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Norwegian Marine Tech: In the Driver’s Seat
Earlier this summer Maritime Reporter & Engineering News
ventured to Ålesund/Sunnmøre area of western Norway visiting
local manufacturers and suppliers serving the global maritime
industry and featuring a series of business and technology
presentations by leading sector companies including Inmarsat,
VARD Group, Ulstein Group, Brunvoll, Ulmatec, Jets, ABB Marine
& Ports, Fostech AS and Rolls-Royce Marine. Tom Mulligan
reports on new business developments and technology innovations
that are set to shape the future of the maritime sector.
The Internet of Things
An initial 'port of call' was the local Norwegian offices of
Inmarsat, a specialist in the provision of global mobile
satellite communication services. The company's presentation
focused on its Inmarsat Research Program, now in its second year,
which looks at understanding the ways the Internet of Things
(IoT) is affecting the global supply chain and the way in which
organizations in a range of industry sectors, including maritime,
operate.
In a survey commissioned by the company in May of this year, 750
respondents, including 139 from the maritime sector, were asked
about their use of, attitude to and predictions for IoT within
their organization and industry, including about their IoT
development in six key areas: adoption, security, connectivity
and IoT technologies, skills, data, and investment. In terms of
adoption, the survey concluded that the maritime sector included
a high number of companies it classed as 'leaders' but also a
significant number of 'laggards'. Seventy percent of maritime
respondents said that cutting insurance premiums was one of the
most important drivers of the adoption of IoT-based applications,
however it was also found that the sector was considerably
lacking in the skills required for IoT adoption. Forty-two
percent of respondents believed that their organization would
benefit from additional IoT skills.
Regarding security, most maritime respondents were classed as
'starters', with 87 percent believing that their data-handling
processes could be improved. Similarly, the vast majority were
classed as starters in IoT data usage, 43 percent of them saying
that they were using or would use such data to improve health and
safety standards. Most respondents were adapting well to the
connectivity requirements of IoT, with very few laggards, a
considerable number of starters and progressives, and a
significant number of leaders, fifty-one percent ranking
satellite connectivity as 'number one' by usage. Finally, most of
the maritime respondents were classed either as starters or
progressives when it came to IoT investment, with their average
predicted cost savings achieved through the adoption of IoT
solutions expected to be about 14 percent.
VARD: Luxury Expedition Cruise Deal
Next it was off to visit Norwegian shipbuilder VARD. The company
recently secured a contract for a luxury expedition cruise vessel
for cruise company Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. The new vessel will join
the company's HANSEATIC series, together with the two vessels
that VARD already has under construction for the German company.
The vessels are specially designed for cruises in polar regions
in the Arctic and Antarctica, as well as operations in warm-water
destinations such as the Amazon.
The new vessel will have a gross weight of about 16,000 tons, a
length of about 139 meters and width of 22 meters and it will
have seven passenger decks with accommodation for 230 passengers
in 120 cabins and suites. Similar to its sister vessels, the ship
will have high-standard facilities, including a wa-ter sports
marina and modern spa and fitness areas. Delivery of the new
vessel is scheduled from Vard Langsten in Norway in 2Q 2021. The
hull will be built by VARD in Romania.
More Shipbuilding
Ulstein Group's headquarters at Ulsteinvik was the venue for a
series of presentations by the company and its suppliers. Ulstein
has signed a shipbuilding contract with a German company,
Bernhard Schulte, for an SOV of the ULSTEIN SX195 design type
developed by Ulstein Design & Solutions. The vessel will
support the maintenance work of GE Renewable Energy at offshore
wind farm Merkur Offshore in Germany. The project was developed
in cooperation with Bernhard Schulte affiliate WINDEA Offshore.
The SX195 design of the vessel has been modified to fulfil GE
Renewable Energy's tender requirements and the shipowner's
particular mission equipment needs. It has a large,
centrally-positioned 'walk to work motion' compensated gangway
and elevator tower for personnel and cargo transfers and a 3D
compensated crane capable of two-ton cargo lifts is included. The
optimized on-board logistics includes large storage capacities,
of which half is under roof in a controlled environment, and a
stepless approach to offshore installations. The vessel is also
equipped with a fuel-efficient drive system that includes a
battery-solution from Ulstein. With all main equipment and
operations in the aft ship, the vessel will naturally operate
astern while in-field in areas such as operation and maintenance
or construction support, avoiding slamming, noise or vibrations
caused by waves, especially in challenging weather and sea
conditions.
Marine Power
Propulsion, positioning and maneuvering equipment specialist
company Brunvoll is one of Ulstein Group's main suppliers and its
Brunvoll Volda subsidiary recently delivered an extensive
propulsion and maneuvering equipment package to Ulstein Group
company Ulstein Verft for Color Line Marine's new hybrid Ro-Pax
ferry, which is currently known as Color Hybrid. The hybrid
propulsion system is a twin-screw gearbox and cp-propeller system
with PTI/PTO for a combined electric motor/generator designed for
a combination of diesel-mechanical, electric- or battery
operational modes. In addition, the rudder is integrated with the
propeller and hull for optimal fuel efficiency and the thruster
package consists of two FPP tunnel thrusters and an RDT permanent
magnet driven tunnel thruster. The delivery also contains control
systems for propulsion, positioning and maneuvering.
Waste Energy Recovery
Ulmatec (Ulstein Marine Technology AS), a descendant of Ulstein
Mek Verksted, the origin of Ulstein Group), operates a number of
subsidiaries, including waste energy recovery specialist Ulmatec
Pyro. The company has recently been developing systems for use in
exploration vessels and works on the premise that the majority of
the heat lost from a combustion engine can be captured and
re-used for a number of purposes including the heating of
accommodation, sanitary hot water, heating swimming pools,
producing fresh water, tank heating, HFO pre-heating, tank
washing, de-icing and the pre-heating of engines in standby mode.
In addition, new technologies are being developed for generating
electricity from waste heat and for the cooling of accommodation:
these developments offer considerable potential fuel savings for
exploration cruise vessels, which can have an average heat demand
of about 800 kW when operating in cold climates.
Ultra-low-water-consumption Sanitary System
Ulstein Group supplier Jets has launched its new Jets Edge vacuum
sanitary system. Sanitary systems on ships worldwide were
revolutionized when the company launched the first Vacuumarator
pump onto the market in 1989, as this was a much more compact,
efficient and reliable piece of technology than any previous
system. Jets further cemented its position as a leading vacuum
sanitary systems supplier with another significant milestone in
2000 when the modern version of the Vacuumarator pump was
released. Its benefits included in-line vacuum generation, no
foaming, a fully integrated macerator, no need for a collecting
tank, a more compact size than before, simple and flexible
installation, easy retrofits, and very low energy consumption.
Now, by refining the technology, Jets is able to present the
company's newest Vacuumarator pump, Jets Edge.
The system has very low water consumption, thereby meeting
growing concerns about water shortages worldwide. In addition,
testing has shown that the Jets Edge is more energy efficient
than its predecessors, making it an attractive technology from an
environmental point of view.
The Jets Edge comes in two versions: the EdgeM01 and the
EdgeM01-D, which is especially designed to handle larger volumes
of fluids. The Jets Edge can be used in ships, yachts, cabins,
and trains: anywhere a compact, high-capacity and low-energy
sanitary system using a minimum of water is needed.
Power, Automation & Propulsion
ABB Marine and Ports has a global presence, employing 1800 marine
and 300 port professionals at 35 service stations in 23 countries
worldwide. The main marine markets of the business include the
cruise and ferry, offshore, ice-going, cargo and specialized
vessel sectors, where it supplies propulsion products, electrical
systems, automation and software, and integrated operations,
while for ports it serves bulk and container terminals with
automated bulk and container handling and provides
electrification and IT as part of its port infrastructure and
shore-to-ship power service.
ABB will deliver a comprehensive package of power, automation and
propulsion solutions for a new Linblad Expeditions Holdings polar
expedition vessel being built by Ulstein Verft, including its
main propulsion units, tunnel thrusters, distribution
transformers, a drive system and switchboards. In addition,
German shipbuilder MV WERFTEN has ordered ABB propulsion,
automation and marine software for five new vessels for Genting
Group cruise operators Crystal Cruises and Star Cruises, all five
featuring ABB propulsion, with three Crystal Cruises ships being
powered by two Azipod D units each, and two Star Cruises 'Global
Class' ships being powered by three Azipod XO thrusters each. All
five ships will have an ABB electric power plant and automated
system installed, as well as the OCTOPUS ABB Ability Marine
Advisory System.
In another contract, a Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection vessel to be
built at H.J. Astilleros Barreras in Spain and set to sail in
2019 will be provided with Azipod DO propulsion systems,
generators, a main switchboard, bow thruster motors and starters,
and an ABB Integrated Automation System.
The world's first luxury-cruise icebreaker ship, Le Ponant
Icebreaker ICEBREAKER, which will be built at the Vard Søviknes
yard in Norway and is scheduled to set sail in 2021, will be
provided with ABB generators, switchboard, propulsion
transformer, propulsion units, tunnel thrusters, batteries and
remote control system.
Augmented/Mixed Reality & Maritime Ops
Fostech AS was established in October, 2015 and has office
locations in Fosnavaag and Ålesund. The company develops
augmented and mixed reality solutions with the goal of adding
value for maritime customers by improving quality, safety,
productivity and customer profit. In a fascinating session,
company CEO Harvard Notøy demonstrated how these technologies
work, with a specialized viewing system that shows a 3D image of,
for example, a ship or a ship's engine, which the viewer can move
around by physically moving around the room while at the same
time being able to expand the image for a more in-depth view by
clicking his fingers. Such a system can be used to assist
maintenance staff, for example, and includes menus that instruct
mechanics and engineers on how to successfully carry out
maintenance operations. The technology is adaptable for a wide
variety of other applications (for example, medical surgery) and
is set to become the industry standard for guiding the
performance of a wide range of industrial operational procedures.
Sep 20, 2018
