TECH NEWS

from Marine Log June 2021

REGULATIONS

Maersk Minder

Maersk Supply in AHTS Battery Conversion First

COPENHAGEN-HEADQUARTERED Maersk Supply Service has ordered a battery pack for one of its M-class anchor handling tugs supply (AHTS) vessels. While the addition of battery packs has become well proven in the platform supply vessel (PSV) area, the conversion looks to be the first for an anchor handler.

“To the best of our knowledge, this will be the world’s first AHTS hybrid battery conversion,” says Mark Handin, COO of Maersk Supply Service, which says the conversion is in line with its target to reduce its carbon intensity by 50% across its fleet in 2030.

Maersk Supply Service has selected the Maersk Minder as its first vessel for battery installation. The vessel will operate in the North Sea from third quarter 2021, with plans to install the battery in late 2021 or early 2022, depending on delivery time.

The concept is designed to meet our customers demand for lower carbon vessels.

“The expectation is that the new battery pack will decrease the fuel consumption and thereby reduce CO2 emissions by 15%,” says Allan Rasmussen, Head of Technical Organization, and responsible for the decarbonization initiatives in Maersk Supply Service. “The responsibilities for anchor handling vessels vary considerably from heavy tows of offshore floating units to subsea work in Dynamic Positioning mode. With the specialized tasks and variety of operational capabilities, it is important that we thoroughly test the vessel setup utilizing the batteries and validate the CO2 savings during the first few months of operations.”

Wärtsilä HY containerized hybrid battery power and energy storage system Wärtsilä Solution Selected

The vessel is equipped with Wärtsilä engines, thrusters, propeller arrangement, seals and bearings, along with integrated automation and planned maintenance systems and Maersk has selected the Wärtsilä HY Module, a containerized hybrid battery power and energy storage system, for the conversion.

The main system components are the hybrid drive, the energy storage system, and the transformer. Control and monitoring of the hybrid system is handled by the energy management system. Together, the system achieves peak shaving, spinning reserve, and significant efficiency improvement by running the engines at optimal load and using the batteries to absorb a large proportion of the load fluctuations.

“The Wärtsilä Low Loss Hybrid battery system seamlessly integrates with conventional engines, like Maersk Minder’s,” says Kenneth Bang, account manager at Wärtsilä, who adds that the system “will be a great fit for anchor handling tug supply vessels, as it already is for other vessel types.”

More Bulker Owners Opt for ME-GI Engines

WITH MORE OWNERS seeing LNG, or at least LNG-ready, as the most future-proof option for newbuildings ordered today, sales of MAN B&W ME-GI engines are steadily increasing.

In line with this trend, New Times Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., located in Jiangsu Province, China, has ordered three MAN B&W 6G70 ME-GI for three 210,000 dwt bulk carriers under construction by Singaporebased Eastern Pacific for charter to mining multinational Rio Tinto.

CSSC-MES Diesel will build the engines in China.

This latest order for engines for Eastern Pacific bulkers comes after MAN Energy Solutions received an order in October 2020 for five 6G70ME-GI Mk 10.5 dualfuel engines for five 210,000 dwt Newcastlemax bulk carriers, ordered by Eastern Pacific for five-year charters to Australian mining giant, BHP.

Argentinian Operator Finds Answer to Bearing Headache

BWTS Deckhouse Solution Wins DNV Approval

GRUPO SERVICIOS MARITIMOS, an Argentinian company with maritime, inland waterways and port activity operations, found excessive tailshaft wear was being experienced on some vessels operating conventional rubber bearings in a mix of sea, brackish, muddy, and fresh waters.

The company looked for an alternative solution. In October 2020, it contacted Thordon Bearings’ authorized distributor in Argentina, Marine Logistics SA, with a request to install Thordon’s robust, low maintenance water-lubricated RiverTough tailshaft bearings on the 1975-built push boat Candela S.

The Tandanor Shipyard in Buenos Aries completed the work to the 44.7 meter (147 foot) long, vessel in December 2020.

“Being an old boat, this did not appear to be a simple installation,” says Marine Logistics’ Hernan Lopez. “The 303-mm (12-inch) diameter tailshaft and rubber bearing were both showing considerable wear, along with excessive bearing clearances. Another problem was that the shaft liner was a different diameter from that shown on the drawings.

“Fortunately, Thordon materials can be easily machined to adapt to multiple shaft and housing sizes, whereas conventional materials would encounter difficulties when faced with this issue. The RiverTough tailshaft bearings were installed successfully—and quickly!”

Impressed by the attention to detail shown by Thordon and its distributor, Grupo Servicios Maritimos decided to include Thordon SXL rudder bearings and Thordon Pucker Seals on the purchase order.

“The owner will save money in the long

PLACING BALLAST water treatment systems (BWTS) in a deck-mounted enclosure is necessary on most modern tankers, which lack a pump room or other suitable internal space. Now, in what will be a time and money saver for customers and systems integrators, DNV has issued Alfa Laval the first design approval for the installation of ballast water treatment systems on the weather deck.

The Type Approval design certificate is for the Alfa Laval PureBallast 3 Ex deckhouse solutions.

While the system type approval applies to the ballast water treatment system itself, both the enclosure and the installation within it must also be approved by a classification society.

The DNV Type Approval design certificate means PureBallast 3 Ex deckhouse deliveries will have this approval in advance.

“Alfa Laval quickly recognized the importance of having a standardized and purpose-built solution for installing PureBallast 3 Ex on deck,” says Peter Sahlén, Head of Alfa Laval PureBallast.

In practice, the design approval for PureBallast 3 Ex deckhouse solutions means that for the final onboard approval, only the mounting of the enclosure on deck and its interconnections with the vessel will need to be evaluated by the classification society.

“Having class approval for our design specifications makes the deckhouse essentially a plug-and-play solution for installation on the weather deck,” says Sahlén.

Thordon’s RiverTough Bearings installed on the push boat Candela S

run because the Thordon material can be machined to suit multiple shaft diameter sizes,” says Egnard Bernal, Thordon’s Business Development Manager for Latin America. “This makes ordering and the installation much simpler. Additionally, the long lifecycle of the Thordon material reduces the need for frequent drydockings for bearing and seal replacement, which reduces the operating costs considerably for the vessel owner.”

RiverTough tailshaft bearings, run in combination with hard coated nickelchrome-boron shaft sleeves, routinely outlast rubber bearings by a factor of two or more in the abrasive water conditions encountered on South American waterways.

“The elastomeric polymer material pioneered by Thordon offers increased resilience compared to rubber bearings, resulting in easier alignment and less edge loading,” says Bernal. “For repair applications where the housing bore condition may be less than ideal, water lubricated RiverTough bearings can be bonded in place using an approved adhesive.”

Thordon SXL rudder bearings, meanwhile, operate without grease, above and below the waterline. SXL offers high abrasion resistance and can also withstand high shock loads, improving the wear life of the bearing.

Similarly, the Thordon Pucker Seal, is manufactured from a tough self-lubricating polymer, designed to keep out abrasives such as sand and grit from the rudder trunk.

“Thordon’s reputation for in-service performance, reliability and good service is well known throughout the region, which is likely to lead to requests for more Thordon products in their fleet,” said Lopez.

COMPANY

American Equity Association

BMT

Colonial Oil Industries

CR Ocean Engineering

Cummins

David Clark Company

Furuno USA Inc.

Gladding-Hearns Shipbuilding

Hyde Marine-Calgon Carbon

Panolin America Inc.

Rose Point Navigation Systems

Simplex Americas

Volvo Penta of the Americas PAGE #

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