Passenger Ship Technology 1st Quarter 2019 by rivieramaritimemedia

This issue of Passenger Ship Technology is sponsored by

1st Quarter 2019

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Hurtigruten reveals the innovations used in its new hybrid cruise ships

CRUISE SHIP DESCRIPTION How Nieuw Statendam surpassed the EEDI

FERRY DESCRIPTION Caronte & Tourist’s Elio leads the way for LNG in the Mediterranean

FLEET STATISTICS Fast ferries: why boom times are here to stay

EXPEDITION CRUISE MARKET Ponant’s icebreaker: enter new cruise ship design

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LMG Marin is a leading Naval Architecture & Ship Design house with more than 1000 references worldwide including 15 LNG fuelled ferries and RoPaxes. www.lmgmarin.no • office@lmgmarin.no • +47 55 59 40 00 • Bergen, Norway

Contents 1st Quarter 2019 volume 12 issue 1

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Regulars 5 COMMENT 80 LAST WORD

Cruise ship descriptions 7 Hurtigruten’s world-first battery hybrid expedition cruise ships have been unveiled. PST was invited to Kleven shipyard. 13 Holland America Line’s new cruise ship has an emphasis on energy efficiency. Its builder Fincantieri describes the features that enabled it to surpass EEDI requirements

Ferry description

19 Transport for London’s battery hybrid ferries and the first ferry to operate on LNG in the Mediterranean have been delivered. We look at the innovations behind these vessels

Fast ferry description 24 Virtu Ferries’ Saint John Paul II has been launched. We speak to its builder Incat Tasmania to hear about building the largest high-speed catamaran in the Mediterranean

Fleet statistics 26 The fast ferry has enjoyed a strong comeback, with a sustained period of stability expected. PST explores the reasons why

Operator interview 29 Wightlink’s project director opens up on the company’s future fleet plans

Shipyard profile 33 The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection newbuilds mark Hijos de J Barreras’ entry into the cruise market. The shipyard explains why it won the contract

Repair and refurbishment 36 Baleària moves its LNG strategy forward with ferry retrofits

Expedition cruise market analysis 38 Expedition cruise newbuilds are deploying some of the most innovative and green technology in the cruise sector

Coatings 40 Coatings are evolving under a new standard and expectations from the passenger ship industry

Manoeuvring technology 44 Advanced automation and new design techniques are giving ship operators more room to manoeuvre in thruster selection

Safety technology and regulation 49 After a growing number of cruise ship lifeboat accidents, PST speaks to key players about the possible solutions

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Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

Contents 1st Quarter 2019 volume 12 issue 1

Monitoring technology 54 The recent focus on automation within the ferry sector reflects its position as an ideal market to apply such technologies

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Editor: Rebecca Moore t: +44 20 8370 7797 e: rebecca.moore@rivieramm.com

Ballast water management systems

Brand Manager: Indrit Kruja t: +44 20 8370 7792 e: indrit.kruja@rivieramm.com

58 A ballast water management system is often made up of three distinct stages: the pump, the filter/treatment and the processor. Developing the industry has been similar

Head of Sales – Asia: Kym Tan t: +65 6809 1278 e: kym.tan@rivieramm.com

Interior technology and design 61 Newbuild cruise ships reveal the latest interior innovations, while Chinese construction is having an impact on the hotel side

Infotainment systems 66 Technology is expanding the ways operators can keep passengers informed and entertained

Shipmanagement 70 Passenger vessel shipmanagers are boosting their offerings with an increased focus on remote monitoring and data analytics

Communication systems 75 Guest demand for social media and online applications is pushing further investment in fast broadband VSAT and onboard wifi on passenger ships

Senior Creative Manager: Mark Lukmanji t: +44 20 8370 7019 e: mark.lukmanji@rivieramm.com Subscriptions: Sally Church t: +44 20 8370 7018 e: sally.church@rivieramm.com Chairman: John Labdon Managing Director: Steve Labdon Finance Director: Cathy Labdon Head of Content: Edwin Lampert Published by: Riviera Maritime Media Ltd Mitre House 66 Abbey Road Enfield EN1 2QN UK

Next issue Main features include: Flooring and decking; fire prevention and control; communications: cyber security; propulsors; HVAC; elevators; river cruise market update; LNG technology; waste water treatment and handling systems; cruise ship descriptions: Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Flora and Costa Cruises' Costa Venezia

You don’t need more information, you need the right information

Front cover: Hurtigruten and Kleven shipyard unveil Roald Amundsen (credit: Hurtigruten/Oclin)

A year’s subscription to Passenger Ship Technology costs £199 and gets you:

• Four issues of Passenger Ship Technology. • Access to the latest issue contents on your digital device. • Annual supplement: Interior & Refurbishment Review. • Access to www.passengership.info and its searchable archive of news, comment, features, articles and analysis. • Fortnightly PST Newsletter, featuring cruise ship and ferry news, events, products and services. Subscribe online: www.passengership.info

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

Total average net circulation: 4,000 Period: January-December 2018

Disclaimer: Although every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this publication is correct, the Author and Publisher accept no liability to any party for any inaccuracies that may occur. Any third party material included with the publication is supplied in good faith and the Publisher accepts no liability in respect of content. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, reprinted or stored in any electronic medium or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission of the copyright owner.

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COMMENT | 5

Lifeboat accidents are a wake-up call for the cruise industry

A Rebecca Moore, Editor

THESE ISSUES NEED TO GO TO IMO AND BE ADDRESSED THROUGH ALL PARTS OF THE INDUSTRY”

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prolonged series of cruise ship lifeboat incidents shows the industry needs to take action. Our safety technology and regulation feature examines this topic in detail (see pages 49-52), and I think it is clear after speaking to a wide range of experts for this article, that while positive steps are being taken to prevent such incidents, more does need to be done. Lifeboat incidents over the years have caused both injuries and fatalities. I think Nautilus International professional and technical officer David Appleton summed it up perfectly when he told me “If something designed to save lives is regularly killing people, then the industry really needs to take a holistic look at it.” (see page 49). Of course, I appreciate the industry has taken steps to make lifeboats safer – a standout being the IMO directive that requires all existing lifeboat release systems to be tested to exacting standards and non-compliant hooks to be replaced or modified. While this has helped to lower the number of lifeboat incidents, the reality is hooks are just one facet of the lifesaving system and problems around lifeboat safety persist. Wires being poorly maintained or inadequately greased can cause lifeboat failures, for example. These parts of the lifeboat apparatus need to be a focus of industry action, too. I heartily applaud DNV GL’s voluntary certification standard covering the davits used to launch and recover tenders, including those which have a dual use as a lifeboat. Importantly, the certification includes a risk analysis that will enable owners to add extra safety precautions such as automation and monitoring systems. Radio can be used to remotely launch

and recover tender boats, without requiring personnel to be near moving parts. Monitoring systems could include warning signals or sensors to warn crew of potentially dangerous missteps during lifeboat drills. This initiative can only help to reduce accidents, especially as many of the worst accidents take place during lifeboat drills. But this is just one certification from one class society and is voluntary. To really make an impact, such a certification needs to be adopted across the whole industry and be made compulsory. And as well as ensuring that designs are failsafe, training is key. In many of the reported incidents, human error is a factor. Again, there has been much work on training within the cruise industry, but the fact these incidents continue suggests that there is more work to be done. Given many of the incidents take place while the crew are carrying out drills, it begs the question – during a drill, do the crew need to be in the lifeboat? Surely checking the lifeboat system and carrying out the actions of releasing the lifeboat are enough, without loading the lifeboat with personnel. Ultimately, these issues need to go to IMO and be addressed through all parts of the industry: manufacturers, class, industry associations and cruise operators need to be involved and look at every single facet that impacts on safety, from creating a failsafe lifeboat design, to focusing on training and maintenance and ensuring drills are carried out in a risk-free environment. As Mr Appleton counselled: only by taking this issue to the top and taking a holistic approach will we be able to ensure lifeboats serve their intended purpose, rather than posing a threat to life at sea. PST

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

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Hurtigruten CRUISE SHIP DESCRIPTION | 7

There is room in Roald Amundsen for a larger battery pack to be installed in the future (credit: Hurtigruten/Per Eide)

Hurtigruten’s world-first battery hybrid expedition cruise ships unveiled Passenger Ship Technology was invited to the unveiling of Hurtigruten’s new expedition cruise ships in Kleven shipyard to get the lowdown on the innovative technology used and plans to upgrade the ships in the future

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urtigruten’s new battery hybrid cruise ships will leave space for a battery pack five times larger in capacity than the initial pack being used. Hurtigruten chief executive Daniel Skjeldam told a select group of press gathered at Kleven shipyard in Norway, which is building the vessels, that the new ships would “change the industry, push the boundaries and change the entire face of cruising.” He said these “hybrid cars of the ocean” would cut emissions by 20%. Roald Amundsen will be delivered in Q1 this year and Fridtjof Nansen in Q3 2019.

Hurtigruten chief operating officer Tor Geir Engebretsen explained that while it was a large battery installation – two batteries of 680 kW – there was room for expanding capacity to include a battery pack five times larger than the original. He said “Why not buy that today? Batteries are undergoing a lot of development – you can buy and install them with the current technology, but ongoing development means you can wait a little bit and then make them five times bigger in capacity.” He told Passenger Ship Technology “We are watching the [marine battery] market and what is happening, who the players are and can see the battery

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

Hurtigruten CRUISE SHIP DESCRIPTION | 9

industry growing.” Asked if the company would use the increased battery size for allelectric sailing, as the original batteries will just be used for peak shaving, he answered “yes.” But added “Right now, it doesn’t make sense unless you want the ship to be silent, for example, when [it is] close to a polar bear.” He added “It is always a matter of the efficiency of the batteries, look at the automotive industry – there has been amazing development throughout the years.” He said the amount per kilo a battery takes out in terms of power improves month-by-month and “that will happen in this [marine] industry.” Two 50 m2 hybrid battery rooms house a 685 kWh battery pack each, with a charge/discharge of 1,750 kW each. Corvus Energy has supplied its next generation Orca lithium ion based Energy Storage System batteries.

A unified solution

A Rolls-Royce system underpins the technology. This consists of: • power electric system. • enhanced management system. • unified bridge solution. • deck machinery. • tunnel thrusters with PM motors. • stabilisers. • large battery power installation. • azipull propulsion with PM motors. • Bergen B33:45 engines. This is the first time Rolls-Royce’s Bergen B33:45 engines have been

Daniel Skjeldam (Hurtigruten): The new vessels will “change the face of cruising” (credit: Hurtigruten/Oclin)

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ROALD AMUNDSEN SHIP SPECIFICATION Shipyard

MAIN SUPPLIERS Kleven

Battery management system

Rolls-Royce

Class

DNV GL

Unified bridge solution

Rolls-Royce

Flag

Norway

Deck machinery

Rolls-Royce

Tunnel thrusters with PM motors

Rolls-Royce

Stabilisers

Rolls-Royce

Large battery power installation

Rolls-Royce

Azipull propulsion with PM motors

Rolls-Royce

Bergen B33:45 engines

Rolls-Royce

Length Tonnage Maximum people on board

140 m 20,889 gt 681

used in a cruise vessel. Combined with battery power, these will lead to fuel savings of approximately 20%. The batteries will be charged from the generators and used for peak shaving. Rolls-Royce senior vice president of ship design and systems Knut Eilert Rosvik told Passenger Ship Technology “The batteries will be used to smooth and optimise the operation of the engines to allow them to work in optimal conditions all the time. Normally gensets respond to spikes in power consumption, but this will be smoothed out by the batteries.” Each Bergen engine has an output of 3,600 kW; each ship has propulsion power of 3,000 W with a service speed of 15 knots. Rolls-Royce created a bespoke configuration for the Hurtigruten ships. Explaining the solution of using azimuth thrusters with PM motors, Mr Rosvik told Passenger Ship Technology “Our normal configuration has losses in the gears – by redesigning that by removing the top gear and installing an electric motor on top, we have more efficient thrusters.” He said that the had company developed a permanent magnetic (PM) electric motor because there is much less loss in an electric motor compared to a conventional electric motor. “One of the great advantages is that you will see the same efficiencies across the full speed range of motor. On a standard electric motor you will have an optimal speed point that is quite ok in efficiency. But when running at low load you

Batteries

Interior designer

Interior turnkey supplier Glass bonding

Corvus Energy Tillberg Design of Sweden Norwegian Marine Interior Brombach + Gess

will see more losses than with a PM motor, whereby there is the same high efficiency all across the speed range (98% efficiency). There is much less loss.” The tunnel thrusters are also based on the latest PM technology. PM tunnel thrusters reduce noise and vibration, in particular within the stern of the vessel, close to accommodation. Mr Rosvik said “When you reduce noise at source it saves the yard costs as there is no need to install noise dampening solutions.” Rolls-Royce also provided the power management system to aid crew in optimising energy savings. Mr Rosvik said “It is not easy for crew to use optimum ways to manage the vessel, but this system shows at all times how much fuel is being used. It is easy to compare vessel by vessel (in the fleet) through the system’s graphic user interface.” This also boosts fuel reduction by up to 30%. The user interface can be accessed on an iPad

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

10 | CRUISE DESCRIPTION Hurtigruten

and used by crew both on board and on shore. Rolls-Royce has also created a unified bridge for Hurtigruten’s new vessels. Mr Rosvik explained “There are a lot of different interfaces on a normal bridge. There are different screens from different suppliers. Our bridge uses one common and easy interface for everything on the bridge. It does not matter who the supplier is. All different systems use the same interface. It removes a lot of the buttons used before so is much easier and removes clutter.” Elsewhere, the hull was an important part of the ship, both in terms of reducing fuel consumption, but also in terms of the vessel's design. Mr Rosvik told delegates “Before we won the contract, we thought about what we would do to really wow Hurtigruten to get them on board. “Therefore, we called Espen Oeino, a yacht designer in Monaco and asked him to style the vessel to wow the customer and he really pushed us to use the bow design, which we were not brave enough to use before. I think it is a great design, with the observation deck and the way the vessel is branded – it is new looking but still the brand of Hurtigruten.” Rolls-Royce designed the shape of the hull to be wave piercing, allowing it to reduce resistance and cut fuel

The wave-piercing hull is designed to reduce slamming (credit: Hurtigruten/Oclin) consumption. “The most important thing on this type of vessel is to reduce slamming. It pierces through the waves rather than slamming.” Elsewhere, the vessel is Ice-class PC-6. Mr Engebretsen said “It is a very robust ship at Ice-class PC-6, the lower part of the hull has 22 mm steel thickness, so it can really go into tough conditions.” Kleven yard chief executive Olav Nakken highlighted the importance of the Hurtigruten newbuilds to the yard and said the yard had previously mainly focused on offshore vessels. But this changed after the collapse in the offshore vessel market, and it switched its focus to passenger vessels. A modularised building method is used, which he said reduced building time and risk. “We construct the steel in fairly large blocks in the steel shop and at other sources, such as in eastern Europe. The key thing is to do as much early outfitting as possible.” The yard invested in its first modern robot in 2009. Mr Nakken commented “Robot welding is typically 10 times faster than manual welding.”

“It is very well suited for thin plates such as those of passenger vessels." He added tht “there are fewer deflections as it is putting in less heat than with manual welding.” He said of the Hurtigruten vessels “By building two passenger vessels we are learning things every day and getting more competitive and efficient.”

Tallest LED screens at sea

Hurtigruten claims that its new ships will feature the tallest LED screens at sea, which will broadcast live lectures and transmissions from outside the ship. Spanning seven decks and 17.5 m, the screen will be located in Roald Amundsen’s atrium. Facing three all-glass elevators, it will provide a resolution of beyond 4K ultra-HD. It is manufactured by Expromo. Featured content will include: • Bespoke backdrops from landscapes. •Live coverage from outside the ship. • 360º ultra-high resolution panoramic images from the mast. • Live lectures and presentations from various onboard venues. PST

Hurtigruten plans for LBG retrofits and beyond Hurtigruten is the first cruise ship company to opt to use liquefied biogas (LBG). This will be added to the power mix of its six Norwegian coast vessels it is converting to LNG and battery power and now LBG as well. Mr Engebretsen told Passenger Ship Technology “We will blend the LNG with LBG, and the LBG will make up 10-15% of the mix with the LNG.” LBG has major environmental benefits as it takes energy from totally natural sources, including dead fish, agriculture and forestry. This percentage is expected to rise as LBG becomes more available and the price comes down. Mr Engebretsen said “At the moment there are very limited volumes. When volumes increase, and more producers come to market. That will make it more attractive to us as the price will come down.” He said that LBG is “CO2 neutral” as it is developed from the waste from natural

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

sources such as dead fish. “There is a lot of waste from the fish farming industry in Norway. It is completely neutral and is used on LNG engines. LNG suppliers can also supply biogas. There are a limited number of biogas producers, and the price is high.” He singled out what had happened with the increase in battery use within shipping, a trend that LBG could follow. Mr Skjeldam pointed out that LBG would cut the emissions from LNG used by 60%. The climate-neutral fuel will be deployed on the first of Hurtigruten’s ships in Q4 next year. He explained the LBG could only be used on Hurtigruten’s Norwegian coastal fleet of ships because refuelling for LNG/LBG was not yet available for Hurtigruten’s expedition cruise ships. “They are building the infrastructure on the Norwegian coast and building up the biogas availability – it needs a large taker like us to build the industry and we are collaborating to build it.”

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Holland America Line CRUISE SHIP DESCRIPTION | 13

How Nieuw Statendam topped the EEDI The hull of the Pinnacle-class vessels has been extended to reduce resistance (credit: Fincantieri)

Holland America Line’s new cruise ship has an emphasis on energy efficiency. Its builder Fincantieri describes the features that enabled it to surpass EEDI requirements

MAIN SPECIFICATION Gross tonnage

86,273 gt

Length overall

285.3 m

Beam moulded

32.3 m

Design draught

7.9 m

Service speed Classification society

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21.8 knots Lloyd’s Register

olland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam has been delivered – and has achieved 30% more energy efficiency than required by the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), its builder Fincantieri told Passenger Ship Technology. Nieuw Statendam is the sister ship of Koningsdam, which was delivered in March 2016. The 99,902-tonne vessel accommodates 2,666 guests in 1,339 cabins, with about 70% featuring private balconies. Fincantieri project manager Guido Cucciniello said “Like its sister ship [Koningsdam], the technical design paid attention to efficiency and energy saving.” He emphasised that energy efficiency was “absolutely a driver in the design”, with the EEDI of 10,21 (G-CO2/ grt MILE) achieving about 30% below the minimum required by the regulation. Energy efficiency features include using air conditioning fan coils in public spaces and cabins. In addition, Mr Cucciniello said “The extensive

use of variable frequency drivers in significant users such as HVAC chillers optimises energy consumption based on the real-time demand of users.” Both Nieuw Statendam and Koningsdam represent Holland America Line’s move from centralised air conditioning to fan coil units. The cruise operator explained that about 20% to 25% of the air is now treated in the spaces themselves, such as the public rooms, rather than circulating it back to the air conditioning station. This not only boosts efficiency but also produces more comfort for passengers. Energy has also been saved when it comes to galley equipment. For example, more ceramic hot plates are being used than those with a traditional heating element. Air conditioning on board is granted by two 4,600 kW and three 5,050 kW JCI HVAC compressors. Two chiller units have a 4,600 kW cooling capacity and three have 5,050 kW. Other environmentally friendly

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

CR UI SE S H IP R E PA IR I N PO R T L A N D , O R , U S A

DRYDOCK SPECIFICATIONS LENGTH: 293m (960 ft) WIDTH: 57m (186 ft) CAPACITY: 81,000 MT (80,000 LT)

VIGOR.NET MARINESALES@VIGOR.NET

Holland America Line CRUISE SHIP DESCRIPTION | 15

features include adopting black and grey water treatment equipment in compliance with the more stringent Special Area regulation of MEPC 227(64). Depending on how the plant is configured, black and grey water can be treated or, when in an area of strict regulation such as the Baltic Sea, just grey water, leaving the black water to be discharged shoreside. The black water treatment system was provided by Wärtsilä Water Systems. Holland America Line developed a reverse osmosis plant in co-operation with Case Marine & Industrial in the US. There are two on board with a capacity of 500 m3 per hour. Mr Cucciniello singled out another energy saving feature. “There is an intelligent heat recovery system for the engines’ LT water heat, which regulates automatically the flow of the circulating VDF pumps based on the needs of users.” Furthermore, the energy efficiency of the external glazing and windows has been improved with a U value not exceeding 1.1W/m²K. The propulsion and engine configuration consist of electric generation by four DD-GG MAK 12V43C engines at 12,600 kW/514 rpm each. Open loop exhaust gas cleaning systems have been installed on two of the four engines. Propulsion is provided by two ABB Azipods at 14,000 kW each. Speaking about the propulsion considerations, Mr Cucciniello said “One of the challenges was to obtain the best speed performances in two different conditions at 50% and 100% of the installed power.” The ship has a maximum speed of

MAIN EQUIPMENT Main diesel engines Electrical propulsion motors (POD) Total installed electric power Paint Deck machinery Thrusters Fin stabilisers Davits Lifeboats Liferafts

Mak 4 x 12,000 + 2 x 8,000 kW ABB 2 x 17,600 kW 64,000 kW Akzo Nobel BLM Wärtsilä Fincantieri Navalimpianti Hateke Viking LifeSaving Equipment

Windows

Het Anker

Elevators

Schindler

Ballast water treatment

Headway

Bilge water centrifugal separator

Alfa Laval

Reverse osmosis Evaporator Hi fog

Case Marine Wärtsilä Serk Como Marioff

Plate heat exchangers

Alfa Laval

Black water treatment

Wärtsilä Water Systems

Vacuum system Incinerators Silencers

Evac Deerburg CTM

Electrical plant

Schneider

Cabin fan coils

Rhoss

Chillers

JCI

While aesthetics are very important, particularly in newbuilds where you set the parameters for a platform that should endure for 30 years, a wrong decision on the back of house operations or crew logistics must be avoided at all costs” Mattias Eineborg (Holland America Group)

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22.2 knots giving a service speed of 18 knots. Much attention has been paid to the latter. For Koningsdam, a second reference point of 18 knots was added when it came to optimising the hullform. The hull of the Pinnacle-class vessels has been extended to improve efficiency. The extra length improves glide in the water and so reduces resistance. The bulbous bow design was optimised based on the service speed. LED lighting has been used in both technical and public spaces, and an LED wall screen of about 300 m2 has been installed in the main lounge. Holland America Line has opted for a ballast water system from Headway Technology Co, also used on Koningsdam. In terms of life saving equipment, 14 lifeboats (each with capacity for 150 people) and six tenders (capacity 150 people each) are deployed. Hateke provided the lifeboats and Navalimpianti the davits. There are also two life/rescue boats and 62 liferafts which hold 35 people each. Viking Life-Saving Equipment provided the liferafts. The infrastructure and IT systems on board have been designed and integrated by Lufthansa Systems. These carry all the phone, TV, video conferencing, wireless and interactive TV services and the wifi coverage. The ship features a number of changes compared to Koningsdam. Mr Cucciniello said there had been a “classic improvement from the reference ship to solve issues”. The following main modifications have also been applied: • Changing the exhaust gas boiler from forced to natural circulation. • Adding a high-pressure window washing system. • Installing a single dedicated fuel oil booster for each diesel generator. • Adding eight passenger cabins (five window cabins and three internal). • Adding a jacuzzi in a passenger exclusive cabana area on deck 12. • Increasing the capacity of the restaurant, dining room and Lido. • Reviewing the design of the Tamarind

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

16 | CRUISE SHIP DESCRIPTION Holland America Line

restaurant by relocating Nami Sushi and the Tamarind bar and creating an exclusive restaurant on the deck. • Redesigning the external stairs leading from the aft pool area to the Tamarind restaurant. • Changing the decorative stair from the Rolling Stone Rock Room to the Casino area. • Increasing the capacity of the main lounge stage and extending the LED wall surface. Mr Cucciniello added “There has been a complete review of the observation lounge on deck 12 from a traditional bar lounge to an ‘Explorations Central’. This is an immersive onboard programme designed to make the passenger journey more engaging, vivid and meaningful by presenting the cruise destinations in an interactive way and showing the passengers navigation information.” While much of the ship’s interior design will be similar to Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam will have exclusive public spaces and its own style created by leading hospitality designer Adam D Tihany and designer and architect Bjørn Storbraaten. The ship will feature “grand, light-filled spaces, visual drama and sumptuous interiors inspired by the fluid curves of musical instruments”. Onboard entertainment features the innovative Music Walk offering a variety of authentic live musical experiences and genres. These include the debut of the new Rolling Stone Rock Room with classic rock hits; Lincoln Center Stage, with chamber music; Billboard Onboard, with chart-topping hits; and the BB King’s Blues Club, bringing the best of Memphis music to sea. With the 270° LED projection at World Stage and expanded seating on Nieuw Statendam, more guests will enjoy performances with panoramic visuals and sound effects. Creating an identifiable brand while ensuring a cruise ship has its own unique characteristics was a major focus for Holland America Line when designing its latest Pinnacleclass vessels. Holland America Group director of

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

newbuilding services and fleet operations Mattias Eineborg told Passenger Ship Technology “Our latest Pinnacle-class vessels share a similar platform designed to cater to current guest demographics. We seek to imbue each vessel with its own unique character while...being readily identifiable as Holland America Line Pinnacle-class.” One feature that makes the ships identifiable as Pinnacle-class is a three-deck-high central atrium with a stainless-steel sculpture that is meant to evoke the feeling of a classical quartet, with strings, arches and bows, and a ceiling skylight that serves as a backdrop for changing high-definition projections. On Nieuw Statendam, the dining room spans two floors and is framed by views of the sea. The centrepiece is a curved copper sheath surrounding a two-storey wine tower. Mr Eineborg emphasised that functionality of design was crucial. “While aesthetics are very important, particularly in newbuilds where you set the parameters for a platform that should endure for 30 years, a

wrong decision on the back of house operations or crew logistics must be avoided at all costs." He said that while the vessels are refurbished every three to five years and that the aesthetics can be refreshed, the main structure is in place for the duration of the platform. An important consideration was passenger flow and logistics. Mr Eineborg said “The movement of guests [flow] is paramount – a vessel is in reality a dense urban environment but we want the guests to experience it as their own private oasis when they want to retreat.It is very much about creating an environment where guests are free to personalise the experience on their own schedule.” Explaining the challenges when it came to creating interiors for the newbuilds, he said “The chief challenges unique to marine hospitality are the international codes and classification societies.Something that would be quite simple on land can be quite challenging to implement on a ship due to, for example, fire regulations or inherent restrictions on the type of materials permitted.” PST

A focus was to obtain optimal speed performances at 50% and 100% of the installed power of Nieuw Statendam (credit: Fincantieri)

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ur re yo u c e S -bird early t a d arch stan 31 M l i t n u rsrates terio it n i e n ib i mar om/exh .c expo

FERRY DESCRIPTION | 19

LNG and battery ferries make strides in London and the Med Two landmark ferry projects have recently come to fruition – Transport for London’s battery hybrid ferries and the first ferry to operate on LNG in the Mediterranean. LMG Marin opens up on the innovations behind the design of these ferries

ransport for London (TfL) has replaced its River Thames Woolwich Ferry with two battery diesel hybrid ferries due to go into operation this year. Naval architect LMG Marin joined forces with Remontowa shipyard to make a joint offer, which won the open tender. It was a significant project for LMG Marin because, while the company has designed battery retrofit vessels, this is its first newbuild battery design. Explaining the details behind the battery hybrid solution for the two new vessels, Ben Woollacott and Dame Vera Lynn, LMG Marin managing director Torbjørn Bringedal said “TfL knew what it was going for, and it is a very specific route, a very short crossing over the River Thames.” He said that this aspect lay behind the physical shape and interfaces of the ferries. “This battery diesel hybrid solution is intended to make the life of the diesel engine perfect,” said Mr Bringedal. Diesel engines, which use low sulphur fuel, run on a constant low load with

the batteries taking dynamic loads in peak shaving. “The diesel engines are producing constant power, so the batteries are covering power needed beyond this, such as when the thrusters need to change load. All these peaks are taken by the batteries, so the diesel engines are not affected.”

Battery boost for river crossing

The advantage of using batteries for peak shaving on the ferries is that they allow the diesel engines to have the best efficiency possible, with the lowest specific fuel consumption. Mr Bringedal added “Batteries are suited to a short river crossing as this is such a short connection. The ferries are basically manoeuvring all the time – there is no transit period, so it is a tough life for a diesel engine if you have a direct mechanical or traditional diesel-electric solution. Here they are protected by the battery system, so I believe this is an excellent solution.” The batteries also allow the best possible conditions for the exhaust to be

Transport for London’s new ferries’ engines will run at a constant low load with batteries taking dynamic loads in peak shaving (credit: Remontowa)

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Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

FERRY DESCRIPTION | 21

cleaned. “There is hefty exhaust cleaning on this design,” said Mr Bringedal. The diesel engines are equipped with a catalyser and with particle filters on the exhaust. The catalyser takes NOx emissions away and the particle filters take away visual smoke or substances that end up as smoke. The batteries are charged by the generators. Explaining how the design brief was met, Mr Bringedal said “To make the batteries and diesel engines run smoothly, we undertook route studies and looked at the operational profile of the vessels. The next step was the safety issue, we took a specific risk analysis approach to make sure the batteries were safely installed and safe to operate. Batteries are still new technology for marine use and class wanted a risk-based design process.” The new boats meet London's Low Emission Zone standards because of their diesel-electric hybrid propulsion systems. The equipment package per vessel consists of battery packages provided by Corvus, two diesel generators by Cummins and four thrusters provided by Hydromaster. Norwegian Electric Systems provided the two hybrid electric systems for the new ferries. The Norwegian Electric Systems' package consists of ultra-light converters forming a DC-grid system with four battery packages, two on each side of the DC-bus for redundancy.

also enhance safety – the magnetic technology makes the vessels more stable toboard and alight. An auto mooring solution is a relatively new application on a ferry and, said Mr Bringedal, is usually used in harbours for bigger ocean-going cargo ships. Remontowa director of commerce Michal Jaguszewski said that the majority of challenges with regards to the auto mooring were related to the shoreside part of the system. He said "It is located on pontoons fixed on pillars, which allows the auto mooring pads to "follow the tide" and always attach to the vessel side where they should.” Since the pads are of electromagnetic type, he said that special attention during design was given to ensuring that the generated magnetic field would not influence the batteries in any way.

Automatic mooring

Mr Jaguszewski said that the auto mooring control system is part of an integrated solution which, after signalling that the ferry is in position, automatically attaches the pads, turns off the thrusters, lowers the linkspans and raises car and passenger barriers. An important factor for the ferries is strong manoeuvring ability and high thruster redundancy. Mr Bringedal said there was a focus on having the “smoothest line for the best possible transit conditions with the lowest possible resistance”. He added “The shape of the hull is more like a barge where four thrusters are installed, so the focus is on very high manoeuvrability.”

Another striking feature about the ferries is that they are using an automatic mooring system by Mampaey, which will also save a lot of energy. This consists of a magnetic solution where a large magnet is clamped on to the side of the ferry. Mr Bringedal said “Normally ships use thrusters to push towards the linkspan to make sure they stay in port, but now they will be kept in by automatic mooring which saves a lot of energy, especially when using this type of connection where the crossings are done so frequently.” The automatic mooring system will

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THIS BATTERY DIESEL HYBRID SOLUTION IS INTENDED TO MAKE THE LIFE OF THE DIESEL ENGINE PERFECT” Torbjørn Bringedal (LMG Marin)

BEN WOOLLACOTT AND DAME VERA LYNN Passenger capacity

150

Vehicle capacity Batteries Diesel generators Thrusters Hybrid electric system Automatic mooring system

45 Corvus Energy Cummins Hydromaster Norwegian Electric Systems Mampaey

Mr Jaguszewski said that the four thrusters of each vessel are powered by vertically mounted permanent magnet electric motors that are significantly smaller and lighter than conventional induction motors. He added that they guarantee significantly higher efficiency, especially at low loads. “Both the electric motors and generators are equipped with double windings which increases the overall redundancy in the system.”

First Mediterranean LNG ferry

The first LNG-powered ferry on the Mediterranean has been delivered – Italian ferry operator Caronte & Tourist has taken delivery of a 133-m long double-ended ferry from Sefine shipyard. The 8,055-gt ferry, named Elio, has capacity for 290 cars on two vehicle decks and 1,500 passengers. The propulsion is based on a gas-electric system using three dual-fuel engines. LMG Marin designed the ferry. Mr Bringedal said “Caronte & Tourist contacted us in 2013. They were planning a newbuild and have several older Norwegian ferries in operation. They asked us to create an initial design. We worked with them to come up with the optimal design and asked 13 shipyards to bid before Sefine was chosen.” He said that Turkey-based Sefine was selected due to a combination of price and experience. “Sefine Shipyard has already delivered Norwegian

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

22 | FERRY DESCRIPTION

ferries so has a track record and there is no doubt that Turkish shipyards are very price competitive compared to European yards.” Mr Bringedal said the ferry was the largest double-ender that LMG Marin had ever designed. While it is a dual-fuel LNG ferry, the original shipbuilding contract was for it to be a diesel-powered vessel with the option to install all LNG-related equipment. But once construction started it was decided to build a fully-operational LNG dual-fuelled ferry. It uses three main Wärtsilä 6L34DF engines of 3,000 kW each and two Rolls-Royce Azipull 100 CP thrusters of 2,500 kW each, which will allow a top speed of more than 18 knots. MAN Cryo has delivered the LNG supply system, which consists of a 150-m3 vacuum-insulated storage C-type tank with auxiliary equipment including an LNG vaporiser, pressure build-up unit, bunker station and heat exchanger. There is an engineroom at each end of the ferry and a central LNG tank. A gas-electric solution is used, with thrusters at each end of the ferry. Sefine business development manager Selçuk Bakanoðlu explained the challenges and considerations for Sefine when it came to the LNG dual-fuel system. “There was a lot of piping work and safety requirements, and these all affected the building process. Production and mounting of pipes, valves and all equipment

ELIO Length Capacity Gross tonnage Engines Thrusters LNG supply system Water jets

133 m 1,500 passengers and 290 cars 8,055 gt Wärtsilä 6L34DF Rolls-Royce Azipull 100 CP thrusters MAN Cryo Veth Compact

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

Elio’s hull form gives a highly efficient ratio for fuel consumption (credit: Sefine Shipyard)

belonging to the LNG system needed careful work and supervision… With the qualified engineering and management team of Sefine Shipyard and our suppliers’ site team we took care of all these processes.” Mr Bakanoðlu pointed out that other energy saving solution included the hull form, which gives a highly efficient ratio for fuel consumption, and the air conditioning system which uses waste heat.

Manouevring key requirement

A major consideration for the ferry is not just using LNG, but also operational flexibility. This ship will primarily operate in the Strait of Messina, linking Sicily to the Italian mainland. Mr Bakanoðlu said that two 400-kW powered Veth Compact Jets CJ-1000Vs “give a high performance against the strong currents of the Messina Strait and a high ability for manoeuvring”. Mr Bringedal added “The strait is almost like a river with a very strong side current, so the owner was nervous about the thruster capability and redundancy of the ship, especially when manoeuvring, so we made sure the main thrusters were free pulling in 360° – so not only very efficient in transit but also in manoeuvring, combined with no skeg to drag the vessel sideways.” A redundant manoeuvring system was installed consisting of a stand-by thruster solution that does not produce

extra drag. Mr Bringedal explained “We did not use normal tunnel thrusters as they require skegs to be mounted. Instead we installed pump jets in the bottom of the hull without skegs, with one at each end of the ferry. These act as redundancy and are quite a unique solution. They are usually used on river vessels that cannot be too deep. They are not extremely efficient, which is why tunnel thrusters are usually used in ocean-going vessels. “But we calculated that we were getting about same amount of drag on a skeg as that which was being produced by the tunnel thruster, so there was zero gain in using a tunnel thruster.” He said the vessel could experience up to six knots of side current in extreme cases, whereby a large current could grab onto the hull and drift it. Speaking about the redundancy of the vessel, Mr Bakanoðlu said Elio can use the propulsion systems individually. “During a voyage, the captain can use one or both forms of the propulsion, including the Veth Compact Jets.” To be able to provide this ability, the vessel has been equipped with two main switchboards. The vessel has been built to class B, the highest class possible except for international voyages, as the ferry will travel to remote islands. “This is why part of the upper car deck on one end is enclosed, to comply with stricter rules for bow height and stability,” said Mr Bringedal. PST

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24 | FAST FERRY DESCRIPTION

Comfort, capacity and reliability key requirements for Virtu Ferries’ newbuild Virtu Ferries’ Saint John Paul II - the largest catamaran in the Mediterranean - is launched at Incat shipyard (credit: Steve Logan)

The largest high-speed catamaran in the Mediterranean has been delivered

GENERAL PARTICULARS Designer Builder

Revolution Design Incat Tasmania

Class society

DNV GL

Length overall

110.6 m

Length waterline

101.9 m

Beam moulded

28.2 m

Beam of hulls Draft Speed

5.4 m 4.277 (+/-0.2m) 37.5 knots at 85% MCR, 600 dwt

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

irtu Ferries’ 110-m, wave piercing catamaran Saint John Paul II was built by shipbuilder Incat in Hobart, Australia. With a service speed of up to 38 knots it will complete the crossing from Malta to Sicily, in around 90 minutes. For Virtu Ferries, this new vessel provides a significant increase in capacity, with 490 truck lane metres offering 43% more truck capacity, 15% more passenger capacity and 7% more car capacity than its previous craft. Incat Tasmania chairman Robert Clifford said “Virtu Ferries was looking for increased reliability, sea keeping, passenger comfort, capacity and economy with less operational downtime.” Highlighting one of the most important aspects in the construction, he said “We made it as lightweight as possible. We did this by trying to buy the lightest components that we could.” The contract is an important one for Incat. “It is a very interesting contract

for us as we have known Virtu Ferries for many years but have not worked with them before.” Saint John Paul II is the first in its class and is replacing a ship built by Austal. The design was modelled by Revolution Design and Seaspeed Marine Consulting and extensively tank-tested and optimised at QinetiQ, the tank and aerospace testing facility in the UK which was purpose built for use by the British Navy and UK Ministry of Defence. Mr Clifford explained that the shipyard designed the vessel, but incorporated Seaspeed Consulting’s ideas into the design. He gave an example: “We designed with [Seaspeed's] input a higher tunnel clearance, making it more efficient compared to our normal fleet.” The design consists of two slender, aluminium hulls connected by a bridging section with a centre bow structure at the forward end. Each hull is divided into 10 vented, watertight compartments

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FAST FERRY DESCRIPTION | 25

divided by transverse bulkheads. Two compartments in each hull are prepared as fuel tanks with additional strengthening on each of the end bulkheads and intermediate tank tops. The main engines are four mounted MTU 58000M71L models, combined with four Wärtsilä LJX 1500SR waterjets configured for steering and reverse. Transmission consists of four ZF60000 gearboxes, approved by the engine manufacturer, with a reduction ratio suited for optimum jet shaft speed. There are five hydraulic power packs, one forward, four aft. Mr Clifford said “We always use waterjets for efficiency. Propellers cease to be efficient at 30 knots so any vessel running at 35-40 knots is almost always fitted with waterjets – the question is which ones.” He observed that there are three similar types for this size of catamaran. “We did some calculations and concluded that Wärtsilä was best for this vessel.” Speaking about the engine choice, he said “MTU engines are very energy efficient. They were the customer’s choice.” On the electrical side, there are four x 300 ekW MTU 8V2000M51A generators. The generators are arranged for automatic start up and paralleling. The automation will consider one generator maintained as a standby set. A Naiad active ride control system is fitted to maximise passenger comfort. This system combines active trim tabs aft and two hull mounted T-foils. Mr Clifford said “These T-foils are larger than those we would normally fit. The client was particularly interested in

WE MAKE IT AS LIGHT WEIGHT AS POSSIBLE - THE CHALLENGE IS TO CONTROL THE WEIGHT. WE DO THIS BY BUYING THE LIGHTEST COMPONENTS THAT WE CAN” Robert Clifford (Incat)

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making the boat very comfortable in rough sea [which is what these do].” Their size meant there was no room for them to be fitted on the dock and so they had to be fitted once the boat was launched into water. The air conditioning consists of a water cooled air conditioning plant and reverse cycle heat pump units capable of maintaining between 20-22°C and 50% relative humidity (RH) with a full passenger load and ambient temperature of between 12°C and 32°C and 80 % RH. Mr Clifford commented that the system was very energy efficient but singled out a challenge. “It was more complex to fit as it was a lot heavier [than Incat would normally use in a high-speed craft].” The evacuation system consists of four marine evacuation systems (MES), two port and two starboard. Each MES is capable of serving up to 300 people. Eleven 100-person liferafts are fitted. There are also two SOLAS inflatable dinghies with 25 hp motors and approved launch/recovery method. The ferry has been built under DNV GL class rules and complies with IMO High Speed Craft HSC 2000, the Malta flag statutory requirements and Italian port state requirements. PST

ABOVE: Two aluminium hulls are connected by a bridging section with centre bow structure at forward end (credit: Walter Pless)

CAPACITIES Deadweight Passenger capacity Seats

1,000 tonnes 924 people (including crew) 1,120

Crew accommodation

Sleeping cabins for 24 crew members

Tankage MGO fuel oil (storage tanks)

492,000 litres

Fuel oil (header tanks)

2 x 5,000 litres

Fuel oil (separator tanks)

2 x 5,000 litres

Fresh water

2 x 6,500 litres

Sewage

6,500 litres

Lube oil

2 x 1,100 litres

Oily bilge water

2,000 litres

Aft hydraulic oil

2 x 500 litres

Forward hydraulic oil

500 litres

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

26 | FLEET STATISTICS

Fast ferries: boom times are here to stay The fast ferry has enjoyed a strong comeback, with a sustained period of stability expected. PST explores the reasons why

fter an active start in the 1990s, fast ferry newbuild construction slowed down. But recently the sector has enjoyed a surge in new orders. In the words of Incat chief executive Robert Clifford “These are fast ferry business boom times.” The global fast ferry orderbook shows there are 70 of these vessels under construction. US shipyards dominate the orderbook, with 28 orders being built in these yards, which include Horizon Shipbuilding, Metal Shark Aluminium and All American Marine. Australian yards are also prominent, with 14 orders spread across Aulong Shipbuilding, Richardson Devine, Austal and Incat Tasmania. Other players include Norway’s Brodrene Aa, while Asia is represented with Austal Philippines and PT Cahaya Samudra. Not only does Mr Clifford believe these are boom time, but he said “I don’t believe that it is boom and bust, I believe there is a sustained period of stability for fast ferry building, with repeat customers who want bigger and better boats.” He explained “The economics of fast ferries are much better than 10-15 years ago and conventional ferries are in many ways getting the worst of it – they have to fit scrubbers or run on low sulphur fuel (LSO).” He said the contrast with the fast ferry market is that these ferries have always had to run on LSO because HFO requires much bigger engines which is not possible on fast ferries,

Wight Shipyard Co’s delivery to Twin City Liner is significant as it is its first international fast ferry order

which are trying to save weight. “This is normal for us but not normal for conventional ships. When fuel costs go up for conventional ferries for LSO post-2020, fast ferries will be so much more competitive.”

LNG the ‘way forward’

Mr Clifford believes LSO is not the only option for fast ferries. “LNG is here for the long term – it might not be the end of the story, but it will be around for a long time.” He said that while the weight of the gas tanks that are needed might be challenging for fast ferries, “we can live with the tanks”. And he added “The technology of the tanks is improving, they are lighter today than they were and we look for further improvement”. For Mr Clifford, LNG is the way forward for fast ferries. “LNG will be the normal fuel for the next 10 years.” Incat has entered into a design contract with Argentine ferry operator Buquebus for a dual-fuel LNG high-speed ferry. This follows in the footsteps of Francisco, the LNG-dualfuelled ferry launched in 2013, which Incat also built. The main difference in the proposed design of the potential new ferry and Francisco is that the latter was powered by a gas turbine, but Incat is suggesting the former be powered by reciprocating engines. Mr Clifford explained “It will be simpler than using gas turbines as these are very complex engines and the delivery of gas is difficult.” The other way the proposed newbuild stands out is that it is much bigger than Francisco, at 3,000 m2 rather than 1,000 m, and with a length of 130 m compared to 99 m. Other interesting themes within the fast ferry sector include the growing use of trimaran fast ferry design. Austal shipyard scooped a contract to build two trimaran ferries for Fred Olsen SA in 2017. The €126M (US$152M) contract represents Fred

FLEET STATISTICS | 27

Olsen SA’s largest-ever ferry order. It comes on the back of the 2005 launch of Benchijigua Express, a 127 m stabilised monohull (trimaran) vessel that Austal built for Fred Olsen SA. Austal explained that unlike catamarans and coventional monohulls, the trimaran gives the designer the ability to fine tune or adjust the roll characteristic of the hull form. This adjustment is achieved by increasing or decreasing the volume of the amahs (side hulls). More volume in the amahs will give the trimaran a stiffer or faster roll characteristic closer to a catamaran, less volume a softer roll characteristic similar to a monohull. Technical developments can be seen as Austal has developed a new generation ride control system consisting of a bow-mounted T-foil. This helps reduce pitching motions and roll control foils mounted on the amahs (outer hulls). Roll control is also helped by using two large flaps located on the centre hull just forward of the waterjets. Austal has conducted an R&D programme to improve the control system since the earlier generation trimarans. This work, along with advances in the vessel's hull design, will offer passengers an improved level of comfort compared to earlier trimarans.

Enter new yards

The number of shipyards that build fast ferries is relatively compact – but a recent one has been added to the mix. Wight Shipyard Co in the Isle of Wight, UK has quickly made a name for itself since it built Red Funnel’s Red Jet 6 in 2015 – reintroducing fast ferry construction to the UK, as it was the first high-speed ferry to be built there in 15 years. Since then Wight Shipyard has had a range of orders, including Red Jet 7, catamarans for MBNA Thames Clippers and fast ferries for Mexico’s Ultramar and Austria’s Twin City Liners. Ultramar’s ferries are due for delivery in April and July this year. The two 37-m ferries will carry 180 passengers and travel at a speed of 20-25 knots. Wight Shipyard chief executive Peter Morton told PST “They are efficient and using the latest MTU engines that will run on quite a low mcr; there are limited facilities for ship repair in Cancun [where Ultramar is based], so they to tend to like low maintenance boats, and running at 60/65 mcr means they are quite fuel efficient.” He singled out that the yard had made a “big effort” to make the ferries lighter – and indeed they will be 20 or 30 tonnes lighter than current ships in the fleet. Mr Morton explained “We developed some building techniques that include a lot of glueing and riveting on nonstructural items, so we can use lighter panels on these.” The ferries represent a change for Ultramar – they had previously built their ferries in the US, but this time they chose the UK’s Wight Shipyard. Commenting on why he thought the yard scooped the contract, Mr Morton said it was a “combination that US yards are very busy because of the Jones Act and I think it is because we have developed a building technique that delivers boats much quicker.” Mr Morton said “Not many European yards build

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FAST FERRY GLOBAL NEWBUILD ORDERBOOK VESSELS 4 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 6 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 2 1

SHIPOWNER

BUILDER

Xidao Dazhou Tourism Blue Sea Jet Mols Linien World Heritage Cruises Virtu Ferries Naviera Armas SeaLink Travel Group Azam Marine Majestic Fast Ferry Wyker Dampfschiffs Guangzhou Panyu Lianhuashan Zhongshan Hong Kong Passenger Shipping Co-op Nordland Fylkeskommune Nordland Fylkeskommune Norled Norled Aremiti Pacific Cruises VS Ferries Brave Line ARJ Holdings Gazprom Naviera Nabia European Twin City Liner Kitsap Transit North Carolina State

Aulong Shipbuilding Aulong Shipbuilding Austal Ships Incat Tasmania Incat Tasmania Incat Tasmania Richardson Devine Richardson Devine PT Cahaya Samudra Talsma

WETA

1 1 11

Harbor Harvest Rhode Island Fast Ferry Hornblower New Orleans Regional Transit

2 3

Hornblower

Brodrene Aa Brodrene Aa Brodrene Aa GS Marine GS Marine Oma Austal Philippines Austal Philippines Austal Philippines Zelenodolsk Zvezda Shipyard Gondan Gondan Wight Shipyard All American Marine Armstrong Marine Dakota Creek Industries Derecktor Shipyards Gladding Hearn Horizon Shipbuilding Metal Shark Aluminium Boats Metal Shark Aluminium Boats

lightweight high-speed ferries and we are concentrating on fuel savings – that is our USP, that we are really pushing build techniques to cut weight.” Wight Shipyard Co also delivered its first export order for a 250-passenger river catamaran to Central Danube Region Marketing & Development’s Twin City Liner in February 2019. The new vessel is a low-wash round bilge catamaran designed by Incat Crowther. The Danube presents a challenging operating environment with currents of up to eight knots and water depths in the main navigation channel as low as 100 cm. The hull form is designed to cope with water conditions to be reasonably expected on the river, being able to resist floating timber and debris. As a restricted waterway it is imperative that wave wash is minimised. The vessel is powered by four Scania DI16 072M main engines, each producing 809 kW at 2300 rpm. PST

Data supplied by BRL Consultants

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

Introducing Saint John Paul II 11 0 m WAV E P I E R C I N G C ATA M A R A N F O R V I R T U F E R R I E S

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100 Derwent Park Road, Derwent Park, Hobart, Tasmania, 7009 Australia | P: +61 (0) 3 6271 1333 | E: incat@incat.com.au

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OPERATOR INTERVIEW | 29

Potential new vessels in Wightlink’s fleet are likely to be battery-hybrid, like its flagship Victoria of Wight (credit: Patrick Hughes)

Wightlink – why hybrid battery is future power choice

ightlink’s new ropax ferry Victoria of Wight runs on battery hybrid – and the UK ferry operator believes this power system is the way forward for its future fleet. Victoria of Wight – delivered in August 2018 and travelling between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight – is the first of the company’s fleet to be equipped with a battery hybrid system. Passenger Ship Technology Q4 2018 covered the newbuild in depth; in this article, Wightlink project director John Burrows unveils the fleet strategy of the operator. In Victoria of Wight, batteries provide a support service to the diesel generators and work as generators in harbour mode. The batteries are charged from the diesel generators. Four 1,100-kW engines have been provided by Wärtsilä.

Wightlink’s project director opens up on the company’s future fleet plans and why the company believes batteries are the way forward for new vessels

Hybrid versus fully electric

Explaining why the ferry operator decided against full-electric propulsion, Mr Burrows said that when the contract for the vessel was placed three years ago, “battery technology was racing on”, but was in no position to offer the company the option of full-electric

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BATTERY TECHNOLOGY HAS NOT MOVED ON QUITE ENOUGH TO GO ALL-ELECTRIC” John Burrows (Wightlink)

propulsion. “We needed diesel on board and Wärtsilä’s hybrid system suits our needs perfectly.” Sea trials showed Victoria of Wight could run on batteries alone for 50 minutes, although Mr Burrows said there were no plans to run the vessel solely on batteries. Indeed, he indicated that if the company were to order another new vessel, it would also be powered by battery dual-fuel. “Batteries have not moved on quite enough to go allelectric, and we also need the power available on shore. But Portsmouth does not have huge reserves of power and the amount we can pull from the shore is limited.” Still, Mr Burrows is not ruling out the all-electric option, noting that the technology is “improving very rapidly”. He expanded “We do our utmost to be a good neighbour and being in a lovely location [Portsmouth] brings responsibilities. If we ordered another vessel today, we would go with the same power train as we have now. Battery technology is improving very rapidly and there will come a time when there is the move to totally electric, but we are not there yet and so far, we are totally happy with the system. With the

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

30 | OPERATOR INTERVIEW

vessel running constantly we will have a clearer idea of fuel savings.” Wärtsilä representatives will spend five days on the ship to programme and set the hybrid system at the optimum level, so that the right power for the biggest savings and biggest reduction in emissions is drawn. Victoria of Wight will replace Wightlink’s St Cecilia vessel. Mr Burrows explained “At the moment we have more vessels than we need, so we have every opportunity to dispose of one vessel, and the likelihood is that it will be St Cecilia as this is our oldest vessel on the route. We will dispose of her in the not too distant future.” The company plans to sell St Cecilia, having sold two previous sister vessels. “So, there is a market for them,” said Mr Burrows. He explained that traditionally the company replaces its ferries at around 35 years old, therefore the next vessel to be replaced in 2026 will be St Faith. “You can’t just push the button and a new one [appears], it will probably be a three-year process, so probably in 2022 and 2023 we will be going out to the market to tender.” In terms of refits to the current fleet, each vessel undergoes routine maintenance at drydock, while St Clare underwent a refurbishment in the passenger areas, including passenger decks and toilets a few years ago. Shore works are also linked to the rolling programme of refurbishment, and St Clare had its upper car decks extended

Wightlink’s two-tier car loading system on shore makes loading and unloading vehicles quicker

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

by 5 m at either end as they were shorter than the main car deck of the ferry and could not link to the ferry operator’s upper tier of the new twotier car loading system on shore. This is unique as it enables the unloading and loading of cars via a two-car ramp instead of one. Mr Burrows said “The double-tier loading means we can use the top and bottom deck at the same time. The reason is speed of turnaround on a very tight timetable. We only have 15-20 minutes to unload and load cars. When we loaded St Clare off a single ramp, we struggled to keep it on time. The two tiers allow us to turn ships around much more rapidly.” The company has used Portsmouth BAE shipyard and facilities at Falmouth and Cherbourg to drydock over the last few years. Mr Burrows explained that the company tried not to go too far to drydock as the ferries are especially designed for the Solent waters and are not seagoing due to weather restrictions. If the company wants to go too far afield, it has to get a loadline exemption. “That is not very easy, as there are weather restrictions on the journey,” said Mr Burrows. This is especially the case if the drydocking is carried out in winter. While Wightlink is very pleased with the battery use on Victoria of Wight and sees this as the way forward for future vessels, it does not plan to retrofit hybrid battery systems

on to its current fleet. Mr Burrows explained “We would not retrofit because it would be an enormous project and involve huge structural changes, including changing all the cabling. Victoria of Wight has two battery rooms, and a huge amount of time and effort was taken in designing them.” This included fitting fixed fire-fighting and gas detection systems around the battery rooms, which would be “very difficult to retrofit for existing vessels and there would not be the right space”. Furthermore, such a retrofit would not be cost effective. PST

John Burrows (Wightlink)

John Burrows is project director for Wightlink's £45M (US$58M) investment in the hybrid energy flagship Victoria of Wight and for improvements at both Portsmouth and Fishbourne terminals. He has held senior positions at the ferry company since 2006. Following roles in the hospitality industry, Mr Burrows’ maritime career began in 1988 when he joined Sealink British Ferries. Over the next 18 years he worked for the parent company in Stranraer, Belfast, Liverpool and New York, and worked on projects in Qatar, Italy and Venezuela.

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YARD PROFILE | 33

Hijos de J Barreras is targeting the luxury and expedition cruise sectors on the back of its construction of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s ships (credit: Hijos de J Barreras)

Barreras: why it clinched the Ritz-Carlton contract The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection newbuilds mark Hijos de J Barreras’ entry into the cruise market. The shipyard explains why it won the contract and how it intends to use the project to win more cruise orders

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panish shipyard Hijos de J Barreras (Barreras) has entered the cruise ship market after winning the contract with The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection in 2017 to construct three luxury cruise ships. The first was launched in 2018, with the further two expected to be delivered in 2021. The newbuildings are innovative for a number of reasons: The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection is an extension of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co and these are its first vessels; it is also the first time a hotel brand has entered the cruise ship market. The cruise yachts – designed by The RitzCarlton Yacht Collection, Tillberg Design and Barreras – have an overall length of 190 m, a 23.8 m beam and will accommodate 544 people, including 298 passengers in 149 suites and 246 crew members. The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection chief executive Douglas Prothero explained why the company chose the shipyard at a press conference at Seatrade Cruise Global 2018. “We wanted a shipyard to give us a customised experience, a yard that had a lot of experience in great steelwork and had experience in highly technical ships.” He said the area in which the yard lacked experience was interior outfitting – but this was overcome by outsourcing the outfitting to the ‘best’ company in this field. Interior Proman, an Austrian company with expertise

in outfitting superyachts has been awarded a contract with the shipyard to outfit the vessels. Barreras shipyard project management office and sales director Alfonso Lopez Loureiro told Passenger Ship Technology “The cruise ship market is a natural evolution for the shipyard. We have a lot of experience with passenger ships – a lot of experience of building ferries and... this was the next step.” The company started building smaller boats including fishing vessels, and in the 1990s entered the ferry market. It learned from the evolution and complexity of these ships and used this as a springboard to enter the cruise and luxury passenger ship market. The cruise sector the company is most interested in is the luxury and expedition ship market. “The maximum length of vessel that we can build is 190 m, so we cannot build the big cruise ships, we need to build the smaller ships which are either luxury cruise ships or expedition ships,” explained Mr Lopez Loureiro. Highlighting the benefits the yard is providing to the cruise ship operator, he explained how the yard was more flexible than some of the larger yards competing for the bid. “We have flexibility in following their requests, if they want to change something, we don’t have a problem.” He added “The skills at the yard – the owners say the quality of steel is good and

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

34 | YARD PROFILE

the quality of outfittings – those are our strong points. We use the local auxiliary industry which has very skilled workers – I think that also convinced the shipowner.” He explained that the technical side of constructing cruise ships used “very similar skills” to building ferries. He added “While there are differences between ferry and cruise technically, for example, HVAC is much more complex in a cruise ship, it is clear that there are not too many differences. Wastewater treatment systems are also much more complex but the rest of the systems are not so different between ferries and cruise ships, and we collaborated with the owner to define those systems from the beginning.”

Plugging the gap

The main gap was the interiors side. “At different points, we met with the owner to solve this and plug that gap, and Interior Proman was brought in to the project to help us learn and manage the interiors. People from the shipyard and Interior Proman are working together on this. The interiors are very important, and we are paying a lot of attention to this aspect.” Indeed, three people from Interior Proman are based at the shipyard, working on the cruise ships. “The interiors are very important, as are the finishes, because the owner wants them to look like they belong to a yacht, where the quality is higher than in a cruise ship.” Five interior companies are working on the cruise ships in charge of different turnkey aspects. “Proman is helping us manage them,” Mr Lopez Loureiro explained. The shipyard is building on its experience of building cruise ships and hopes to win more contracts. “We would like to build more cruise ships, and we are improving the shipyard with this project. In terms of learning processes and management areas, we have improved a lot.” He gave an example. “The construction of the cruise ships has allowed us to develop tools to manage the project, and to learn how the interiors are co-ordinated with other works in this type of ship. We are improving our tools and procedures.” The cruise ships' construction is going to plan with the first vessel launched in

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

October 2018. Highlights of the ship include that the hull shape has been optimised to achieve the highest guest comfort levels possible, with low noise and vibration improving sea keeping capabilities and manoeuvrability. The cruise ship will sail at a service speed of 16 knots and a maximum speed of 17.8 knots. The diesel/electric propelling plant has been designed with four main generators with a capacity of 3,600 kW each and two propellers of 4,600 kW each. MAN engines are used alongside ABB for the Azipods. ABB’s solutions for the cruise ship will optimise energy efficiency and allow the vessel to be remotely monitored from shore. Two Azipod D propulsors will enable the ship to manoeuvre efficiently and effectively while the remote diagnostics service will empower a smarter approach to maintenance. The cruise yacht will run on marine diesel only. The classification society is DNV GL and the registry is Malta. Mr Lopez Loureiro said “The systems of the ship are designed to recover waste energy to be used as power elsewhere, for example the energy recovered from the HVAC can be used for other things.” Ferry construction is also an area the shipyard targets, and it has a strong background in this area. Latest deliveries for the yard include ferries for Naviera Armas, Eurolineas Maritimas (Balearia) and Transmanche Ferries. Both cruise and ferry markets are of great interest to the shipyard, with Mr Lopez Loureiro summing up “Our clear intention is to move to cruise.” PST

OUR CLEAR INTENTION IS TO MOVE TO CRUISE” Alfonso Lopez Loureiro (Barreras)

BELOW: Interior Proman was brought in to help Barreras learn, and manage the interiors (credit: rendering from The RitzCarlton Cruise Collection)

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36 | REPAIR AND REFURBISHMENT

Baleària moves its LNG strategy forward with ferry retrofit A key milestone in the project was lifting the 200 tonne LNG tank into place – the heaviest lift Gibdock shipyard has ever done (credit: Baleària)

panish operator Baleària has successfully completed the retrofit of a ropax ferry to dualfuel LNG – the first of five vessels to undergo the procedure. Baleària announced in August 2018 it would invest €60M (US$69M) to re-engine five of its current ferries to LNG fuelling over the next two years. Baleària has adopted a strategic commitment to LNG as its marine fuel, which is already specified for two newbuildings. MAN PrimeServ is converting the engines to LNG dual fuel. Twenty per cent is being funded by the European Union's Connecting Europe Facility. Gibdock shipyard won the contract for the first ferry, Nápoles. Work started in November last year and finished in February. After the LNG retrofit, the ship stayed at Gibdock to undergo normal drydock maintenance.

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

Baleària’s LNG dual-fuel retrofit on ferry Nápoles successfully overcame challenges, such as fitting the gas tank

This is the first time the Gibraltar shipyard has carried out an LNG conversion. The yard has worked on LNG and LPG carriers before, but never an LNG-fuelled vessel. Gibdock chief executive Richard Beards told PST “It is nice to be involved in the early stages of what we see as pioneering ship repair work.” The three main parts of the retrofit for the shipyard consisted of positioning the tank, steel work and installing electrical and control gear.

Key milestone

The tank to store LNG – which has a capacity of 440 m3 – was provided by Wärtsilä and will allow the ship to have a range of 1,200 miles. The gas pipes were supplied by Cryospain, while the engineering project was carried out by Cotenaval. Mr Beards said a “key milestone” in the project was lifting the 200-tonne LNG tank into place in the vessel – the heaviest lift the shipyard has ever done. The heaviest tank it had previously lifted was 102 tonnes. The shipyard brought in a Crawler crane to carry out the lift. Mr Beards commented “That was an exciting day, and it went very smoothly and successfully. It was a tight fit – but it was intended to be a tight fit and went well. We were fortunate that the wind was not strong, and the weather was

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REPAIR AND REFURBISHMENT | 37

favourable that day.” The tank was placed four decks down in the stern of the vessel. Mr Beards said that accesses were cut so the tank could be lowered down, and the area the tank sits on needed to be reinforced. The tank was retrofitted in the car lanes of the ferry – a few parking spaces were removed to make room for it. MAN PrimeServ, the after-sales division of MAN Energy Solutions, won the contract to convert the ferry to dual-fuel operation. Nápoles was powered by two MAN 9L48/60A main engines, which were converted to 9L51/60DF units that will enable running on LNG. At the time of winning the contract, MAN Energy Solutions PrimeServ Four-Stroke head of upgrades and retrofits Dr Thomas Spindler said “We showed – with the conversion of Wessels Reederei’s Wes Amelie container ship – that operational MAN engines can successfully be converted to LNG operation with a tremendous effect on exhaust emissions and the environment. “We are very happy that Baleària has seen fit to bring these benefits to a new segment and application.” Baleària director general of operations Ettore Morace stated that the company’s commitment to the environment “is a strategic line for the

IT WAS A TIGHT FIT BUT IT WAS INTENDED TO BE A TIGHT FIT AND WENT WELL” Richard Beards (Gibdock)

company based on the use of liquefied natural gas and other clean energies as well as fleet eco-efficiency”. He also specified that LNG helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) by 30% and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by 85% in addition to eliminating sulphur and particle emissions. Sicilia is set to be converted from October to December 2019. It operates on the Barcelona–Ibiza route, while Nápoles serves the Algeciras–Tanger Med route. Gibdock will retrofit Sicilia as well. Mr Beards said “We definitely learned lessons and will make the second retrofit even more efficient.” Asked why he believed the shipyard scooped the contract, Mr Beards said “We have a long-term relationship with Baleària and we have delivered a

Richard Beards (Gibdock)

Richard Beards has worked at Gibdock since 2010; he was commercial director before being promoted to managing director in 2012. Previously he was at Cammell Laird shipyard from 1998, where his roles spanned financial director and commercial director. He gained a degree at Surrey University in the UK in electrical and electronics engineering.

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quality product in a safe manner. Our on-time reputation is good and we are competitive on money and time.” He added that Gibdock has worked with all the stakeholders before. “It’s an LNG product geared towards the environment and we take that seriously – it is a good fit with us.” Mr Beards said “We are hoping to win more projects like this – we think this is the beginning and we want to become the go-to company for LNG retrofit business. We have done scrubbers in the past, so to offer scrubbers and LNG retrofits to clients is a strong place for us to be.” Baleària said that running these five vessels on LNG is expected to reduce more than 45,000 tonnes of CO2 annually and 4,400 tonnes of NOx and eliminate sulphur and particulate emissions completely. Nápoles is expected to reduce its CO2 emissions by 9,113.45 tonnes and NOx emissions by 871.37 tonnes a year, and fully eliminate all sulphur and particle emissions. The annual carbon dioxide reduction will equal the emissions of 6,000 passenger cars, Baleària claimed. In addition to the gas retrofit of these five ferries, the company is also studying two other LNG projects and is building two smart ships at the Visentini shipyard in Italy, the first of which will be operational next February. Baleària president Adolfo Utor said LNG is the fossil fuel “most respectful of the environment” and pointed out that “in three years the company plans to have nine ships sailing with this energy”. Baleària has been working on LNGrelated projects since 2012. In addition to being a founding member of the Iberian Association for Natural Gas for Transport, created in 2013, it has strategic agreements with Naturgy, with whom it has an exclusive LNG subminister contract for 10 years, and Rolls-Royce and Wärtsilä to construct engines. In addition, in 2017 it launched the first LNG energy generator on a passenger ship (Abel Matutes) and since 2015 has been running an LNG training plan for its crew and ship inspectors. PST

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

38 | EXPEDITION CRUISE MARKET

Expedition cruise ships:

introducing new technology Expedition cruise newbuilds are deploying some of the most innovative and green technology in the cruise sector

he fast-growing expedition cruise sector is playing an important role in introducing new technology that will be embraced throughout the cruise ship sector. Examples include SunStone Ships’ expedition cruise ships currently being built at China Merchant Heavy Industries (CMHI) yard. They feature ‘firsts’ in technology, including Ulstein Design & Solutions’ X-bow hull design, never before seen in a cruise ship. Due to the technology used, the X-bow doesn’t slam and brake in bad weather like a conventional design, meaning it is more fuel efficient and boosts passenger comfort. SunStone Ships is also enhancing comfort by installing Zero Speed stabilisers, which have only ever been used on large, luxury private yachts before. Provided by RollsRoyce, they are used when loading or at anchor and move hydraulically, based on wave movement The ship owner is also leading the way for Chinese yards to build cruise ships. By learning to build small expedition ships, they can use those skills to build larger cruise ships. Elsewhere, Ponant’s icebreaker cruise ship is the first cruise ship to be built on the double-acting principle, its technical designer Aker Arctic told PST. Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot, currently being built at Vard shipyard and due to be delivered in 2021, is the world’s first cruise ship to be built to PC2-class as an icebreaker. It is also the first expedition cruise ship to use dual-fuel LNG. Aker Arctic sales manager and master mariner Jukka

Ponant’s icebreaker is built on the double-acting principle, allowing it to navigate stern-first (credit: Ponant/Stirling Design International)

Salminen said “It is the heaviest diesel-electric icebreaker in the world for the time being.” He was speaking to PST at a joint-industry event held by Aker Arctic, Deltamarin and Norsepower in London. Highlighting some of the challenges he said “There are different rules when thinking about passenger vessels compared to cargo vessels, like passenger comfort, safety and safe return to port.” He said the challenge is that in the Poles there is little in the way of either rescue, repair yard facilities or ports. “We tested the harshest ice conditions in our own ice tank,” he said, with a conclusion being that the vessel can safely navigate in the polar regions and also return to port with just a single thruster. It is equipped with two PC2 class ABB 17 MW twin Azipods, giving 34 MW of total propulsion power. Mr Salminen said “It has a very stunning icebreaking performance bow ahead with an icebreaking performance of 2.5 m.” The vessel is built on the double-acting principle, meaning that in heavier ice conditions it can navigate stern first. This is the first time the double-acting principle has been used in a cruise ship. He explained “The double-acting principle was initially designed for oil tankers in early 1990s which were built for the Gulf of Finland.” In a tanker the bow can be designed as the optimum bow for open water while the stern is designed for icebreaking. “The bow is more open water friendly as a conventional icebreaker to avoid slamming and resistance, while the icebreaking is done by the stern,” Mr Salminen said. Using the stern as the icebreaker boosts passenger comfort. Expanding on the cruise ship’s icebreaking capabilities, Mr Salminen said “The double-acting principle combined with the moving thrusters which will lubricate the hull and reduce friction… therefore [leading to] better ice performance.” The double-acting principle means there are two bridges, as one is needed for navigating stern-first. Commenting on the use of LNG, he said “Green values are important when operating in a fragile environment, Ponant wanted as green a vessel as possible so LNG was chosen as a primary source, with low sulphur fuel oil.” The vessel will also use batteries to provide the hotel load when it has stopped to observe something of interest, allowing the main engines to be turned off and the vessel to be silent, with no vibrations. PST

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40 | COATINGS fuel efficiency and durability

Data drives coatings for passenger ships T

he ISO 19030 standard is changing the way the coatings sector operates, and delivering potentially huge savings for shipowners in the process. The ISO 19030 standard consolidates the latest academic and industry knowledge regarding a standardised method to measure the performance of a vessel through the water. As a global standard, shipowners and other interested stakeholders can now apply this for measuring the hull performance of their vessels, said AkzoNobel, the paints and coatings company which was involved in forming the ISO 19030 standard. Commenting on the value of the standard, AkzoNobel marine coatings business channel manager Michael Hindmarsh said “The standard was originally developed to try and harmonise the way ship performance is monitored. It draws a very good line in the sand. But it is just a start, and already people are talking about making it more accurate and improving it.” One area where there is scope for improvement is in measuring hull and propeller performance – currently the standard does not differentiate between the two. “There is work to be done in developing methodologies to split the effect of just the propeller or just the hull. That is just the kind of work that we would be involved in,” said Mr Hindmarsh. As well as helping to further understand the fuel performance of vessels, such a differentiation would save time and money in investigating what is specifically affecting hull performance. “We sometimes get customers saying that their fuel performance is not as good as usual, and they want us to check if the coating is the problem. We will inspect the vessel and often find the problem is not the coating. Therefore, it is in everyone's interest

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

Coatings are evolving under a new standard and expectations from the passenger ship industry

Morten Fon (Jotun): Increased collaboration will be key

to develop the methods to separate out the effects of hull or propeller, as it will reduce costs and save time,” said Mr Hindmarsh. AkzoNobel sees a huge opportunity in applying big data to fouling control coating selection and using the ISO 19030 standard to prove the benefits. To this end, it launched its Intertrac Vision system in 2015. This is a predictive tool designed to help ship operators assess the return on investment resulting from a coating specification. The iPad-based system processes individual vessel data and operational parameters that trained IP personnel enter during a free consultation. Multiple proprietary algorithms and models are then used to provide an accurate assessment of the impact of each potential fouling control coating choice over a ship’s specified in-service period. Outputs include a vessel’s powering requirement, fuel consumption, fuel cost, CO2 emission predictions and a full cost-benefit analysis, comparing different coating options and surface preparation options. Before ISO 19030, AkzoNobel launched Digital Voyage, a complementary suite of digital tools that includes Intertrac Perform, a tool that measures and monitors hullperformance data and validates this against the predictions made by Intertrac Vision, using metrics that comply with the ISO 19030 standard on hull- and propellerperformance monitoring. Part of Digital Voyage, Intertrac Vision Lite has been developed to showcase key features of the full Intertrac Vision tool. Users can input data covering a sample selection of vessel types, fouling routes and generic hullcoating choices to create different coating scenarios. They can then compare variations in the effect on power requirements, fuel costs and CO2 emissions.

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fuel efficiency and durability COATINGS | 41

Managing onboard paint

As a Norwegian company, Jotun will be painting the town red at the giant shipping industry event in Oslo, Nor-Shipping. Speaking ahead of the event, Jotun’s chief executive Morten Fon spoke about the technological changes brought about by ISO 19030. He noted that Jotun’s Hull Performance Solutions (HPS) offering combines premium SeaQuantum anti-fouling coatings with a suite of sensors to measure long-term performance in accordance with ISO 19030. This provides documented proof of HPS’ ability to maintain a clean hull (with a high performance guarantee promising minimal hull speed loss – under 1.5% – over standard drydocking periods) delivering increased fuel efficiency and consumption. For shipowners this translates to lower opex and CO2 emissions. Mr Fon referenced the launch of Jotun’s SeaStock Management Solutions in 2018 as a further step forward. This effectively allows Jotun to take on the management of all onboard paint maintenance –including condition surveys, ordering, logistics, and much more – to ensure predictability, optimal quality and protection, and hassle free administration. He explained “It allows our customers to focus on what they do best, running their fleets, while we focus on what we do best – protecting people and property with world-leading solutions. It’s simple, efficient and helps bring us closer, increasing understanding and performance. That’s something we can all benefit from.” That spirit of increased collaboration will be key in the future, Mr Fon believes, both for maritime and the broader ocean space. “Data is a key issue,” he stated. “Access to data will allow us to provide better solutions, while sharing data across relevant platforms will help the industry in general push for optimised performance, efficiency and regulatory compliance. Greater transparency will help give us all the ability to navigate what, in the past, has been an unpredictable industry. That’s crucial.”

Boosting coating strength

In 2019, Hempel launched a powerful biocide package and proven binder system. Atlantic+ is said to ensure progressive and controlled self-polishing from the moment the hull hits

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Andreas Glud (Hempel): Warm waters encourage fouling

DATA IS A KEY ISSUE” Morten Fon (Jotun)

the water and for up to 60 months thereafter. The new coating is reinforced with Hempel’s patented microfibre technology at a higher level of the company’s strongest cargo hold coating – Hempadur Ultra Strength Fibre. Hempel said the science behind the microfibre technology involves introducing an internal skeleton of fibres into the paint to enhance its mechanical strength – in the same way that steel rods can be inserted into concrete to reinforce a physical structure. Strengthening the antifouling coating in this way means ensuring protection from fouling on areas exposed to impact and abrasion; improving overcoatability; reducing the areas to blast; and ultimately decreasing the costs for the ship’s drydocking. Hempel has also launched Actiguard. Hempel’s group segment manager Andreas Glud explained the new coating technology. “Passenger ships spend more time in port, slow steaming and sitting idle. Cruise ships in particular tend to operate in warmer waters which encourage fouling; or move between warm and cooler waters across vast geographical expanses, which is highly problematic in terms of the transfer of marine organisms between different ecosystems,” he said. All these factors combine to create a haven for fouling organisms to attach to a vessel’s hull, significantly increasing fuel consumption and associated CO2 emissions. He said that one leading cruise ship operator has estimated that hull fouling can add US$5M in fuel costs over the fiveyear docking interval due to the resistance created by the fouling. So, for them investing in a high-performance hull coating from the outset is always the right step in protecting their cruise ships, minimising fuel consumption and maximising efficiency savings across their business. Actiguard is the foundation central to Hempel’s fouling defence coating Hempaguard, which is ideally suited to the unique trading operations of passenger ships. Mr Glud said this retains its effectiveness regardless of speed and during idle periods of up to 120 days, as well as delivering a maximum speed loss of 1.4%.

Coatings for Ice-class

Warm water fouling is not a problem for the expedition cruise ships nosing their way through the ice floes of the polar

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

42 | COATINGS fuel efficiency and durability

regions. Here, a physically more resistant hull coating is required. PPG Protective and Marine Coatings has been working with the commercial shipping fleet, including crude oil and gas tankers working in Russian arctic waters. PPG has produced a solution that could be applied locally and was resilient enough for severe ice conditions. PPG’s Sigmashield 1200 coating provides protection from the impact of ice abrasion and accretion. Based on a very hard filler composition, the coating’s anti-abrasion properties are built on a highly crosslinked phenolic epoxy technology, further extending the service life of the coating by increasing ‘creep resistance’. This coating can also be applied by cold, single-feed airless spray equipment. PPG said “It has a track record in protecting ice-going vessels, offering easy application as well as maximum abrasion resistance and damage propagation control against ice hazards on the hull's outer shell coating.” A subsequent diving survey of the iceclass commercial vessels after operation in ice-going conditions showed there was no damage on the coated vertical sides of the hulls as a result of ice impact. No matter what the type of paint used in whatever part of the globe, one of the main elements in the cost of coatings is application. Not only is there the cost of the paint itself, the lack of income while the vessel is in drydock is a major factor. Which is why French shipyard Chantier Naval de Marseille (CNdM) is promoting a paint spraying robot available at its Marseillebased shipyard. The robot is capable of cleaning and spraying a hull in a fraction of the time of the manual process and it is much safer for the operatives. It will also save owners money. “The paint saving is between 20% and 30% and you can save three to four days in drydock time” said CNdM commercial manager Manolo Cavaliere. PST

Carnival: collecting coatings data Patch tests are one of the ways Carnival collects coating performance data, said Carnival Corp’s vice president of corporate marine technology Chris Millman, whose role includes monitoring the drydock dates and coating performance of the ships in the Carnival brands. He told Passenger Ship Technology “We carefully and constantly monitor hull performance on all of our vessels, utilising a number of proprietary systems to detect any fouling impact. This early detection allows us to intervene with hull cleaning at the appropriate times. We polish our propellers at least once every six months to maintain performance, and normally, we have a hull inspection at the same time – meaning that the hull is inspected at least twice a year. We are also trialling our own ROVs for hull inspection.” Carnival must balance availability and efficiency. “The method of hull cleaning depends upon the ship location and the locally available technology. Where they are available to us, we prefer to use hull cleaning robots that also collect the fouling debris, and we are seeing an expansion of the locations in which this technology is now being offered,” he said.

Carnival cruise ship Carnival Horizon is testing a Selektopeinfused coating. According to Chugoku Marine Paints, the vessel is sailing with a full coat of the antifouling product SEAFLO NEO CF PREMIUM.

ABOVE: Chris Millman (Carnival Corp): “Where they are available to us, we prefer to use hull cleaning robots that also collect the fouling debris” BELOW: Chugoku Marine Paints’ SEAFLO NEO CF PREMIUM is infused with Selektope (credit: Chugoku Marine Paints)

THE PAINT SAVING IS BETWEEN 20% AND 30%” Manolo Cavaliere (CNdM)

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

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44 | MANOEUVRING TECHNOLOGY

Cutting-edge technologies boost thruster control and design Advanced automation and new design techniques are giving ship operators more room to manoeuvre in thruster selection

pods each have a power output of up to 18 MW, enough to provide for the ship’s 1A Super ice class notation. And after an extension of Azipod supplier ABB’s contract late last year, the inbuilt control and condition monitoring systems of the XO 2100 units will be integrated into the company’s vesselwide automation system. ABB’s Ability 800xA system combines power, propulsion and vessel management systems. This allows for dashboards presenting the critical information from all three systems, helping crew and onshore staff to operate the vessel safely and efficiently. Adding marine automation to ABB’s package therefore improves vessel efficiency and digitalisation and offers project management synergies, said Mr Hanses. “Extending our arrangement made perfect sense. ABB has the dedicated local automation team and access to global engineering resources that will ensure delivery of a vessel benefiting from the highest levels of systems integration.”

s automation systems on cruise ships and ferries become more advanced, so are the control strategies for thrusters and other manoeuvring equipment. Viking Line’s imminent newbuild, currently under construction by Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry, is a good example. The new vessel, due for delivery next year, is the sister ship of Viking Grace, built by STX in Turku before Meyer Werft acquired the shipyard. That innovative Scandlines upgrade vessel features dual-fuel engines driving Control improvements were also a factor twin shaftlines along with Flettner in Scandlines’ decision to upgrade rotors to harness wind power for thrusters on its four hybrid ferries propulsion. The China-built sister running between Puttgarden in ship will take a different approach. Germany and Rødby in Denmark. The 2,800-passenger vessel The company will spend more than will still feature LNG-burning €13M (US$14.7M) replacing CTZ35 engines. But this time the engines thrusters provided by Rolls-Royce will provide electricity for podded Commercial Marine with new AZP120 propulsion. This will be the first pulling azimuth thrusters. application of twin Azipod XO The pulling thrusters – four per 2100 propulsion on a cruise ferry. vessel – provide a more homogenous According to Viking Line president flow of water into the propeller and chief executive Jan Hanses, because the stream is not interrupted electric propulsion is a better choice by the gearbox casing. The result is a for the rapid speed variations and more efficient propulsion arrangement tight manoeuvring required and, critically for Scandlines, less noise for a vessel that will make and vibrations. fast turnaround trips through The control and automation system the archipelago between relating to the power and propulsion Stockholm and Turku. will also be upgraded, offering further “Our expectations for this efficiencies. According to Rolls-Royce vessel is that it will be the vice president service sales Kjetil most efficient cruise ferry Nilsen, Scandlines is taking “a smart operating in the Baltic, if not approach towards a greener fleet”. Scandlines is upgrading propulsion on its hybrid the world,” he said. “Our tests of the chosen solution ferries to Rolls-Royce azipull thrusters The XO 2100 propulsion have shown a significant efficiency

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

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improvement, which again will deliver a reduction of CO2 emissions,” he said. Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce's investment in the systems behind thruster technologies is continuing. It recently filed two patents that may eventually find a better way for monitoring the condition of azimuthing thrusters. One of the difficulties of monitoring azimuth thrusters has been how to reliably power sensors in the thruster body and how to transfer data from the rotating to the static part of the thruster. One current method is using mechanical slip rings to convey data and power, but this has two major limitations. The first is cost, as slip rings need to be modified for each size and configuration of the thruster. The second is the wear this arrangement causes to the slip ring and shaftline, meaning regular service is needed. Rolls-Royce energy and health management specialists Werner Schiffers and Lars Saarinen believe the answer lies in resonant magnetic induction. Two inductors – one Wärtsilä’s WTT-40 transverse thruster was designed with generating a magnetic field, the other generating an electrical cutting-edge tools to improve efficiency and comfort current from that field – are configured so they can be rotated fully while still creating the electrical current. This enables power and data to be transferred wirelessly. “This would simplify wireless data and power transfer dynamics helped the designer reduce noise and vibrations, during health monitoring of marine thrusters,” said Mr while finite element analysis was deployed to scale up the Schiffers. “A major advantage of our idea is that the power thruster while maintaining structural integrity. and data transferring parts of the condition monitoring unit Other design parameters were tested using existing can be retrofitted without removing the thruster from the products under heavy loads and simulating the dynamic ship’s hull.” movement of ships. It was found that increasing propeller There are other benefits too, stemming from the more diameter by 400 mm lowered power density by 7%. Tip robust and efficient transfer of power. The sensor in the speed was also reduced by a further 12%. Compared with thruster body would not require a battery, for example, the low power density, a slower tip speed into less noise and and maintenance intervals could be extended as thruster vibration will provide higher comfort for passengers. designs are adapted to accommodate After the modelling stage, attention bigger, longer-lasting inductors. The was turned to making the thruster commercialisation of the concept is not convenient for shipyards to install. yet in sight, but it provides an intriguing As a result, the hydraulic, pumping, example of how control and automation filtration and cooling systems on the UNPLANNED SERVICING technology can influence the development WTT-40 are pre-installed at Wärtsilä’s IS A NIGHTMARE and performance of thrusters. SCENARIO FOR A CRUISE factory in Wuxi in China and shipped as a complete unit. The propeller can be LINE OPERATOR WITH Efficient designs dismounted for a quick exchange of the SEVERAL THOUSAND It is not only new control technologies complete shaft seal without needing to PEOPLE ON BOARD” that are affecting thruster development; glue pieces together. Mikael Arts (Wärtsilä) new design technologies are also being “Due to its smart design and more deployed to improve efficiency. According efficient use of components, the WTT-40 to Wärtsilä segment sales general manager is more reliable and competitive than cruise and ferry Mikael Arts the company’s biggest thruster previous thruster models,” said Mr Arts. “Reliability is for cruise ships, the Wärtsilä Transverse Thruster 40 (WTTimportant as all this equipment is below the waterline. This 40), owes its design to such cutting-edge technologies. makes unplanned servicing difficult and extremely expensive Development work for the thruster, which has a diameter – a nightmare scenario for a cruise line operator with several of 3,400 mm and a maximum power output of 4 MW, thousand people on board.” started in 2015 at Wärtsilä’s test facility in Finland. The Wärtsilä has delivered six WTT-40 thrusters to cruise company took a two-pronged approach to the design. First, ships, and there are several more on its orderbook. Even with it disregarded its existing range of transverse thrusters and the biggest and most powerful thrusters, every improvement redesigned the WTT-40 from scratch. Computational fluid helps in the hunt for efficiency and reliability. PST

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Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

46 | MANOEUVRING TECHNOLOGY

The SPJ 30 enables safe manoeuvring in shallow waters

Staying safe in the shallows While thruster suppliers focused on the cruise market specialise in bigger thrusters, German propulsion specialist Schottel is aiming at the smaller and shallower end of the market with the launch of a new pump jet. Available with a power output of up to 150 kW, the azimuth thruster is optimised for maximum manoeuvrability in shallow waters. The SPJ 30 is suitable for passenger

vessels as well as work vessels and freighters. Its compact design means that installation offers a minimal displacement loss. The above-water gearbox is available in Z or L configurations and the thruster is set up to receive power from diesel engines or electric motors. Because the pump jet is installed flush with the hull of the vessel, hull resistance is not increased and the risk of collisions with flotsam is greatly

An upgrade with a porpoise Scandlines’ imminent thruster upgrade (see main article pages 42-43) is not just about making its passengers more comfortable. The company is also hoping to improve the environment for marine life. Reduced underwater noise is expected to have a positive impact on the harbour porpoises of the Fehmarn Belt area. “The new thrusters are an important element on our way towards zero emissions and I am very pleased this can be combined with reducing impact on the underwater life in Fehmarn Belt,” said Scandlines chief executive Søren Poulsgaard Jensen. The company is co-operating with Germany's Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union in a research project to evaluate the noise reduction levels and to communicate ideas about technical best practice.

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

reduced. Further protection against damage is provided by a protective grille at the inlet. The thruster is available with elastic mounting, further reducing noise levels and vibrations. The new thruster will be available from the end of 2019 and joins Schottel’s established range of pump jets, with power output of up to 3,500 kW and minimum immersion of as little as 150 mm.

Scandlines is not the only company concerned about the impact of shipping on marine creatures. Like the Scandlines routes, the area around Vancouver port is host to a community of whales that can be distressed by underwater noise from ships. To encourage shipowners to do all they can to reduce noise, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority offers them discounts on port dues of varying degrees if they install noise-reducing technology. This year the port has included Wärtsilä’s EnergoProFin, an energy saving propeller cap, in its EcoAction programme. The listing in the vessel quietening category means that owners receive a 23% discount on harbour dues for vessels installed with this technology. The EnergoProFin incorporates fins that rotate together with the propeller. This reduces the cavitation caused by the hub vortex of the propeller. It also reduces energy loss caused by flow around and behind the propeller boss. It has been installed on more than 350 vessels. PST

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SAFETY TECHNOLOGY AND REGULATION | 49

Lifeboat incidents: solving the safety conundrum After a growing number of cruise ship lifeboat accidents, PST speaks to key players to find solutions

dangers and the need for action to address design shortcomings. Nautilus International professional and technical officer David Appleton told PST “[the accidents] are mainly down to design – that is the ultimate cause.” Examples include issues with wires that fail, or where the designs mean it is not possible to adequately maintain and grease wires. Mr Appleton said this could include wires being hidden, which meant they could not be maintained properly or going around “impossible bends”, thus weakening the wires.

Eliminating human error

Viking Life-Saving Equipment says that its new LifeCraft will really raise the bar for passenger vessel safety

series of cruise ship lifeboat incidents has underlined the need for a greater focus on training and maintenance and a more effective approach to design. But while the number of incidents has increased – in the latest incident a lifeboat broke free of its davits and fell into the water on board Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Dream at the end of December 2018 – there is some progress being made. Initiatives include a new class certification, industry-wide replacement of lifeboat hooks, and a new lifesaving solution that claims to be safer than the traditional style. Lloyd’s Register (LR) is investigating the loss of the lifeboat off Carnival Dream. LR passenger ship support centre

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senior fire and safety specialist Captain Antonio Prestigiacomo told PST that the root cause has not been identified and investigations are ongoing. He commented “Until a technical investigation is completed it is difficult to identify if the root cause was related to equipment design or an operational related issue.” He highlighted that the maintenance regime of lifesaving appliances needs particular attention in the industry. “Having well-skilled engineers that can carry out the right maintenance of the equipment is fundamental. Interaction between equipment manufacturers, service suppliers and ship crew is very important in maintenance inspections.” Trade union Nautilus International has been outspoken about lifeboat

As well as equipment failures and a need for better maintenance, human error is a factor in many of these incidents. This highlights the need to improve crew training and to ensure drills are carried out in a risk-free setting. Mr Appleton favours a two-pronged approach, looking at both equipment failures and human error. “There needs to be recognition of the purpose of lifeboat drills and testing. A drill should be where you learn in a riskfree environment, where if you make a mistake you do not kill anybody, where an inspection is meant to test whether something works. Loading a lifeboat with 30 people to check it works is not among those things.” RINA passenger ships centre of excellence safety expert Piero Moncheroni says that the human factor “cannot be forgotten”, as well as operational factors including bad weather. But he added “The [SOLAS] rules are so stringent and precise in order to minimise any possible accident. Unfortunately, it is not possible to avoid accidents 100%, as with any other system

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

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SAFETY TECHNOLOGY AND REGULATION | 51

on board a ship.” He emphasised it was of “paramount importance” for shipowners to improve crew members’ awareness of the dangers of handling lifesaving appliances. He added that some equipment is easier to operate and more userfriendly than other types. “Some operators choose to use a telescopic system that is slightly easier to operate than traditional gravity davits, but it is very important that crew has the full skillset for the type of davit system and boat used. And the lifesaving system should be properly maintained, this is of utmost importance in my view.” There is certainly a growing awareness in the industry of the importance of training. For example, Survitec is offering free training where, during annual inspections, its trained engineers observe the ship’s crew carrying out required function tests and maintenance. Survitec regulatory and compliance manager Paul Watkins said “If you can spot a problem that is happening and retrain that crew then that is a potential accident averted.” A new class notation launched just last year is a positive step as it embraces both design issues and safety drills. DNV GL’s voluntary certification standard covers the davits used to launch and recover tenders, including those which have a dual use as a lifeboat. DNV GL head of section lifting appliances Aldo Matteucci said “The main idea for setting the standard was driven by market requirements, by owners and manufacturers noticing the increased number of issues related to the continuous use of davits for tender boats.” He explained how davits for tender boats are used frequently, therefore increasing the probability of malfunctioning and problems. This would affect using a cruise ship tender that also serves as a lifeboat. An important part of the certification is to include a risk analysis, Mr Matteucci said. “The majority of tender and lifeboat incidents are

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Aldo Matteucci (DNV GL): “Our approach is that there must be risk analysis from the designer, and we need to open up the use of new technology and materials”

assigned to the human factor, so the more you use the equipment, the higher the probability that they can get into some trouble. In order to tackle this, our approach is that there must be risk analysis from the designer, and we need to open up use of new technology and materials, like radio signals.” This would include, among other things, using radio to remotely launch and recover tender boats, without personnel near moving parts. DNV GL suggested that as well as radio, control and monitoring could include warning signals or sensors. While using electric power and radio signals are not allowed by SOLAS when the tender is in lifesaving mode, such monitoring systems can be used in a lifeboat drill. Mr Matteucci said “Few accidents have been reported in real lifesaving operations – accidents tend to occur during maintenance and when the crew carry out drills. Using monitoring systems can help prevent accidents as there is a better chance to see things or be warned by the system that something is wrong.” The notation – launched last year – has been applauded by davit

manufacturer Vestdavit. Vestdavit development director and naval architect Atle Kalve said the new DNV GL performance standards represent a “significant advance” on the way SOLAS regulations for davits are based on minimum lifting and lowering speeds set for lifesaving appliances. He believes the issue is particularly pertinent given the trend for more expedition cruise ships sailing in polar waters, with adventure ships increasingly crossing waters previously preserved for navies, coastguards and research vessels. Mr Kalve said “DNV GL has considered issues surrounding recovery of tender boats in sea states higher than 0-1 Hs. In higher sea states, boats need to be hoisted clear quickly to avoid being lifted by a following wave with a risk posed to crew when that wave subsides, the rope is slack and the boat drops. He said existing Vestdavit products already meet the required standards.

Boosting hook safety

Steps have also been taken in the industry to improve the safety of lifeboat hooks. An IMO directive states that all existing lifeboat release systems have to be tested to exacting standards, and that hooks found to be non-compliant must be replaced or modified. Survitec’s Mr Watkins, who also attends IMO through his place on the International Life-saving Appliance Manufacturers’ Association, emphasised that the directive had “made massive strides in safety – these new exacting requirements have almost totally eliminated the chance of unintentional release.” Highlighting how the requirements have helped, Mr Watkins said “For example, hooks must now be manufactured from noncorrosive materials. Previously, it was acceptable for hooks to be manufactured from carbon steel and galvanised.” He said this could eventually lead to corrosion and hooks being seized if they are poorly maintained. Survitec global technical sales manager Robert Wallace added one

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

52 | SAFETY TECHNOLOGY AND REGULATION

of the biggest previous factors that contributed to accidents was that the weight of the lifeboat could be transmitted to the opening mechanism in the previous hook designs, which could enable the mechanism to turn. “Now the weight of the lifeboat cannot be put on the turning mechanism – that has taken away one of the biggest problems.” The period of five years – when ship operators have to change noncompliant hooks at the next scheduled drydocking – will be reached on 1 July 2019. Survitec has changed thousands of noncompliant hooks with its Safelaunch hook solution. Cruise ship projects included rehooking three Royal Caribbean cruise ships between 2017-2018.

New LSA raises safety bar

As well as an increased focus on training and hook replacement, a new life-saving product is coming to market this year that claims it will “raise the bar” on safety. Viking Life-Saving Equipment’s hybrid LifeCraft consists of four LifeCraft units, each able to take 200 people. Each of these self-propelled inflatable units can be placed either on deck or built into the ship’s side. Development work on LifeCraft started in 2009, aiming to combine the advantages of modern lifeboats, such as self-propulsion, with the inflatable feature of liferafts. Senior vice president of Viking’s passenger division Niels Fraende said “More than anything else, the Viking LifeCraft really raises the bar for passenger vessel safety and it is more than a few steps ahead of currently

Non-compliant hooks must now be replaced with hooks manufactured from noncorrosive materials (such as Survitec’s Safelaunch compliant hook solution)

available solutions on several key parameters. That has been the ultimate aim from day one.” He singled out how this craft increases safety compared to traditional life boats: rather than entering a lifeboat at deck level, the LifeCraft is entered at sea level. Mr Fraende explained “It is safer to be at sea level than evacuating into a lifeboat sitting on davits. If an incident happens during evacuation, it’s safer using a chute or slide than a lifeboat launched out over shipside.” Another major way in which the LifeCraft will boost safety is that its functionality can be electronically surveyed daily, with information being sent directly to the bridge. “The bridge then constantly has an overview of readiness and live awareness of any issues,” explained Mr Fraende.

More needs to be done

The industry is taking steps towards reducing the number of cruise ship lifeboat incidents, but there is more to be done. LR’s Captain Prestigiacomo said “Oversize lifeboats are becoming so common that all parties should look into the possibility of including specific requirements in SOLAS or LSA Code to ensure technical consistency.” Currently they are covered by an alternative design arrangement process. Specific requirements for lifeboats are limited to 150 people. Mr Appleton summed up “There needs to be a fundamental look topdown rather than patching up – if something designed to save lives is regularly killing people then the industry really needs to take a holistic look at it.” PST

CRUISE LIFEBOAT INCIDENTS COUNTDOWN DECEMBER 2018

JANUARY 2018

A lifeboat on board Carnival Dream broke free from its davits and plunged into the water.

Five people were injured during a routine training exercise involving a lifeboat on P&O Cruises’ Arcadia, while it was in the Azores.

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

FEBRUARY 2017 A nitrogen cylinder burst on board an Emerald Princess lifeboat, causing one fatality.

SEPTEMBER 2016

JULY 2016

FEBRUARY 2013

One crew member was killed, and four other members were injured after a lifeboat fell from Harmony of the Seas during a safety exercise.

A lifeboat drill accident left one Norwegian Breakaway crew member dead and three others injured.

Five crew members were killed after eight crew members were checking a lifeboat when its ropes snapped, and it fell into the sea off Thomson Majesty.

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54 | MONITORING TECHNOLOGY

Falco docked and undocked itself using Rolls-Royce’s autodocking system (credit: Rolls-Royce)

Ferries showcase potential of autonomous vessel technology The recent focus on automation within the ferry sector reflects its position as an ideal market to apply such technologies

he potential for applications of autonomous technology was highlighted in December 2018, when Rolls-Royce and Finferries demonstrated the capabilities of autonomous technology on board Falco, inviting 80 guests and journalists along for the ride. Using Rolls-Royce Ship Intelligence technologies, Falco sailed into the busy waters of the Turku archipelago and detected and manoeuvred autonomously around several obstacles. On the return leg of the Parainen-Nauvo route, the ferry was operated entirely under remote control by a captain in an office building in the centre of Turku. Falco is a 53.8-m long double-ended car ferry equipped with twin azimuthing Rolls-Royce thrusters, and has been in service with Finnish state-owned Finferries since 1993. Finferries is a partner in developing autonomous shipping technologies produced by Rolls-Royce Ship Intelligence along with Svitzer, Intel, ESA, Inmarsat, AXA, Google and Bosch.

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

These technologies have come together in a range of sensors attached to Falco, which gave the vessel a 3D picture of its surroundings. Data from these sensors is relayed to Finferries’ remote operating centre in Turku, from which a captain can take control of the vessel if necessary. Rolls-Royce has racked up 400 hours of sea trials of its technology in the Turku archipelago, including of the autodocking system, which allows the vessel to automatically alter course and speed when approaching the quay and dock without human intervention. During the trial, the vessel undocked itself using RollsRoyce’s autodocking system. Using a suite of technologies under the research project Safer Vessel with Autonomous Navigation (SVAN), Falco used these systems to avoid a series of vessels in its path. Rolls-Royce president commercial marine Mikael Mäkinen said “Today marks a huge step forward in the journey

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MONITORING TECHNOLOGY | 55

towards autonomous shipping and reaffirms exactly what we have been saying for several years, that autonomous shipping will happen. The SVAN project has been a successful collaboration between Rolls-Royce and Finferries and an ideal opportunity to showcase to the world how Ship Intelligence technology can bring great benefits in the safe and efficient operation of ships. “This is a very proud moment for all of us and marks our most significant milestone so far. Today’s demonstration proves the autonomous ship is not just a concept, but something that will transform shipping as we know it.” Finferries’ chief executive Mats Rosin added “We are very proud that maritime history has been made on the ParainenNauvo route once again. First with our world-renowned hybrid vessel Elektra and now Falco as the world’s first autonomous ferry. As a modern shipowner our main goal in this co-operation has been on increasing safety in marine traffic as this is beneficial for both the environment and our passengers. But we are also equally excited about how this demonstration opens the door to the new possibilities of autonomous shipping and safety.” On the return trip, Falco was remotely operated by the Finferries Remote Operation Centre in the centre of Turku by Captain Tuumas Mikkola, who is qualified to sail Electra and Falco. He successfully steered Falco by remote control to the docking point, where the vessel used the automatic docking system to berth. Speaking about the experience, Captain Mikkola said that at first the lack of winds and waves was a little strange, but after 400 km of trials, he has become used to the idea. After the trial period, he will return to sailing Electra in real life, but said “We are not trying to replace peoples’ jobs with this technology, but to make their task more pleasant. For me, it’s been nice to go home at 5 o’clock like everyone else.”

in Q1 2019. Caterpillar Marine Asset Intelligence business development manager David Shannon spoke to PST about the update. Built around six pillars that make it compliant with ISO 13374’s standards for condition monitoring – data acquisition, data manipulation, state detection, health assessment, prognostic assessment and advisory generation – AI 5.0 seeks to combine scalability and flexibility. While Caterpillar develops core models based on analytics, users will be able to tweak these to better suit their applications. Mr Shannon gave the example of a user whose vessels operate in ambient water temperatures warmer than those used to create the model. This could result in false positive warnings, but with AI 5.0 the user can amend the model to factor this in. It is also an agnostic system, compatible with equipment from OEMs other than Caterpillar, and with potential applications across sectors. AI 5.0 improves on its predecessor, AI 4.8, in two obvious ways: it allows customers to make their own edits to information screens advising courses of action based on the data being processed; and users can make edits to the model itself. AI 5.0 moves from the concept of ‘how it works’ to ‘what it does’, said Mr Shannon, noting there exists a history in condition monitoring of concentrating on how modelling functions work, rather than actually explaining to users what capabilities they bring. AI 5.0 will attempt to change this with a superior user interface and customised analytics, which can be tailored according to an organisation’s operational parameters. Using the 'Return On Intelligence' concept, Caterpillar sees AI 5.0 performing the functions of multiple data scientists to provide users with clear, actionable information that brings together data from a range of sources in a single platform, allowing for a more holistic understanding of how equipment is performing. Stena Line has launched a pilot study where artificial

Stena Line integrates asset monitoring and launches fuel-consumption AI project

Elsewhere, Stena Line has entered into a partnership to provide asset monitoring services with Caterpillar Marine and Netherlands-based Pon Power, a distributor of Caterpillar engines and generators in the Netherlands and Scandinavia. Multiple newbuild Stena vessels planned for delivery during 2019 and 2020 from AVIC Shipyard in China will integrate Caterpillar’s Cat Asset Intelligence product, and Caterpillar will also provide Stena with dedicated fleet advisor services. Stena Line’s technical operations director Bjarne Koitrand said “We are excited to be working together with Caterpillar and Pon Power to better use the data on board our new vessels to make better operational and maintenance decisions and reduce our operating costs while increasing our reliability.” “This will allow us to further move from time- or hoursbased maintenance to condition-based maintenance,” he added. Caterpillar announced in October 2018 that a new version of the Asset Intelligence System, 5.0, would be released

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Stena Line is piloting AI technology on Stena Scandinavica (credit: Stena Line)

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56 | MONITORING TECHNOLOGY

intelligence technology (AI) is implemented on board vessels as part of its effort to reduce fuel consumption and minimise environmental impact. In close collaboration with technology company Hitachi, an AI model is being developed that will help predict the most fuel-efficient way to operate a certain vessel on a specific route. The model will support the captain and officers on board and if successful, will make an important contribution to Stena Line’s sustainability target to reduce fuel consumption by 2.5% annually. “The model simulates many different scenarios before suggesting the most optimal route and performance setup. With the help of AI we are able to consider a number of variables, such as currents, weather conditions, shallow water and speed through water, in various combinations which would be impossible to do manually”, said Stena Line head of AI Lars Carlsson. The model is still under development, with the first pilot study taking place on Stena Scandinavica, supervised by senior master Jan Sjöström who has been working with fuel optimisation at Stena Line for the last 40 years. “…We’ve been making adjustments to the model after each trip for about four weeks and it is amazing to see how quickly it is learning”, said Mr Sjöström. The goal is to create a model that is “so precise that it would be the ultimate decision support system for the captain when planning each trip”, explained a statement. Moving forward, the model will also help share competence and knowledge to the next generation of captains and officers. “Planning a trip and handling a vessel in a safe and, at the same time, fuel-efficient way is craftsmanship. Practice makes perfect, but when assisted by AI a new captain or officer could learn how to fuel optimise quicker. In return, this contributes to a more sustainable journey”, said Mr Sjöström. Stena Line aims for the whole company to be assisted by AI in 2021and the pilot study on Stena Scandinavica, on the Gothenburg–Kiel route, is the first of several studies regarding AI-assisted ferry trips within the fleet this year. At the end of the year there will be an evaluation of the project, before deciding how to continue with AI-assistance on the company’s 38 ships. “…By taking a co-creation approach, working together to combine industry expertise with data and AI, Hitachi and Stena Line have been able to show how digitalisation can optimise existing physical assets to create a better outcome”, said Hitachi Europe chief digital officer Ram Ramachander. Stena Line is already being assisted by AI within several areas such as administration, finance, customer experience and customer care.

Tallink Grupp to participate in ESA-funded autonomous navigation project

Tallink Grupp, the Tallinn-based operator of mini-cruise and ferry services in the northern Baltic, is to take part in a European Space Agency (ESA)-funded project to develop

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

Megastar will be used for practical field tests on the Helsinki-Tallinn route (credit: AS Tallink Grupp)

autonomous vessel navigation techniques. Aalto University, the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, Fleetrange and Tallink aim to use different types of sensors, machine learning and AI to develop the new techniques, with an emphasis on safety. The Finnish Geospatial Research Institute’s research manager Dr Sarang Thombre said “A single sensor is never sufficient for providing complete safety-critical information to the crew. They always refer to multiple devices providing overlapping information so that defects in any one device can be easily identified and excluded. “An autonomous navigation system should work on a similar principle.” The research project, titled Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Sensor Fusion for Autonomous Vessel Navigation, will see Tallink Grupp’s newest vessel Megastar used for practical field tests on the Helsinki-Tallinn route on the Baltic Sea. Data from a range of sources including satellite navigation, vessel transponders and sensors installed on Tallink’s Megastar ferry – including visual, audio, radar and LiDAR – will be processed using AI and machine-learning software, with a goal of automatically identifying objects such as navigation aids and other vessels to improve situational awareness. “When such information is combined with established vessel navigation rules and regulations, it can potentially enable the vessel to navigate with minimal human guidance even in dense traffic conditions of the Baltic Sea,” said Dr Thombre. PST

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58 | ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY ballast water

Finally, clarity in the world of ballast water treatment A ballast water management system is often made up of three distinct stages: the pump, the filter/treatment and the processor. Developing the industry has followed a similar series of stages

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BW SAMPLING PUMP

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

evelopment of the ballast water treatment industry has happened in three distinct stages. The pump stage was when IMO introduced the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC) which resulted in a rush of over 60 potential ballast water management systems (BWMS) seeking IMO type-approval. The second stage has been filtration in that the US Coast Guard set its own standard. Now the ballast water industry is approaching the third stage: a level of approval harmonisation and forming an industry body. The pump stage has long dissipated and it is rare for a new BWMS system to be launched. The filter stage was the decision by the USCG to set a higher standard than IMO which led, for better or worse, to USCG type-approval being seen as a gold standard, and that is how it is portrayed in the marketing of those companies that have spent millions of dollars achieving that standard. There are now 16 type-approved ballast water treatment systems. More are seeking approval, and the latest is Miura of Japan, which has applied for type-approval for its HK-S(E) ballast water treatment system. This brings the number of BWMS awaiting USCG approval to 11. By the end of 2019, there could be 27 typeapproved BWMS, providing options for nearly every type of passenger craft operating in US waters. This could be expanded further through harmonisation between the

testing methodologies between the USCG and IMO. Following a bipartisan agreement on language, the USCG Authorization Act with the attached Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) was passed by the US Senate at the end of 2018. The implications of VIDA are many but essentially it brings USCG typeapproval methodologies in line with those of IMO. This includes: • VIDA contains language that allows that organisms that can no longer reproduce after ballast water treatment are not considered ‘living’. In other words, 'dead' now also means unable to reproduce. • Under VIDA the USCG is required to provide details on how it will test for reproduction in grow-out organisms. • The USCG must also consider the most probable number (MPN) methodologies for determining the number of organisms in treated ballast water. This reverses an earlier USCG ruling insisting on the alternative ‘vital stain’ method. The change in language and the passage of VIDA through the Senate is a long-term boost to the whole of the ballast water treatment industry as it opens the door to a wider range of treatment systems from different manufacturers. One of those is Trojan Marinex, whose spokesperson told Passenger Ship Technology “The Bill unequivocally requires the USCG to adopt a reproductive method based on best available science. As many know, the rest of the world through IMO adopted the MPN method as the best available science for a reproductive method in July 2017. We believe this harmonisation is a major step forward for shipowners around the world as

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ballast water ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY | 59

it allows for the appropriate and costeffective use of UV treatment for ballast water management systems.” However, the USCG has yet to instruct on the MPN method. This could take some time. BIO-UV Group’s president and chief executive Benoît Gillmann noted that the US Administration’s approval of VIDA and the acceptance of MPN methodology does not alter the status quo until the US Coast Guard has drafted policy detailing reproductive methods. “For the moment, the method in force today in the US is the CMFDA process. But whatever the possible modification and/or relaxation of the US rules, the UV dose must remain significant to treat all water types and a system like BIO-SEA is and will continue to be a safe choice for shipowners while staying very competitive,” said Mr Gillmann. The first BWMS to receive USCG type-approval was Optimarin of Norway, which won a contract to install its systems on three Royal Caribbean International vessels. The Norwegian-based ballast water

treatment specialist has now retrofitted its technology on Independence of the Seas and Mariner of the Seas, with installation on Grandeur of the Seas set for Q1 2019. Optimarin chief executive Tore Andersen said “...We have always been a regulatory frontrunner, since our very foundation in 1994, and were the first manufacturer to achieve full USCG approval in December 2016.” Optimarin’s systems are modular in construction, allowing them to be retrofitted in almost any vessel, regardless of space restrictions – a crucial factor for these feature-packed ships. “We focus on exceeding expectations and optimising performance, that applies as much for industry and regulatory standards as it does for passenger experience,” commented Royal Caribbean superintendent, technical systems, global marine operations Jorge E Coronado. “With a fleet that sails throughout the world... it is imperative that we have the best systems to ensure complete compliance. Optimarin delivers this, allowing us to focus on delivering holidays of a lifetime.”

BALLAST WATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS WITH US COAST GUARD TYPE-APPROVAL MODEL

SYSTEM TYPE

DATE APPROVED

Optimarin OBS / OBS ex Alfa Laval PureBallast 3 TeamTec OceanSaver MK II OceanSaver AS Sunrui BalClor Ecochlor Ecochlor BWTS Erma First Erma First Fit Techcross Electro-Cleen Samsung Purimar BIO-UV Group Bio-Sea B Wärtsilä Marine Aquarius EC Solutions Hyundai Heavy Ind. HiBallast Headway OceanGuard Technology JFE Engineering BallastAce Corp Panasia GloEn-Patrol De Nora Balpure Envirocleanse inTank

Filtration and UV Filtration and UV

02 Dec 2016 23 Dec 2016

Filtration and Electrodialysis

23 Dec 2016

Filtration and Electrolysis Filtration and chemical injection Filtration and Electrolysis Electrolysis Filtration and Electrolysis Filtration and UV

06 Jun 2017 10 Aug 2017 18 Oct 2017 05 Jun 2018 15 Jun 2018 20 Jun 2018

Filtration and Electrolysis

30 Aug 2018

Filtration and Electrolysis

26 Oct 2018

Filtration and Electrolysis

06 Nov 2018

Filtration and chemical dosing

13 Nov 2018

Filtration and UV Filtration and Electrolysis Filtration and chemical injection

14 Dec 2018 19 Dec 2018 01 Feb 2019

MAKE

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The latest entrant into the BWMS market is BOS and its Natural Ballast approach. This is a truly disruptive approach in that Natural Ballast does not aim to destroy or render the species in ballast water unreproducible. According to BOS chief executive Jerry Ng, with traditional type-approved BWMS, it is assumed they will meet the standard. But the BOS Natural Ballast system uses what he described as a quick and reliable way of testing water that “positively ensures that the discharged water meets the standard.” In an interview with Passenger Ship Technology, Mr Ng would not reveal, for commercial reasons, exactly how the system works. However, it is believed the system uses a real-time scanner that measures the size of the species in the ballast water intake. Those batches of water that contain species too large for D2 standard are diverted back overboard or into another ballast water tank. The system uses AI and high-speed processors to record the location of the water and as the vessel sails, the BOS Natural Ballast water system constantly sorts through the ballast water, bringing in deep ocean water as required to meet the necessary level of compliance. US-based Hyde Marine has been working toward USCG type-approval for years. It completed its land-based testing for USCG type-approval in October 2018 and is still completing its shipboard testing phase for the Hyde Guardian ballast water treatment system. When shipboard testing is completed in Q2 2019, Hyde will submit the application for its USCG type-approval. Hyde Marine's product manager is Mark Riggio and he is also the president of the newly formed Ballastwater Equipment Manufacturers Association (BEMA). Some say that had it been formed a decade earlier, many of the issues could have been resolved. Now the pressing issue is time: it can take months to plan a retrofit and the next deadline is only months away. As Mr Riggio warned in an open letter, there may be no time left to plan and install a BWMS. “We want to caution you that it is already the last possible minute.” PST

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

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INTERIOR TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN | 61

Chinese yards have not built cruise ships before – so Tomas Tillberg Design was hired by SunStone Ships to deliver the interior a modern cruise ship should have (credit: SunStone Ships)

Interiors: China, a booming orderbook and innovation Newbuild cruise ships reveal the latest interior innovations, while Chinese construction is having an impact on the hotel side

he cruise interiors market is booming – January 2019 opened with 124 ships on the forward-looking cruise ship orderbook, extending through to 2027. The cruise industry is projected to continue to grow throughout 2019 with an estimated 30M travellers expected to cruise, up 6% from 28.2M in 2018. All of this creates opportunities for the interiors market. One of the ships on the cruise orderbook is Iona, which will be delivered to P&O Cruises in 2019. Richmond International was the interior architect for all the public spaces and passenger cabins on the P&O Cruises ship Britannia and was invited to work with P&O again on some of the major public spaces and the passenger cabin and suite design for its new ship Iona.

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The Britannia interior design concept was based around the brief of a fivestar luxury hotel at sea whereas Iona’s interior design direction is British contemporary luxury with a seaside feel, which embraces the ‘sea as the star’, Richmond International director Terry McGillicuddy explained. “The design of Iona's cabins is centred around a contemporary holiday atmosphere and the materials chosen create a seaside aesthetic.” He said “Cabins and suites on large cruise ships are normally very tight spaces, therefore they require careful planning to maximise circulation and storage. There are defined briefs from the owner/operator that outline the full service requirements and respond to their passenger expectations. The circulation flow is extremely important to ensure the passengers

feel comfortable and experience a non-stressful stay, therefore internal planning is key to the success of a great cabin design. “The choice of furniture – light and fresh materials and colours together with soft detailing of all the elements – is crucial to achieve a more spacious and relaxed ambience.” With regards to the interior fit out process, Mr McGillicuddy said “We had to appreciate the limitations in terms of space constraints and minimal ceiling heights and design the interiors around these issues.” Due to restrictions on weight and fire regulations, material specification was a challenge. “We looked at new suppliers and manufacturing processes which have the approved IMO certification for marine use,” he said. He singled out passenger flow as extremely important. “It is vital that cruise ship design is conducive to easy passenger movement. Due to large numbers of passengers, it is important to understand their movement patterns and routines as, for example, all passengers cannot be

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

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INTERIOR TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN | 63

accommodated in every space.” He added “The entertainment programme is crucial to schedule the movement of the passengers from one room to another and disperse them around the ship. All the corridor spaces and the vertical circulation routes between decks need to be considered to cope with such a large numbers of guests. “Designers need to review the passenger movement routes and challenge the circulation of these. Cruise ships are also not the most straightforward of structures to navigate and therefore clear and simple signage systems must be incorporated in the design. For example in our previous project, Britannia, we worked very closely with Jackson Daly to produce a simple London Underground-inspired ship map with iconography describing the types of rooms and facilities.” Looking ahead at passenger expectations of cruise design, he said “Guests now expect more state-ofthe-art vessels, exclusive destinations and authentic memorable experiences; interior design must also respond to and support these demands. This may result in cruise ships becoming more resort like and design more focused on

the deployment markets or passenger origins, which may bring in local and cultural design requirements.” He said technology will also be a key factor to enhance the passenger experience and service expectations. But although technology will be more and more integrated within the design, “there may also be a need to create technology free areas, focusing on a real human interaction”.

China: a ‘new frontier’

Using Chinese shipyards to build cruise ships is a “new frontier” for the cruise ship market, said Tomas Tillberg Design managing partner Tomas Tillberg. Tomas Tillberg Design is heavily involved with building cruise ships and ferries in China. It is heading up interior design for SunStone Ships’ newbuilds being built at China Merchants Industry Holdings’ (CMIH) shipyard and is also playing an important role in Viking Line’s newbuild project being built at Xiamen Shipbuilding in China. Tomas Tillberg Design was awarded the contract to design SunStone Ships’ new expedition cruise ships following a decade-long relationship with the operator. Mr Tillberg elaborated “Chinese

yards have not built cruise ships before but by bringing an experienced European contractor to CMIH we can deliver the interior that a modern cruise ship should have.” He highlighted the great impact he believes China will have on cruise shipbuilding. “China is a new frontier for cruise shipping and for building cruise ships. The Chinese are making a serious effort to get into this market and are committed to staying for the long haul.” A team lead by Tomas Tillberg Design managing partner Carlos H Reyes is responsible for the co-ordination between the shipyard, the outfitters and the architects when it comes to Viking Line’s LNG-fuelled newbuild, being built in Xiamen. Mr Reyes said “Our firm has been hired by the shipyard as part of the shipyard’s team lead by project manager Mr Zeng. What is important is that all the pieces fit together in the puzzle in the best possible way and by working with the shipyard, outfitters and architect, we achieve the product Viking Line is expecting. “The shipyard is capable enough of building a large ferry of this kind and a great team has been put together, consisting of very experienced

Marine Interiors delivered the complete accommodation package on Ponant’s newbuilds for the first time, an aspect that it wants to concentrate on (credit: Ponant - Studio Jean-Philippe)

64 | INTERIOR TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN

companies, including Deltamarin, which is providing engineering and shipbuilding support services.” Using shipyards in China to build cruise ships and ferries is a trend Mr Tillberg is sure will continue. “Major cruise lines are expanding, and European shipyards are full,” he said. As well as newbuilds, Mr Tillberg said that an important part of Tomas Tillberg Design’s work is refurbishment. “As more and more ships are delivered, there is more refurbishment needed, it is an on-going operation. With a newbuild, we have more time, so it is less of a challenge time-wise. On a refurbishment project, there is not very much time, we have to get everything together in short order, so our whole team really have to know what they are doing.”

Joint venture for complete package

Elsewhere, Fincantieri Group-owned Marine Interiors’ portfolio for 2018 is impressive – it has delivered seven newbuildings from five different yards to six different cruise brands. The work included: 12,000 cabins, 6,000 bathrooms and almost 30,000 m2 of public areas. The company also refurbished four cruise ships. The work last year included Ponant’s Le Lapérouse and Le Lyrial, built by Fincantieri’s subsidiary Vard shipyard in Norway. These projects are of great significance as for the first time Marine Interiors carried out the complete accommodation package, involving engineering and integrating the whole hotel side, from cabins and bathrooms to public areas, galleys, provisions and laundry. Marine Interiors chief executive Gabriele Maria Cafaro said “Vard used to do offshore work, so is not used to the hotel part of a cruise vessel. It did not have the expertise to integrate engineering and project management of the hotel part so it relied on us to complete the hotel supply side.” This is just a starting point for Marine Interiors. “We want to do more of this, and now we have

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

delivered the first two vessels, my intention is to further enlarge the product portfolio so that we can deliver the complete accommodation package. We want to do this through joint ventures.” To this end, Marine Interiors established a joint venture with private shareholders Seanergy in 2018 that already has orders worth €100M (US$113.3M). Mr Cafaro said “This will enlarge our portfolio and enable us to install a wider range of products. It will allow us to take advantage of economies of scale when ordering supplies.”

one of the tasks was to replace the solarium with a replica that has been added to its newbuilds. Another example is the refit Trimline carried out on the ultra-luxury Seabourn Quest. One of the refits included upgrading the elevators to bring them to the same standards as Seabourn Encore. “They have been made much more visually impressive, with fabric behind the glass, glossy deckheads and the use of hidden LED lighting to illuminate,” he explained. This contrasts with the previous elevators, which used spotlights and had plainer deckheads.

THE ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAMME IS CRUCIAL TO SCHEDULE THE MOVEMENT OF THE PASSENGERS FROM ONE ROOM TO ANOTHER AND DISPERSE THEM AROUND THE SHIP” Terry McGillicuddy (Richmond International) The company is also moving forward in another area. “We will start a new line at our headquarters for the production of bulk head panels for cabins that will automate the process and more importantly, enable product innovation as these will be the lightest on the market. The new panels will offer up to a 20% reduction in weight compared to Marine Interiors’ current panels due to a lighter insulation material. “With the weight saved, the owner could, roughly, add 20% more cabins at the same performance,” Mr Cafaro said. The company expects to start installing these panels by June 2019.

Standardising current fleets

The cruise interior refit market is also strong. Trimline key account manager Simon Dawkins said cruise operators were standardising their public areas. “As new ships are delivered, they want to replicate the public areas found in these across the fleet. They want ships to all be up to the same standard,” explained Mr Dawkins. He singled out an example – when Trimline worked on Mariner of the Seas,

For Q1 2019, Trimline is working on cruise ship refits including Navigator of the Seas, Celebrity Millennium, Coral Princess, TUI Mein Schiff 2, Celebrity Summit and Marella Explorer 2, as well as ferry refits for DFDS Seaways and Condor Ferries. Marella Explorer 2 is an extremely large refit. It is in Cadiz undergoing an eight-week refurbishment to commence the change from Golden Era to Marella Explorer 2. Trimline is the main contractor on board Marella Explorer 2, and as with previous Marella Cruises refits, is responsible for the majority of the public spaces. A total of 43 km2 of carpet will be laid, along with over 70 km of network cabling and 640 wifi access points. Marella Explorer 2 is the second of the Explorer ships to be welcomed into the Marella Cruises fleet. The 1,814guest capacity ship has 907 cabins across 14 decks. New venues being added as part of the refit include a new golf-themed clubhouse bar, a champagne bar, Nonna’s, a traditional Italian restaurant and the Beach Cove, which has an al fresco dining feel. PST

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66 | INFOTAINMENT SYSTEMS

Functionality, choice and reliable connectivity are key for infotainment systems Technology is expanding the ways in which operators can keep passengers informed and entertained but the maritime environment brings its own challenges

he infotainment market is becoming ever more sophisticated. Passengers accustomed to having information and entertainment at their fingertips on land expect the same while at sea, and whether operating ferries or cruise vessels, operators need to factor this demand into their offerings if they are to keep customers coming back and develop new business. Porsgrunn, Norway-based Baze Technology produces an internet protocol television (IPTV) system specifically tailored for the maritime sector, BazePort. Chairman Thorstein Rinker discussed with PST what is driving the trend toward more sophisticated infotainment packages, the latest innovations in this area and what kind of packages audiences are demanding.

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

Mr Rinker cites the example of a package delivered to Irish Ferries for luxury cruise ferry WB Yeats, which entered service in January 2019 and operates on the Dublin-Holyhead route. “On a vessel like that we will deliver anything that has to do with entertainment and information, meaning that we give them software that’s running on set-top boxes and servers connected to TV sets,” says Mr Rinker. “More than 500 cabins on that vessel will have a TV, and that TV is controlled by our BazePort IPTV solution.” But it is not only in-cabin entertainment that can be handled via BazePort, Mr Rinker added. “They will have digital signage screens around the vessel, showcasing products they want to upsell,” he said, noting that this can be used to promote restaurants or offers in onboard shops. Content such as information channels, portals, information bulletins, promotions and entertainment can be pushed out to this system from the shoreside via a web portal, Mr Rinker said, meaning Irish Ferries’ Dublin office can push updates out live even while the vessel is in transit. As well as accessing content via onboard TV sets and digital signage, passengers can also access it via their own

www.passengership.info

INFOTAINMENT SYSTEMS | 67

Baze Technology’s BazePort system is integrated on board Irish Ferries’ vessel WB Yeats (credit: Irish Ferries)

devices such as smartphones, tablets and computers using a web browser-based app. Mr Rinker explained that an issue the industry has faced for some time is that of backwards compatibility. If operators purchase an expensive infotainment system, they want to know that it will be supported and fit-for-purpose for customers’ needs for a long time. BazePort remedies this by building backwards compatibility into both software and hardware. “It doesn’t matter which version of our set-top box you have installed, what I make today as software will work on that setup as well,” he said. Another key element is customisability. Clients in different markets have different needs and budgets, Mr Rinker said, noting that a ropax client in the Mediterranean will have a very different approach to an operator in the Irish Sea. BazePort 7, the latest version of Baze Technology’s software, incorporates an updated statistics module. This allows operators to drill down into data and get an exact overview on usage, including not just installed hardware such as TV sets, but also personal entertainment devices. With content packages on offer to meet a range of needs, and subtitles and dubbing in several languages, operators can tailor the content they provide to suit their budgets and the tastes of audiences. Different functionalities are available as separate licences, with TV functionality, video-on-demand, radio and information channels being some of the licences available. If an operator finds high demand for a particular type of content, or that it has different requirements to the licence it initially signed up for, it is straightforward to add an additional licence. “You can pick and choose what you want but inside the system the code is the same and everything is standardised,” said Mr Rinker. The look and feel of BazePort can also be customised, said

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Mr Rinker, explaining that fonts, colours and logos can be altered by the operator to suit their needs. Hurtigruten, the Norwegian coastal cruise company, has in recent years upgraded existing vessels and added a new vessel to its fleet. This included installing Baze Technologies’ system on board vessels. The solution Hurtigruten opted for provides entertainment to guests and crew and functions as a public display system in hallways and restaurants. Another case study is that of Color Line’s Color Magic, a 224-m, 6,133-dwt ropax vessel. In January 2018, Baze Technology undertook a complete replacement of Color Magic’s TV system, switching out the old system for BazePort IPTV. This involved replacing all TV sets, wall mount brackets, switches and head end equipment. Color Line uses the IPTV system to transmit GPS-based safety and information film features, news tickers and other messaging. “We specialise in working with clients far out at sea, which need specialised systems that can be run and maintained remotely,” said Mr Rinker, adding that as well as being able to perform remote maintenance, Baze Technology also employs staff with relevant knowledge and certification to work on board vessels and offshore platforms. Speaking with Mr Rinker, it seems clear there are three key elements for owners to consider when it comes to infotainment: reliability – such as ease of maintenance and capability of handling many users accessing content at once; customisability – in terms of content available and the look and feel, and ease of pushing out updates and new content; and quality of content – being able to provide content to suit a wide range of tastes, to a range of devices. Passengers expect to access content with the same ease as they can on their sofas at home, and the technology is now there for owners to provide this. PST

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

68 | INFOTAINMENT SYSTEMS

MSC Cruises rolls out in-cabin AI assistant with machine learning functionality

assengers on board MSC Cruises' vessels will have their very own robotic concierge to ensure their voyage goes smoothly. Zoe, a voice-enabled artifical intelligence (AI), was launched by MSC in February 2019. The AI will be able to answer questions about life on board, help with excursion and restaurant reservations, check bills, and more. The system is the first of its type to be introduced to the cruise industry, and brings together integrated technologies such as machine learning, natural language processing and smart audio technology. The system underwent extensive testing in areas such as speech recognition, ability to transform speech to text and vice versa, and other behavioural, experiential and performance tests. The system is also designed to continue learning and developing responses based on real-life guest interactions. Similar to consumer digital assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa and

MSC Cruises brings together machine learning and natural language processing with Zoe

Google Assistant, Zoe is activated by saying “OK Zoe,” and can understand requests in seven languages. It has been programmed to respond to more than 800 of the most commonly asked questions and understand thousands of variants of each question. The system was developed in partnership with Samsung Electronics and subsidiary Harman International Industries, which specialises in connected technology. Harman’s president of connected services and chief technology officer Sanjay Dhawan said “Digital assistants and voice recognition technologies are transforming the opportunity to create a guest experience that is highly

MSC Cruises’ in-cabin AI assistant Zoe was launched in February 2019

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

personal, adaptable and intuitive.” Zoe incorporates far-field microphones and a high-quality speaker. A quad-core processor means it can process requests and respond quickly, and Bluetooth functionality allows guests to connect directly to the device and access music and podcasts to play through the speaker. MSC has designed Zoe to work alongside MSC for Me, a technology launched in 2017 that aims to assist guests with navigation and organisation on board vessels through connectivity points, digital access points, interactive screens and other technology. An example of this is that Zoe interacts with the in-cabin TV, using Samsung Electronics’ Hotel Management System software to provide guests with more indepth information and other services. MSC Cruises chief executive officer Gianni Onorato said “The [MSC for Me] technology was built into the very design of the new ships, incorporated into every step of the development process of each prototype, from conception and construction. This was just the starting point in providing a connected cruise experience. “There was a core guest need to be met, which was to find answers to common questions in a quick and easy way, enabling guests to make the most of their holiday. We researched the latest connected technologies and identified voice assistants and artificial intelligence as the way to meet this need and the work on Zoe began.” Zoe is being rolled out first on MSC Bellissima, followed by MSC Grandiosa and MSC Virtuosa in 2020. PST

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Shipmanagement: automation, big data and expedition cruise

hipmanagers are boosting their IT offerings to make their services more efficient and capitalising on fastgrowing niche sectors, including expedition cruise ships. These are areas Cruise Management International (CMI) is focusing on. CMI has grown quickly under the management of its president and chief executive Jim Barreiro de León. The company had 11 cruise ships under management when he joined the company in May 2017 – this is set to grow to 19 vessels under contract by the end of this year and to reach 25 vessels by the end of 2021 as SunStone Ships continues its newbuild programme in China. While CMI manages SunStone’s ships, it manages many third-party ships as well. Recent vessel contracts include Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line’s Grand Classica, Jewel Owners' Gemini, Semester at Sea's World Odyssey, operating as Deutschlandin the summer for Phoenix Reisen, and the passenger ferry Kydon for America Cruise Ferries. It is also set to manage SunStone Ships’ first newbuild, Greg Mortimer, due to be delivered in August 2019, and handed over to its charterer Aurora Expeditions shortly thereafter. Shipowner SunStone Ships is the parent company of CMI, which provides shipmanagement services to all of SunStone’s ships. Sister ship management company CMI Leisure provides hospitality/ catering services. Mr Barreiro de León said while the company did not want to be restricted to the expedition sector, it was an expert within this cruise area, as well as in the small ship sector. “A lot of small ship segment cruise ships are adventure or soft expedition ships going to warmer places – we really understand that small ship segment very well.” Mr Barreiro de León highlighted the benefits of being owned by a shipowner. “We have a value proposition that as a boutique ship manager and also a

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

Passenger vessel shipmanagers are boosting their offerings with an increased focus on remote monitoring and data analytics, with business increasingly buoyant within the expedition cruise sector

Jim Barreiro de León (CMI): As a boutique ship manager and shipowner we understand the pressure points that these smaller operators experience

shipowner we understand the pressure points that these smaller operators experience. We tailor-make our services as we understand small ships and expedition operations, we engage with the charterer's staff on board by ensuring we deliver a heightened passenger experience. Our crew are dedicated to our organisation and we take a transparent approach with our clients in managing their vessels. We do not apply cross-sales tactics like the larger companies do and we allow our clients to benefit from our economy of scale”. He continued “This was the intention of our principals since the very first day they started this organisation and I am proud to continue this tradition.” He added “We want to partner with niche operators that see the value of using a company like CMI. We can provide a lot of scalability to the benefits of our clients, our insurance premiums and coverage is the best I have seen in the industry, and we are solution driven every step of the way”. Meanwhile, CMI Ship Management is undergoing a thorough automation process, a main lynchpin of which is adopting the ship management software, InfoShip, provided by IB USA Inc. “This is the essential component, connecting all moving parts together, the purchasing, reporting and compliance modules and interfacing them with our accounting system.” CMI has been customising it to its needs and rolling it out over the past year. It will be completed by the end of February this year. Mr Barreiro de León highlighted multiple benefits. “It removes the manual process and through the integration into our system it will add to our solution-driven management approach. The system is cloud-based and available to our fleet management cells through a mobile app. This will further improve our services, create efficiencies and accuracy in reporting to our clients”. Another major focus for CMI has been to establish fleet agreements with new “strategic

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partners to support us with our growth and infrastructure as we expand our fleet”, stated Mr Barreiro de León. Besides partnering with the online crew database provider, Crew Inspector, which combines CMI’s crew database, contracting, payroll and document issuing, CMI has also signed an agreement with communications service provider Speedcast. CMI changed their strategy regarding crewing and training and has signed up with new crew agencies in Odessa and Manila, which are now offering career development opportunities for its crew and enhanced crew engagement policies, through a CMI customised programme to ensure crew is taken care of while at home. “We are partnering with organisations and people that continue to operate on the cutting edge of technology, and that share our vision for ‘total lifecycle shipmanagement’, ensuring that our clients benefit instantly without having to make major investments themselves for this type of infrastructure requirement.”

Data analytics advances

V.Group has applied remote monitoring, data analytics and communications technologies to improve key performance indicators (KPIs) for procurement, certification, defect reporting and applying best working practices within a fleet of vessels. These technologies, along with collaborative thinking, were adopted for the Fleet Cell of the Future prototype developed this year for technical management and marine support services. V.Group ran a testbed of the fleet cell model in Glasgow, Scotland this year covering management of a fleet of 17 ships. “We enhanced technical management, changed the layout, improved our processes and introduced more KPIs to measure the output of the fleet cell,” V.Group chief commercial officer Martin Gaard Christiansen said. “We then looked at how people communicated with each other, worked together and solved problems,” he told Passenger Ship Technology. Mr Gaard Christiansen explained that the fleet cell is open to new approaches, has quicker communications and recall of data between shipmanagers and crew on board ships within the cell. “We have developed

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ABOVE: CMI tailormakes its services, as it understands small ships and expedition operations (Pictured is Jewel Owners’ Gemini. Credit: CMI)

WE ARE COLLABORATING WITH CUSTOMERS ON THEIR VESSELS' HARDWARE” Martin Gaard Christiansen (V.Group)

more efficient ways of monitoring the ships,” said Mr Gaard Christiansen, who added there were challenges still to overcome. Satellite communications enable electronic documentation and data transmissions between the fleet cell and managed vessels. “Increasing requirements for data means we need higher bandwidth for uploading and downloading,” he explained. “Many vessels do not have high tech communications, so it is challenging to collect data from these ships.” Mr Gaard Christiansen said that there were methods for overcoming these challenges for owners and managers. “We need to retrofit communications for the level of analysis we are heading to,” he explained. “We are grappling with communications and collaborating with customers on the hardware on their vessels.” Another way is to keep raw data on the ship instead of sending it all in packages. “Data can remain on vessels and be analysed on board,” said Mr Gaard Christiansen. “Data can be integrated, and a selection can be brought back to shore.” This data can be converted to information on board for the crew to use to make efficiency improvements and improve safety and reliability. “We do not need all of the data at our fleet cell. The best place for this data is to enhance decision making on board,” he said. This can be displayed on dashboards on the bridge for crew to analyse operational data

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

72 | SHIPMANAGEMENT technical and crew

more effectively. “Crews need actionable and operational information, while onshore management needs different information to drive their decisions,” said Mr Gaard Christiansen. Once information is transferred from the ships it is displayed and analysed by shipmanagers as the fleet cell has multiple high-definition screens displaying vessel status, performance and positioning data. V.Group’s fleet cell of the future is about improving teamwork and decision making. It has introduced daily meetings and provided everyone in the cell with the permission and responsibility to solve problems. “It is about changing our workflows and empowering everyone on the team to try new things and see if they make a difference to the results we deliver for our clients,” said Mr Gaard Christiansen. V.Group is introducing more fleet cells to improve efficiency in other shipmanagement teams. It could have 45 in place to cover the whole of the managed fleet. “We want to have every fleet cell working with the same technology and sharing experiences with colleagues around the world,” said Mr Gaard Christiansen. “We have a pipeline of technology we will be trying out in the fleet cells. We would then adopt new technology once it has proven it is effective.” V.Group has an innovation portal to assist technology evaluation and collaborates with universities and other institutions to develop ways for better data analytics and fleet remote monitoring.

Digitalising data

“We use a range of data for analytics, including noon reports, ship position, machinery condition monitoring and fuel efficiency,” said Mr Gaard Christiansen. He expects more ships will transmit digital data as paper records are phased out. “The problem with paper records is they are inefficient and can have an impact on safety,” he explained. “Putting this online would be better for seafarers, clients and provides faster access to the information which adds more value than manual paper pushing.” Digital information can be viewed outside the fleet cell in real-time on mobile devices using V.Group’s ShipSure 2.0 application.

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

V.Group fleet managers can use displays to analyse vessel status and performance as part of its Fleet Cell of the Future model This enables clients to monitor vital data such as fuel consumption, sailing speed and conditions at sea. They can also check whether planned maintenance is overdue, and why, and request copies of test certificates. ShipSure can generate critical spares alerts, compare budgeted running costs against real expenditure and generate invoices for procurement.

CCS unveils landmark refit

Meanwhile, Columbia Cruise Services (CCS) has announced that Marella Cruises’ sixth vessel is joining the CCS operation upon the management handover in Spain. It will undergo a complete technical overhaul and rebranding under CCS supervision at Navantia shipyard. CCS said the eight-week period will be the most expensive refit in the history of CCS. This will include large-scale painting works to meet the Marella Cruises’ brand standards, extensive glass and Bolidt refurbishments, upgrades to balconies and life-saving equipment. Marella Explorer 2 is scheduled to welcome its first passengers on 2 April this year. PST

WE HAVE A PIPELINE OF TECHNOLOGY THAT WE WILL BE TRYING OUT IN THE FLEET CELLS” Martin Gaard Christiansen (V.Group)

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Communication systems ELECTRONICS | 75

Passenger demand drives investment in connectivity and broadband Guest demand for social media and online applications is pushing further investment in fast broadband VSAT and onboard wifi on passenger ships

ruise ship operators are upgrading onboard and satellite communications across their fleets to deliver broadband and applications their guests expect as standard during their holidays. Increasing demand is pushing owners to invest in new onboard wifi systems and communications hardware for new satellites. Bandwidth delivered to cruise ships is rising rapidly with more vessels absorbing over 100 Mbps of bandwidth on a regular basis. This is delivered through VSAT services, such as C-band and widebeam Ku-band, and

Stewart Sanders (SES): “We have 16 MEO satellites in orbit and another four ready for launch in March 2019”

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increasingly high-throughput Ka-band coverage and high-intensity Ku-band spot beams. Satellite operator SES has invested in new satellites for its constellations to boost bandwidth availability to cruise ships. SES executive vice president for technology programs and innovation Stewart Sanders explained to Passenger Ship Technology some of the possibilities and expectations of satellite communications for cruise shipping. He said bandwidth of more than 2 Gbps is possible through the latest high-throughput satellites (HTS) as demonstrated in 2018. During that event, connectivity over the satellite link reached 2.4 Gbps on board 2014built Regal Princess from Carnival Corp’s Princess Cruises brand. SES’ combined O3b medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites’ high throughput and low-latency Ka-band beams, complemented geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) coverage for Carnival Corp’s MedallionNet connectivity service, which is an exclusive feature of Medallion-class ships. This record was achieved while the ship was anchored off Princess Cays in the outer Bahamas with service enabled over the O3b MEO maritime service. As Mr Sanders told PST, this pushed the VSAT technology to a new limit, but is far in excess of what cruise ships require for daily operations; currently SES Networks enables connectivity

services scaling from 100 Mbps to over 1 Gbps to a single cruise ship. This is compared with a cruise industry average of around 30-50 Mbps per ship. But more bandwidth will be required in the very near future. “We enable low-latency connectivity in hundreds of Mbps and can provide Gbps if required,” said Mr Sanders during an exclusive interview at a satellite integration factory in Rome, Italy. “We have cruise clients operating ships from 100 Mbps, and this will continue to grow with peak operations today exceeding 800 Mbps over the O3b MEO maritime service.” He explained why demand for low-latency broadband connectivity is climbing rapidly in the global cruise sector. Passengers want to use a ship’s downlink connection for downloading media content, using high-definition streaming services, real-time online gaming and for video conferencing. All these requirements are provided by GEO and 16 O3b satellites when ships are in coverage. SES maritime segment leader Greg Martin said cruise industry communications technology “is going through a significant change” with owners designing networks around guest internet requirements. “A lot of cruise lines are going through fleet drydockings to increase capacity and upgrade networks and onboard wifi,”

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

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Communication systems ELECTRONICS | 77

he told PST. Around 80% of a cruise ship’s bandwidth is dedicated to guest services. The other 20% is split between providing crew welfare and communications for ship operations. “Bandwidth limitations are in the past and we can provide 100-200 Mbps to ships,” said Mr Martin. “Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Oasis-class ships want 500 Mbps, which we can provide, and more.” SES provides bandwidth by coupling MEO broadband with the GEO constellation of satellites for these ships. The latest of these vessels, Symphony of the Seas, was delivered in March 2018, and Chantiers de l’Atlantique will deliver another vessel in 2021. In February 2019, the French shipbuilder announced that a sixth Oasis-class ship had been ordered by Royal Caribbean Cruises for delivery in 2023. “We have 16 MEO O3b satellites in orbit and another four ready for launch in March 2019,” said Mr Martin. To use both MEO and GEO coverage, cruise ships need multi-band and multi-orbit antennas and terminals. Carnival’s Princess Cruises is currently deploying tri-band antennas for SES coverage on ships as it rolls out MedallionNet. These are at least 2.4 m

Engineers at Thales Alenia Space test SES’ O3b satellites in Rome, Italy

in diameter and operate in Ku-band and C-band for GEO coverage and MEO Ka-band when ships are within the O3b satellite service areas. SES Networks pioneered Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Voom internet service and has recently announced that MSC Cruises’ new megabuild ships will be powered by SES Networks’ Signature maritime solution. These use the latest innovation in dual-band antennas on their ships for seamless connection between all satellite bands.

Epic broadband

A tri-band antenna is installed on a Carnival cruise ship to enable MedallionNet connectivity through SES’ multi-orbit network

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For cruise ships that do not need Ka-band, Intelsat’s EpicNG constellation can offer high-intensity spot beams of Ku-band in the main operating regions. This constellation is set to be completed when Horizons 3e is commissioned in Q1 2019. This HTS was launched in September 2018 to provide highthroughput coverage over the Asia Pacific region. Intelsat joined forces with Sky Perfect JSAT Corp to deliver a major improvement in connectivity to shipping routes. For cruise ships, Intelsat EpicNG has delivered more than 500 Mbps to vessels. This was demonstrated on MSC Cruises’ ship MSC Seaside over Marlink’s Sealink VSAT. During normal operations, VSAT

bandwidth for the whole ship will not be as high as this, but will still be around 100 Mbps. Intelsat vice president and general manager for mobility services Mark Rasmussen explained that EpicNG spot beams complement widebeam Ku-band from the rest of Intelsat’s satellites. Some of its satellites have both widebeam and spot beams. For example, Horizons 3e’s wide beams deliver connectivity over the whole Asia Pacific region, while spot beams are over the main population centres and shipping lanes. This satellite has an advanced digital payload with full beam interconnectivity in commercial bands and significant upgrades on power, efficiency and coverage flexibility, said Mr Rasmussen.

Regional connectivity

Not all satellite connectivity needs to be global as some cruise ferries only operate in one region. For example, passenger ships operating in Norwegian fjords and into the Arctic can use Ka-band coverage on Telenor Satellite’s Thor 7 satellite for broadband communications. Telenor Satellite director of data services Jan Hetland said this VSAT platform typically provides 30-40 Mbps as maximum bandwidth. “But, through platform upgrades we expect to be able to deliver 100+ Mbps later

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

78 | ELECTRONICS communication systems

this year,” he told PST. “In principle, we can deliver up to 300-400 Mbps to a single vessel but that would require a different service platform than we currently operate,” Mr Hetland said, adding “but this is definitely under consideration.” Telenor Satellite introduced its Anker Ka-band maritime managed services, which uses Thor 7, for operators of ferries, cruise ships and other vessel types. It has three products – Anker Speed, Quota and Custom. Through its reseller network, Telenor Satellite currently provides Ka-band Anker services to more than 50 passenger ships throughout the Thor 7 coverage area. The largest passenger vessels on this service can accommodate more than 2,000 passengers. Mr Hetland said bandwidth demand from ferries is increasing as passengers expect connectivity for their mobile devices around the ship. “Increasingly we see ferry operators rolling out wifi services on board – sometimes as a paid service while for others it is free and available to all passengers,” he said. Telenor Maritime has introduced mobile ecosystems on board Brittany Ferries ships. This includes VSAT connectivity hardware, wifi access points and mobile broadband backhaul on ferries operating between France and the UK, Ireland, and Spain. A mobile ecosystem will also be installed on Brittany Ferries’ US$220M LNG-powered newbuilding, Honfleur, scheduled to be brought into operation between Portsmouth, UK, and Caen, France, in June 2019. This vessel, being built by Flensburger SchiffbauGesellschaft in Germany, will also be equipped with hardware to link to 3G mobile phone networks for additional passenger services. “Connectivity drives all our customer communications, so it has never been more important to us,” said Brittany Ferries director of sales and customer experience Joëlle Croc. VSAT connectivity will be delivered through a series of antennas linked to a below-deck equipment stack that includes antenna control and

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

broadband management units, plus modem and wifi routeing modules.

Future of fjord communications

Also in Norway, an operator of allelectric ferries has installed forests of antennas and onboard wifi on ships. These networks deliver connectivity to passengers during their scenic voyages through fjords and soon this will be extended to city landscapes. Owning group The Fjords operates 11 vessels in Western Norway’s fjords area, including two flagship electricpowered passenger ferries, Vision of The Fjords and Future of The Fjords. This company is jointly owned by tourist body Flåm and Norwegian ferry company Fjord1. At the end of 2018, The Fjords announced that a third of these zeroemissions vessels, Legacy of The Fjords, would be built for passenger voyages in Oslo and the surrounding area. It is due to enter service in May 2020. The existing two sister vessels provide an optimal passenger experience while safeguarding the unique environments they sail in, said Flåm IT manager Geir Inge Tufte. “The main idea is to give the guests a good experience that is silent and clean,” he told PST, while explaining there is infrastructure on board to deliver online services, including social media to 400 passengers. “Our guests are able to typically use Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and online news services,” he explained, using their own mobile devices during voyages. This connectivity is also required

OUR GUESTS ARE TYPICALLY ABLE TO USE FACEBOOK, SNAPCHAT, TWITTER AND ONLINE NEWS SERVICES” Geir Inge Tufte (Flåm)

for the onboard entertainment systems, connections to ticketing systems and a conferencing facility. Crew also need online connectivity for running onboard computers and operating systems, said Mr Tufte. Communications systems on Vision of The Fjords and Future of The Fjords consist of antennas on the wheelhouse for connection with Norway’s 3G and 4G mobile phone networks. There are onboard 4G-enabled routers, switches and wifi access points and firewalls for cyber security, Mr Tufte explained. “We provide wifi for all our guests for connectivity to the entertainment and ticketing, but we focus on having discreet designs,” he said. Onboard entertainment systems include a NaviGuiding Server that provides guidance to guests during voyages. There are 14 screens of between 40-65-in in size and player panels. There is a distribution system for audio and video and speakers inside and outside the main ferry accommodation. The screens are also used for conferencing, plus there are three projectors and an AKG microphone system. PST

Future of the Fjords has antennas on the wheelhouse for connection with Norway’s 3G and 4G mobile phone networks

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2020 to spur cruise fuel cell development Fuel cells will be a future option for cruise ships and ferries, especially through decentralised energy production on ships, says Bureau Veritas global market leader, passenger ships and ferries, Andreas Ullrich

he advent of the new emissions regulation of 2020 will drive the deployment of fuel cells in the cruise ship sector, and lead to more decentralised power arrangements on vessels, said Bureau Veritas (BV) global market leader passenger ship and ferries Andreas Ullrich. BV is supporting owners across all ship types to meet the 2020 low sulphur directive and thinking about the industry's ambitions to decarbonise. Alternative fuel and energy supply arrangements, such as fuel cells, will be part of the solution to reduce emissions. Examples of work in this respect include the classification of Ponant’s LNG-fuelled icebreaker, being built at Vard shipyard and due for delivery in 2021. It is also classing MSC Cruises’ LNG dual-fuelled World-class series. Mr Ullrich said “The 2020 and 2050 regulations are a huge challenge. LNG and hybrid energy solutions, such as fuel cell applications, will provide a pathway to compliance and compliance plus.” While not currently available, he said that he was “very confident” that fuel cell applications would be used in future. Expanding, he said “At the moment, the best fuels for 2020 compliance are LNG and low sulphur fuel, but I am

Passenger Ship Technology | 1st Quarter 2019

hoping that biofuels enter the mix. There was a lot of research into fuel cells during the oil crisis in the 1980s, then this was dropped. But the new 2020 requirements mean this is popping up again. The large cruise liners such as Carnival and Royal Caribbean are looking at fuel cells, and Viking Line is also looking into the technology.” Mr Ullrich said he is keen for the industry to use fuel cells, especially if they use hydrogen or fuels produced from renewable energy. “They produce zero CO2, and if produced from renewable energy, there is no NOx, SOx or particulate matter.” But Mr Ullrich believes it will be a while before fuel cells can be produced from renewable energy, even though research projects are underway. “If produced from renewable energy, it will take a long time as the output from the fuel cells needs to be improved.” He added that the biggest challenge of hydrogen-produced renewable energy is storage because it is flammable and explosive. Legislation will be required to allow the use of such fuels and is already under consideration. One area he singled out as seeing fuel cells playing a role is through decentralising energy production on cruise ships and ferries. He elaborated “Generators and battery packs are not necessarily located in the same place and may have different applications, such as deploying batteries for peak shaving or when in port. I could see fuel cells being used in the same way.” Mr Ullrich believes that battery use is a fast-growing area that will have more potential in future. “There are challenges with the cost, weight and power output of battery packs” he said. “But batteries

Andreas Ullrich (BV): Currently, the best fuels for 2020 compliance are LNG and low sulphur fuel, but he is hopeful about biofuels entering the mix, too

are developing very fast and power output is increasing, battery lifetimes are increasing, and costs are going down.” He highlighted that currently LNG is seen as a major way to be compliant with 2020 . Nevertheless, it will be a while before many expedition cruise ships consider this as a strong option. “Expedition cruise ships do not consider it a good option because of availability. Development might come but it is always a question of chicken and egg – who is first?” An exception to this is Ponant’s LNG-fuelled ice-breaker. He summed up “There is no single solution to meet all requirements [to meet the 2020 directive]. “Cruise ship and ferry operators need to look at their operational profile and availability of fuel.” PST

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