INNOVATIONS
Due to the narrow and confined spaces, it is not easy pulling cables inside a vessel. ALU cables can reduce installation times by at least 40%.
ALU Ship Connect System A NEW ALTERNATIVE TO COPPER ELECTRICAL CABLES IS OFFERING SHIPOWNERS MORE FLEXIBILITY AND A POTENTIAL WEIGHT REDUCTION OF 55% PER AMPERE. ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF AMOKABEL.
Amokabel Norway CEO Hermod Iversen. 2 2 | S B I 2 0 2 0 | Vo l u m e 1 4 | Issue 2
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n the race towards more environmentallyfriendly shipping solutions, reducing a vessel’s weight is a good way to achieve that goal. Swedish cable manufacturing company Amokabel has developed the ALU Ship Connect System, aluminium power cables that offer vessel owners and operators significant benefits. “Until now, it wasn’t common to use aluminium cables aboard vessels”, comments Amokabel Norway CEO Hermod Iversen. “The main reason for not using the aluminium cable before is that the IEC standards for shipboard cables only accepted copper cables. After contacting DNV GL, it was agreed that alternative technical solutions, in this case aluminium cables, might be accepted onboard, provided equivalent technical safety was documented by thorough testing.”
Testing and qualification of the ALU Ship Connect system was completed in May 2018 and DNV GL subsequently issued the first type approvals for aluminium cables and connectors on vessels.
Significant savings
Amokabel manufactures various kinds of wires, cables, and consumer-packaged products. The company has a strong focus on quality and minimal environmental impact, and these values are the foundation of the new system. “The main reason we started looking into the possibilities with aluminium was the environmental aspect. Copper is much heavier and with the new types of vessels, the hybrid or high-speed vessels, any weight reduction option is worth looking into”, explains Mr Iversen.
s h i p b u i l d i n g -i n d u s tr y. e u
17-04-20 12:01
