects.”

Goranov is equally upbeat about WinGD’s recent collaborations: The Motorship reported on a highly intriguing joint development project with NYK’s research institute, the Monohakobi Technology Institute Co., Ltd (MTI) and ABS in December 2021.

The project aims to bring together MTI’s integrated model of hull hydrodynamics and propeller with energy system components models from WinGD. Goranov expanded on the digital twin project’s implications. “This is an important step for us, because on a long term, what we are aiming for is dynamic performance optimisations.” In other words, WinGD is aiming to offer individually-tailored control strategies, adapting them to cargo capacity utilisation, particularly for container vessels with reefer containers, speed demand, as well as improving the overall efficiency of the ship as an integrated system.

Goranov stressed that the two-year research project was key to gaining a better understanding of the vessel’s hydrodynamics. “It is important that we can see how the energy system is reacting on changing hull and propeller characteristics, such as ageing and fouling.” The research project will also incorporate data from real vessels, provided by NYK, as the project aims to gain a deeper understanding of the vessel’s real-world seakeeping performance in different conditions. This will contribute to the definition of a set of control strategies to keep the system efficiency as high as possible.

In fact, Goranov expects the integrated digital twin model to be able to benchmark actual operational performance with the theoretically most efficient mode of operation at a time.

“We will be able to collect the operational data from a vessel, analyse it through the digital twin, which will suggest where we can see the delta between the reference and actual operation. Then, actions that can improve the performance will be suggested.”

At the moment, WinGD is accumulating operational data in order to refine its algorithms, but Goranov expects the service will be commercially launched within the next couple of years.

The expected launch of WinGD’s as yet unnamed vessel efficiency optimisation solution draws on the company’s unparalleled understanding of the actual machinery on the vessel itself – there are only two of us with this degree of insight, Goranov says laughing – as well as the company’s holistic view of the vessel.

The holistic view of the vessel was originally developed as part of the battery-hybrid research programme that Goranov spearheaded in 2019. The model itself has been used to suggest alternatives to customers who approached WinGD for advice before finalising the specifications of a newbuilding with a shipyard.

The insights go beyond identifying plausible values for energy efficiency improvements, and their costs, and look ahead to the regulatory picture, and Carbon Intensity Indicator values. “So we have restructured the organisation slightly to establish a sustainability solutions unit, which I’m leading,” Goranov says. “Every project will be configured to the specific requirements of individual customers.”

This consultancy type approach will not be restricted to larger customers – “they already know about the value of our services” – but rather opened up to smaller and medium sized customers, many of whom do not have their own inhouse teams of analysts, and are likely to be asking themselves which way they should go to keep their vessels economically viable and profitable.

Looking ahead, WinGD is now exploring how to introduce thermal aspects into the full-system simulation platform. The original hybridisation platform required the model to identify an optimal point from a system-wide perspective, taking into account the main engine, auxiliary engines and other energy converters and consumers, but extending the scope of the platform would “allow us to quantify the benefits and the trade-offs behind the thermal characteristics of the system.”

However, implementing such thermal management strategies would require changes to the network control “and that will require solving more complex optimisation problem,” Goranov says. One of the current research objectives is the evaluation of the benefits that Model Predictive Control brings relative to the “conventional” rule based. If proven beneficial, our control software can be updated on new builds and vessel in service.

8 Stefan Goranov,

WinGD General Manager, Sustainability Solutions

UPCOMING TRIALS TO VALIDATE KNCC AMBIENT LCO2 SYSTEM

Knutsen NYK Carbon Carriers (KNCC) is accelerating the development of its proprietary ambient liquefi ed carbon dioxide (CO2) transportation technology after it received an AiP at Nor-Shipping

KNCC’s ambient liquefi ed CO2 concept received an Approval in Principle from DNV at Nor-Shipping in April 2022. The proprietary solution permits the transportation of liquefi ed CO2 at high (35-45 bar) pressures, and at an ambient temperature of 0-10 degrees C. The ambient liquefi ed CO2 concept off ers an elegant solution to the challenge of transporting liquefi ed CO2 without requiring the development of cryogenic containment systems.

Testing is expected to begin once a new lab in Norway is completed in Q3 2022, Per Lothe, Director of Knutsen NYK Carbon Carriers told The Motorship. The company plans to obtain results from CO2 testing by the second or third quarter of 2023. This will demonstrate the applicability of the technology that KNCC has developed as part of its PCO2 concept.

By transporting the gas in a liquid phase under ambient conditions, the technology eliminates the cost of cooling the gas to a cryogenic level and reduces the weight of the storage tank required aboard the carrier. This in turn is expected to permit the construction of larger-sized carriers of up to 80,000 cbm in the future.

The solution envisages the transportation of bundles of vertically stacked small diameter cylinders based on pipeline fabrication design principles, rather than larger cylindrical tanks. The use of small diameter cylinders mitigates the risk of pressure variations within the tubes, ensures operations avoid dry ice formation, and eliminates sloshing effects of LCO2 in part or fully loaded condition. It is no coincidence that the solution resembles some compressed natural gas (CNG) transportation concepts, as it draws upon a proprietary Knutsen PNG design from the early 2000s.

The Motorship notes that liquid CO2 has a higher density than other liquefied gases, with a density of 800 to 900 kg/m3, compared with 500 kg/m3 for gases such as LNG or LPG. Previous cryogenic Type C tank solutions approved by DNV (see The Motorship, December 2019) employed 19 bar with a cryogenic temperature of -30 degrees C.

Regulatory Environment

When DNV began to consider the proposed vessel design, it soon became clear that the ambient LCO2 solution was technically feasible, but there were some challenges to ensure that it was permissible under the existing regulatory framework, Johan Tutturen, vice-president, special projects – gas at DNV told The Motorship. Unlike some other liquefied gaseous cargos, LCO2 is already included in regulations covering gas cargos. The IMO’s MSC amended the IGC Code to include liquefied CO2 in the code in 2006.

“The existing rules for the transportation of compressed natural gas did not envisage the transportation of a liquid in a gas containment system, which is the basis of KNCC’s ambient CO2 transportation concept,” Tutturen added. A particular focus was on approving the containment system as existing high-pressure LCO2 solutions based on conventional tank design have a number of limitations.

“We finally came up with a hybrid solution combining the best of two worlds,” Tutturen said, which meant we could accept the ambient CO2 system based on existing IGC and CNG rules.

The international regulatory environment governing international shipments of CO2 has evolved. “Limitations on the transportation of CO2 between the UK and Norway have been lifted,” Tutturen said, “but if we need to transport, for instance, CO2 from Australia to Norway, then I think the governments need to agree on some terms and conditions.”

The Motorship notes that an amendment to article 6 of the London Protocol was passed in 2009 to permit international shipments of carbon dioxide, but it has not yet been ratified by two-thirds of contracting parties. However, a resolution to permit international exports of carbon dioxide under certain circumstances was passed by parties to the London Convention in October 2019.

Economics of the concept

The concept also offers potential advantages during the offshore injection phase, where the liquefied CO2 will be injected at the wellhead, Lothe added. The concept is intended to maintain a uniform product across the LCO2 transportation chain, reducing variations in pressure, temperature and state between capture and injection.

Cumulatively, the refinements are expected to result in “double-digit percentage savings” in the cost of offshore carbon liquefaction and transportation, compared with competing cryogenic strategies.

Minimising costs for the offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) sector is particularly important as the economic viability of the emerging market will depend upon costs remaining below a potential carbon levy.

8 Knut Ørbeck-

Nilssen, DNV Maritime CEO, presented the AiP to Trygve Seglem, owner of Knutsen and Vice Chair of KNCC, President and Chief Executive Offi cer of NYK Group Europe Ltd., Svein Steimler, Managing Executive Offi cer of NYK Line and Chair of KNCC, Anders Lepsøe, CEO of KNCC, and Per Lothe, the Technical Advisor in KNCC

ORDER BOOST FOR REVAMPED SHORT-SEA TRADER

Re-designed in 2019 after around 60 examples had been produced over a 20-year period, Damen Shipyards’ Combi Freighter 3850 class of short-sea cargo vessel is attracting new business, writes David Tinsley

The latest tranche of contracts emanates from Germany, and construction has been assigned to one of the Dutch group’s Chinese affi liates.

Notwithstanding Damen’s increasing output of higher added-value and one-off vessel types, the CF3850 applies and reaffirms its trademark policy of standardisation and speculative building in a number of fields, making for ‘off-theshelf’ availability. Design tuning to serial production, coupled with ordering for stock so as to enable quick deliveries to clients, uphold global competitiveness in target markets.

Having commissioned two of the 3,850dwt multipurpose carriers into its fleet at short notice last year, Blue Fin Shipping of Buxtehude has ordered an additional four newbuilds of the design. Two are scheduled to be handed over during the fourth quarter of 2022, with the next pair to follow in the 2023 third quarter.

Blue Fin’s Unitas-H and Solitas-H, completed by Damen Shipyards Yichang’s premises on the Yangtze River in January and August 2021, respectively, were the first of the revamped CF3850 design to enter service. Both are engaged in intraEuropean freight exchange, transporting a variety of cargoes such as steel, wood pulp, grain, and fertiliser in bulk or big bags, while offering the capability for other bulk commodities and also heavy, long and indivisible items of freight.

Having been obtainable from stock at Yichang, by virtue of the ‘on-spec’ build policy, Unitas-H was delivered within six weeks of order signing. Throughout the course of the positioning voyage to Europe, which included taking on a cargo in Malaysia for discharge at Rotterdam, the owner and Damen monitored fuel consumption, speed and weather conditions. Analysis of the data confirmed the new design iteration’s improved fuel efficiency relative to the older ships of the series, the results having been considered especially significant in the light of sustained speed keeping achieved in the face of head winds and seas while fully loaded.

This performance led to Blue Fin’s immediate contracting of the second ship, Solitas-H, and subsequently influenced the commitment to four more vessels, which will be named Baltic Fin, Bothnia Fin, Bering Fin and Biscay Fin. Blue Fin is a new joint venture of the established Buxtehude firm Reederei Hinsch and several entrepreneurs, aimed at gaining a competitive edge in coastal and short-sea shipping by focusing on economic and environmental standard. A feature of the new CF3850 generation is a power installation incorporating selective catalytic reduction(SCR) technology, still uncommon as yet in the sector.

As a result of the optimisation of the aftship hull lines, and consequentially reduced resistance, the revised design has enabled use of a lower power propulsion installation, and one which runs on marine gas oil(MGO) as opposed to heavy fuel oil (HFO).

For the latest series from China, the main engine has been sourced in the Low Countries, testament to the enduring competitiveness of Ghent manufacturer ABC Engines in the medium-speed stakes. The nominated model is a sixcylinder example of the DZC design, giving a modest output of 1,104kW at a crankshaft speed of 800rpm, driving a 2.6m fixed-pitch propeller through a Reintjes reduction gear.

The power saving attained with the reworked CF3850 is apparent when compared with vessels of the type completed a decade ago, in which the main engine was an MaK 8M20C, rated for 1,520kW at 1,000rpm. The new arrangements meet the requirement to ensure a fully laden speed of 10 knots, as befits the transportation of the low-margin bulk commodities in intra-European trade.

Furthermore, the 6DZC is Tier III-compliant, by incorporating a proprietary SCR solution. The engine is well proven and adjudged as ‘value for money’, noted for reliability and comparative design simplicity. It offers a relatively high engine displacement, low brake mean effective pressure, mechanical fuel injection, and increasing torque curve at decreasing engine speed.

The single hold accounts for 62.5m of the hull’s 85m length between perpendiculars, and for 10.1m of the 12.5m beam, accessed through pontoon covers on high coamings. Some 186,000ft3 of electrically-ventilated, enclosed volume is provided for bulk goods, forestry and steel products and project cargoes.

Flexibility in cargo carrying arrangements is afforded by means of two portable grain bulkheads, offering multiple stow positions, and which can be adapted to form four tweendeck panels to create upper cargo compartments. The tweendeck is placed at approximately half-height in each end of the hold, and has a loading capacity of 2.5t/m2, while the tank top can bear 15t/m2. Container fittings and lashing eyes for weatherdeck-borne cargo add to the design’s versatility.

Damen Shipyards Yichang was founded in 1998 by Damen Shipyards Gorinchem, the fountainhead of the organisation’s cargo vessel portfolio, and Yichang Shipyard. The Chinese facility can undertake contracts relating to any design in the Combi Freighter family, the largest being a 14,000dwt type, plus a broad range of other assignments.

8 Solitas-H was

delivered from stock last August by Damen Shipyards Yichang

HYBRID ENTRANT TO NORWEGIAN COASTAL RUN

A new chapter in the evolution of Norway’s Coastal Express(Hurtigruten) service is unfolding through the delivery of the fi rst of a series of purpose-designed, hybrid LNG/battery-powered vessels for a competitor to the long-established operator on the route, writes David Tinsley

Drawing extensively on Norwegian equipment and technology, the Turkish-built, 124m Havila Capella marries environmentally-considerate engineering and ship design with optimisation to the unique requirements for ensuring year-round, multi-port calls along the country’s weatherbeaten, fjord-indented seaboard. Provision for use of alternatives to hydrocarbon fuel underscores the longterm thinking behind the investment.

The Coastal Express network, encompassing 34 ports of call northbound and 33 southbound, stretching between Bergen and Kirkenes, near the Russian border, has long been maintained by Hurtigruten AS on the basis of governmentaccorded operating concessions of fixed duration. Services into the smaller northern points in the itinerary are state-subsidised.

The latest contract renewal, planning for which was initiated in 2016, heralded a change of policy, dispensing with the Hurtigruten monopoly in favour of a two-company operation. While Hurtigruten AS retained two contracts, one entailing four ships and one involving three ships, with the Norwegian authorities stipulating capacity and environmental criteria, a third contract necessitating four vessels was entrusted to the new contender Havila Kystruten. The concessions span the period 2021-2030.

Based at Fosnavaag in More og Romsdal County, Havila Kystruten had been formed by entrepreneur Per Saevik with the specific aim of gaining a share in the historic Coastal Express operation, now officially known as the Kystruten Bergen-Kirkenes. The route constitutes an important part of the domestic transportation infrastructure for passengers and freight, although the past number of years have seen the line play an increasingly important role as part of the country’s leisure sector, conveying round-trip cruise passengers.

So as to meet its obligations, Havila Kystruten assigned two newbuilds in 2018 to Spanish shipbuilder Hijos de J. Barreras and the second pair to Tersan Shipyard in Turkey, with the expectation of having all tonnage in service by the outset of 2021. The programme was subsequently hit by financial problems at the Vigo yard, which led to Havila transferring the Barreras orders to Tersan. Subsequent progress on the four-ship series suffered from problems wrought by the Covid pandemic, while the technically innovative nature of the propulsion system is also understood to have strained the build schedule.

In the event, Havila Capella was handed over in November 2021, and made her debut the following month under the banner of Havila Voyages. Second-of-class Havila Castor is being readied for phasing into the schedule from Bergen on May 10. Third and fourth ships, Havila Polaris and Havila Pollux, are expected to be commissioned during the second half of 2022.

As low a carbon footprint as practical was stipulated in the contract, against the backcloth of the operational requirements imposed by intended duty maintaining year-round service along the western and northern extent of the Norwegian seaboard. Havyard’s HAV Group subsidiaries HAV Design, HAV Hydrogen, Norwegian Electric Systems(NES) and Norwegian Greentech contributed to the creation of what is claimed to be the “greenest” vessel working the Norwegian coast. The hull and equipment have been customised to weather, wind and wave conditions along the route, and NES was responsible for the hybrid gas-electric propulsion solution, including delivery and integration of one of the world’s largest shipboard battery packs, plus ‘smart’ control systems.

The nomination of a hybrid electric drive system using battery plant and LNG-fuelled engines satisfied the manoeuvrability, power flexibility and redundancy criteria for the service profile. The resulting energy efficiency and environmental credentials are said to have exceeded the criteria stipulated by the Norwegian authorities in the route operating tender qualifications.

Furthermore, the propulsion system has been prepared for future retrofitting of hydrogen and fuel cell technology. A scenario is foreseen wherein the ship will eventually sail on certain sections of the route completely emission-free under hydrogen power.

The adoption of Bergen gas-burning prime movers and a high concentration of battery power, plus recourse to the hydropower-fed landside electrical grid where available when alongside, in combination with efficiencies flowing from electric propulsion and a refined hull form, promise cuts of nearly 30% in CO2 emissions. LNG fuelling also infers 90% lower NOx and a circa 96% reduction in SOx and particles. With the gradual blending of biogas, as permitted by the medium-speed Bergen machinery adopted, CO2 will be progressively reduced further, potentially by up to 80% in the short-term.

The 6,100MWh battery pack was manufactured by Corvus Energy, and incorporates proprietary, patented single-cell thermal isolation exceeding class requirements. The energy storage system(ESS), one of the largest at sea, allows up to four

8 New competiton

for Hurtigruten AS: Turkish-built Havila Capella is tailored to an initial 10-year operating concession

hours of quiet, emissions-free navigation and renders peak shaving during the coastwise passage, smoothing engine loads.

Given the line’s vital cruise business element, the aircooled ESS, plus the possibility to draw on shore power when berthed, is of particular value to operational scope in waters subject to the most stringent emission rules, notably Geirangerfjord and Naeroyfjord, the designated World Heritage fjords of south western Norway.

The genset engines are from the C26:33 series, produced at the Hordvikneset factory near Bergen, and comprise two nine-cylinder models and a pair of six-cylinder units, yielding a maximum, total output of 7,756kW.

The C-type is a compact, lean-burn gas engine operating on the Otto cycle with mixture compression and an external ignition source. A rich gas-air mix in a pre-combustion chamber is ignited to form a strong ignition source for the very lean mixture in the cylinder, giving knock-free combustion, increasing cylinder power efficiently and with reduced emissions. A feature of the design is variable turbocharger geometry, conferring optimal response across the load range. The medium-speed gas engines are also attributed with cleaner internals over time, lessening maintenance costs relative to similarly-rated diesel engines.

Twin-tank LNG fuel containment is located aft on Deck 2. Bunkering is effected in Bergen from a dedicated LNG tanker.

Power is fed to two, azimuthing thrusters of electric Azipull type, from the Kongsberg Maritime portfolio. The AZP-PM design chosen has an L-drive configuration using essentially the same underwater unit as the conventional Azipull, but with a vertical shaft permanent magnet(PM) motor integrated into the new upper section, maintaining high efficiency over a wide speed range. An upper gearbox is eliminated and space requirements in the thruster room are reduced because the propulsor is compact, the PM motor lying within the diameter of the mounting flange.

PM technology is also used in the pair of TT2000 tunnel thrusters, combining space saving with lower noise and vibration and rapid response performance, and vital to the exacting, independent manoeuvring necessary at multiple small and restricted berths.

Surplus heat from the ship’s exhaust and cooling water is recovered and re-used through the Ulmatec Pyro Waste Energy Management System for heating purposes in accommodation spaces and elsewhere. A strongpoint of the technology is its maximisation of onboard consumers using recovered energy and balancing of the energy distribution.

Basic dimensions for the Havila generation were set by the terminal, channel and bridge parameters that govern the existing Coastal Express fleet as regards length, draught and air-draught. While length overall was accordingly kept to 124m, the beam has been taken out slightly compared to existing vessels on the coastal route, for a breadth of 22m. Achieving the capacity goals and realising the extent of facilities within the dimensional block has made for a relatively compact form.

The mix of two- and four-berth cabins and suites amounts to accommodation for 468 passengers, and the interior architecture and layout developed by the Danish studio Steen Friis Design applies contemporary Scandinavian style. A key consideration in the arrangements has been to facilitate observation of the passing scene in all its natural splendour, enhancing the travel experience. Furnishings and decorative elements have been largely sourced in Norway. Given the provision for 172 port-to-port travellers, as well as the mainly tourist complement in cabins, the vessel is certificated for a total of 640 passengers.

The ship has a limited freight carrying function in line with the role of the Coastal Express fleet in providing year-round service to isolated communities where winter conditions can hamper road access. The cargo space at Deck 3 level can stow 190 pallets and several cars, handled through a hydraulically-operated door on the port side.

Havila Kystruten leases the Norwegian-flag Havila Capella from GTLK Asia of Hong Kong, owned by the State Leasing Company(GTLK) of Salekhard, Russia, and similar arrangements were entered into for the other ships in the series. GTLK was named among the Russian companies covered by the EU’s extended sanctions list on April 8, a move that now calls for new financing to be put in place. A few days after the EU dictate, associated issues relating to the ship’s insurance caused the cancellation of Havila Capella’s Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen round-trip.

PRINCIPAL PARTICULARS - Havila Capella

Length overall 124.1m Length bp 115.2m Breadth 22.0m Depth 8.2m Draught, scantling 5.2m Gross tonnage 15,519t Deadweight 5,427t Passenger capacity 640 Propulsion system LNG dual-fuel/battery-electric Main genset engines 2 x Bergen C26:33L9 + 2 x Bergen C26:33L6 Genset engine power, total 7,756kW Battery power 6,100kWh Speed, service 15kts Class DNV Class notations 1A Passenger Ship, BIS, Battery(Power), BWM(T), Clean(Design), COMF(V-2), E0, Gas-fuelled, NAUT(AW), Recyclable

8 The Kystruten

Bergen-Kirkenes operation entails 34 ports of call along the Norwegian coast

GAS CARGOES TO THE FORE

April 1972 sees our look back over what was happening in the shipbuilding and marine engineering industry half a century ago turn to another volume of The Motor Ship issues.

Opening this new book shows not just what has changed over the years, but equally it demonstrates what was novel then, and is still fresh today.

One area which was very different in April 1972 was the British government’s help for national shipbuilding – then, The Motor Ship indulged in a lot of flag-waving for the domestic industry. To cushion the yards’ losses, a grant aid package calculated at around £50 million had been promised over a three-year period. However, reality was creeping in; our predecessors noted that despite previous aid packages the UK yards’ market share was declining sharply, and that subsidies from one national government would be met by counter-measures elsewhere.

The main ship description in April 1972 concerned an LPG/ammonia carrier. With current interest in alternative low flashpoint fuels, this type of gas carrier vessel is currently being built in significant numbers. But even then it was believed there were 25 LPG carriers on the global order book, the latest delivery being Gazana, a 178m long 29,600m3 capacity ship for P&O bulk shipping division. Built at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead, the ship was designed to carry LPG or ammonia, refrigerated to -51 deg C, in four insulated tanks, constructed from low temperature carbon steel. Engine development had not then reached the stage where vapours from cargo gases could be used as fuel, so the B&W 8K74EF main engine, built at Kincaid in Greenock and rated 15,000 bhp at 124 rpm, was fuelled by HFO. Boil off gases were dealt with by an onboard

8 The 29,600m3 LPG/ammonia carrier Gazana under

construction, showing the gas tanks in the hold

reliquefaction plant and returned to the tanks. Safety was a prime consideration in the design, with a dry powder fire extinguishing system covering the decks. As well as being equipped for unmanned machinery operation, all of the vessel’s fire and safety equipment could be operated remotely, direct from a specially-constructed emergency room.

Still on the gas carrier theme, an article in the April 1972 issue dealt with safety aspects of LNG carriers since 1959, when the Methane Pioneer first entered service. Naturally, the most important aspect was cargo tank design; two types were employed – selfsupporting and membrane. Earlier tanks used a balsa-based plywood with insulating material between inner and outer layers, but more recent developments had seen PVC and other synthetic materials introduced. However, it was noted that due to the fire risk, materials such as polystyrene were unsuitable. Although LNG carriers had displayed a good safety record in the first 12 years, it was thought important to consider the results of collision damage that could result in cargo leakage – LNG mixed with sea water being particularly hazardous.

Finally, one novel ship design which never really too off – the LASH (lighter aboard ship), which was regarded as having great potential for increasing efficiency, avoiding the need for transhipment of cargoes between seagoing and inland water transport systems. The first European-built example, the 43,000 dwt Bilderdyk, had recently entered service for the Dutch Combi Line, a Holland America/Hapag Lloyd joint venture. The vessel could carry 83 laden barges, which were loaded and unloaded via the ship’s 510t gantry crane, then towed to their onward destinations. The barges, each 18.7m long and of 375dwt capacity, had been built in Ireland. They were carried in the ship’s holds, or two tiers on deck, secured with wedges, with locking arrangements at each corner. Bilderdyk was powered by a 26,100 bhp Sulzer 9RND90 main engine, with four 470kW ABC auxiliary gensets.

8 LASH ship Bilderdyk’s gantry crane arrangement The international magazine for senior marine engineers

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