It’s Good News Monday!
This Monday we talk about:
First Look at Maersk’s New Green Methanol-Powered Containerships
'Missing Link' - Thermoplastic Composite Pipes Could Transport Hydrogen from Offshore Wind Turbines
DSME Orders Wärtsilä Thrusters for Eneti's WTIV
Potable water solutions for ships to reduce plastic litter
Kongsberg Digital Bags 5-year Extension with Heerema Marine Contractors
Shuttle tankers: Wärtsilä tool aids dynamic position thruster configurations
Rendering of a new methanol-powered containership. “Photo credit: A.P. Moller-Maersk”. Image from gCaptain.
Maersk has released its design for a carbon-neutral ultra-large containership powered by methanol. Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) plans to deliver the 16,000 TEU ships in Q1 2024. The new design features forward accommodation for more capacity and a reduced funnel footprint. It took almost five years to design with an emphasis on crew comfort and hull strength, since the accommodation block would usually help to support the hull. The 350 meter long and 53.5 meter wide vessel will have the ability to operate on the usual low sulphur fuel or green methanol, with a 16,000 cubic meter fuel tank providing enough fuel for a round trip from Asia to Europe without refueling. “Renewable methanol, aka green methanol or e-methanol, is an ultra-low carbon chemical produced from sustainable biomass (called bio-methanol) or captured carbon dioxide and hydrogen produced from renewable electricity, according to the Methanol Institute.”
“Credit: Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy”. Image from Offshore Engineer.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy signed an agreement with Strohm to develop hydrogen transfer solutions, in this case transferring hydrogen via a Thermoplastic Composite Pipe (TCP) instead of power cables. TCP does not corrode, become brittle, or fatigue and its flexibility means it can be wound onto spools and pulled to the wind turbines. The pipe can go 30 years without maintenance and is described as the ‘missing link’ in generating green hydrogen offshore.
“Eneti wind turbine installation vessel with Wärtsilä thrusters © Eneti”. Image from Offshore Engineer.
Wärtsilä will be supplying seven Gusto 16000X design thrusters for Eneti’s new Wind Turbine Installation Vessel, or WTIV. The vessel is being manufactured at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine in South Korea and there is an option for a second vessel. The thruster systems are retractable and feature an 8 degree tilt for energy efficiency and reliable station-keeping. Wärtsilä said "the tilt delivers up to 23 percent higher effective thrust than non-tilted thrusters while reducing the power requirement and fuel consumption. The retractable thrusters have a combined electric steering and retraction system which saves space and weight, and which has fewer components for greater reliability". The scope is for six Wärtsilä WST-32 thrusters and one Wärtsilä WTT-36 thruster.
“Crystali4Sea 600 is an end-to-end potable water solution for ships (source: P Ships)”. Image from Riviera.
“MEPC’s adoption of the Strategy to Address Marine Plastic Litter from Ships could see potable water systems reduce shipboard reliance on plastic bottles”. Companies like P Ship Systems provide solutions to treat water for drinking. They can save ship operators time and money while reducing the amount of potential plastic that could make its way into the environment.
Bridge simulation. Image from Offshore Engineer.
“Dutch offshore installation and construction firm Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) has renewed its Long-Term System Support Program (LTSSP) contract with Kongsberg Digital for another five years.” The LTSSP is for a K-Sim Offshore Crane simulation system with digital twins of HMC vessels. Renewal ensures hardware upgrades, new vessels, and the most advanced training for operators. Kongsberg Digital developed the simulator platform just for Heerema - it’s a real-time offshore environment where project aspects and risks can be assessed and practiced for. Kongsberg Digital said It features “detailed models of Heerema’s SSCVs, Heavy Lift Vessel, tugs, and barges ensure realistic scenarios and enable detailed pre-mission training for heavy-lift projects”.
“Thruster configuration tool covers all types of dynamic positioning vessels (source: Wärtsilä)”. Image from Riviera.
Wärtsilä introduced their new OPTI-DP engagement tool to “enable the accurate and speedy configuration of thrusters and other propulsion systems, to deliver the optimal dynamic positioning solution”. Already verified by DNV Maritime, it was developed for high performance station-keeping as offshore operations get larger and farther offshore. It can simulate all types of environmental issues like wind, wave, and currents along with multiple failures. All of this new technology improves performance and provides more accurate station-keeping in all conditions. It works with azimuth and tunnel thrusters, as well as propeller/rudder combinations to assess accurate DP calculations.
Note: OneStep Power tests the fault ride through, or ability to survive an electrical fault, of DP2 and DP3 dynamically positioned systems. Testing these systems is an important part of vessel health that can increase safety and save hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in fuel and maintenance costs.
Smile, it’s Good News Monday! :-)