NEWS ROUND-UP
Strathclyde and includes owners, represented through Intertanko, a classification society and ship repair yard Lisnave Estaleiros Navais. Key areas of focus will include the means
of detecting fatigue cracks and recording the presence of fatigue cracks prior to repairs or renewals, the means of predicting and monitoring rates of corrosion particularly in spaces adjacent to heated cargo tanks, the importance of close-up inspections during surveys and inspections by crew and the requirement for the annual close up examination of a tank that is able to carry ballast water where the tank is uncoated or where the tank coating is in poor condition. The European Commission is providing
E600,000 to fund the study, which is scheduled to finish October 31 2008.
Aker into Asia AKER Yards has unveiled plans to set up its first Asian outpost, after announcing a new joint venture to establish a yard in Vietnam. The new yard, which will initially target regional demand for offshore vessels will be controlled 70% by Aker and 30% by Singapore-based Amanda Group. It will be located in Vung Tau, in the heart of Vietnam's growing offshore operations. Aker Yards said it would invest US$16m
over a period of three years in the venture, with the first vessels expected to be delivered in 2009. Once full operations are underway, the facility will have an annual capacity of 3-4 vessels, dependent of vessel type and size, with early output likely to focus on anchor handling tugs of between 60tonnes and 140tonnes bollard pull, as well as small to medium sized platform support vessels. Larger vessels may feature later on.
Wärtsilä backs gas scrubbing WÄRTSILÄ has established a two-year project to develop exhaust gas scrubbing in order to remove sulphur oxides (SOx) from marine diesel engines and oil-fired boilers. It is the first engine manufacturer to become directly involved in investigating the reduction of emissions through gas scrubbing. The aim of the venture is to analyse
the equipment’s performance in realistic applications, identify any difficulties, and to design a complete exhaust gas cleaning system. For engines burning typical grades of heavy fuel oil, the effects of scrubber design on performance, lifetime and economy, as well as the effects of scrubbing equipment on installation requirements, discharge water criteria, and ecological impact will be investigated. Sulphur contents of these oils is usually 1.5%
to 2.5%, with no method of designing diesel engines or boilers to reduce SOx emissions. The two options to decrease the emissions are either to burn lower sulphur fuels or treat the existing exhaust gases with a scrubbing system. However, low-sulphur fuel oils can increase bunker costs. Wärtsilä said exhaust gas scrubbing seemed
to offer the most economical solution, balancing investment, bunker, and operational costs. A selection of technical solutions may be required for different demands and applications,
6 THE NAVAL ARCHITECT FEBRUARY 2007
geographical areas, and routes. Reduced scrubber efficiency in low alkaline waters could be compensated for, the manufacturer said.
Silicone fouling release for ULCCs BELGIAN tanker company Euronav has ordered a silicone fouling release system from Hempel, for two ultra-large crude carriers (ULCC). The Hempasil branded coating will be applied to the TI Asia and the TI Europe in drydocks later this year. The tankers are 380m in length, with a deadweight of more than 440,000dwt. Traditionally, silicone coatings have only
been applied to smaller, high speed craft. However, Hempel’s Torben Rasmussen, product manager, group marine marketing, said that, working closely with Euronav, the breakthrough had been accomplished by virtue of ULCCs’ fairly swift operating speeds of up to 16knots, which fits the Hempasil product profile. Mr Rasmussen also claimed that the initial
cost expense of silicone fouling release systems was offset by a reduced need for maintenance, enabling a purchaser to break even, compared to coatings using copper leeching, in around two and a half years. He said that the lifetime of the Hempasil system could also be extended, “By blasting back to bare metal and applying a high-quality anticorrosive coating system, the fouling release performance can be brought back to standard and reactivated by applying a fresh layer of topcoat.” Nexus tiecoat technology was claimed to
give strong adhesive properties to Hempasil, ensuring a chemical bond between the epoxy anticorrosion layer and the silicone-based topcoat. Reduced drag resulting from the smoother topcoat was said to save fuel as well as decrease the number of biocides released into the sea.
BG opts for dual fuel WHAT are believed to be the largest liquefied natural gas carriers to be specified with the dual fuel diesel electric propulsion solution have been ordered by BG Group from Samsung Heavy Industries Co, of South Korea. The two newbuild LNG carriers will each have a cargo capacity of 170,000m3
and are scheduled to be
delivered in 2010. Martin Houston, BG executive vice president
and managing director, North America, Caribbean and Global LNG, said the pair would replace chartered ships, and would provide
‘increased flexibility in meeting the growing demand by our customers for clean burning natural gas’. Samsung will build, equip, launch and deliver the ships using the GTT Mark III membrane cargo containment system. Samsung is already building four 145,000m3
capacity LNG carriers for BG at the Geoje Island Shipyard in South Korea, with deliveries scheduled for 2007 and 2008. At 170,000m3
(cargo capacity), the latest order
represents a new design for BG, requiring hull modifications over their forerunners. BG said the larger ships would provide flexibility for access into re-gasification terminals around the world. The deal represents a first break with steam
turbine propulsion for BG, in line with market developments. Each ship will be equipped with three 12 cylinder and one six cylinder Wärtsilä 50DF engines, to be delivered direct from Trieste, where the smaller engines will be for use during low load conditions, for example in-port. The 50DF engine offers thermal efficiency of
around 48%, falling to around 43% once losses in the electrical drive propulsion unit are taken into account.
Motia takes type II VENICE-based tanker operator Motia Compagnia di Navigazione has taken delivery of two state of the art 35,000dwt IMO Type II chemical/product tankers. The vessels, named Alice and Aurora, were built by Korea's STX Shipbuilding Co and will enter service with the Handytankers pool. Antonio Zacchello, managing director of Motia,
said the new ships were 'visible evidence of our commitment to provide top quality charterers with the safest, cleanest and newest tonnage available. Our $700m newbuilding programme includes nine more product tankers from China, ranging from 38,000dwt up to 74,000dwt, two panamax bulk carriers from Japan and three more aframaxes from China - all due for delivery between 2007 and 2009.' At the end of the newbuilding programme the Zacchello Group will be controlling about 62 ships including a fleet of 16 long-term time chartered ships, in addition to 50% of the ten SynerGas gas carriers. The 180m LOA vessels have six pairs of coated cargo tanks with a total cargo capacity of 45,000m3
served by twelve single stage
submerged hydraulic self-stripping centrifugal pumps providing a total discharge capability of 2700m3
with six segregations. The STX
MAN B&W 6S50MC-C main engine provides 10,965BHP at 85% MCR to give a service speed of 14.6knots.
Alice, one of two state of the art tankers delivered to Motia.
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