6 minute read
Urban waterways
SMART FERRIES SET TO TRANSFORM URBAN WATERWAYS
Norwegian firm Hydrolift, with design knowhow from the Eker Group, has started building the first of a fleet of electric ferries called Hyke that it says could bring urban traffic back to the water
Inner city waterways were once the lifeblood of towns and cities, transporting people, goods and even livestock around urban areas until they were largely replaced and superseded by road and rail.
Now, in large part thanks to battery technology, they could be set for a comeback – and in a much quieter, atmospherefriendly way.
Hydrolift Smart Ferries, with design ingenuity from Eker Group, is bringing back traditional methods of mobility with smart vessels that could eventually be fully autonomous.
Unveiled at the Sea Tech Week conference in Brest, Paris in September 2022 by CTO Jason McFarlane, the first is set to go on the water next spring in the Norwegian city of Fredrikstad early next year.
They’re not very big – just 15 metres in length, with a beam of 5.7 metres and a weight of just 10 tonnes.
And it’s this lightness that helps to give the 60150kW lithium-ion batteries on board a longer life in between charging, which will take place at the quaysides alongside the other waterside infrastructure that is building up in towns and cities.
Transition to autonomy
“We wanted to introduce these ferries with a focus on being energy effective, with a new design, not like old traditional ferries,” says chief technical officer Jason McFarlane. “To have a business case for that you need to be energy effective from the ground up, keeping the weight down. We will also be reducing costs by reducing manpower, but that’s a transition over time.”
The ferries use sensor technology that collects data and sends the information to the captain, such as object detection, to help him or her operate more safely as well as giving decision support, says McFarlane.
Using standard, off-the-shelf infrared cameras, LIDAR and sensor hardware, the company will develop the processing and analysis tools inhouse with a view to gathering enough data to ultimately be able to run the ferries completely autonomously.
“You fuse all these inputs and that’s what you use to detect objects around the vessel and conditions – and to classify
8 Hyke smart ferry them, so you distinguish between someone on a jet ski or a power boat and programme accordingly,” says McFarlane. The docking mechanism, which guides the boat into its docking position, lowers and locks the ramp then sets it on charge, is also done without human intervention. But there’s no plan to go completely human-less yet.
“We ran surveys asking people whether they would take a fully autonomous vessel, and the respondents were wary of being alone on this kind of vessel without someone on board, so we envision having something like a help desk with a person there to look after passengers, while the docking and everything else would ultimately be fully autonomous,” he said. “It’s more a feeling thing – having another person there gives passengers a feeling of safety.”
8 Hyke Drammen
Inset: Jason McFarlane, Hyke CTO
Future applications
“Because the boats are small they are really flexible, so an entire fleet could operate during rush hour, and then in the middle of the day some of them could be used for different things – school trips, or whatever,” says McFarlane.
“They enable people to take a short cut across the city by taking their bike on to get to the other side. People can get in and out of the city without congesting the roads, and the quayside and water infrastructure is already there, so it’s more cost effective than putting in these other forms of transport.
“And with no diesel, there’s no pollution and no noise if they’re operated near residential areas.”
The Hyke ferries also have 7kW of integrated solar panels, which means that in the summer, or in cities where there is a lot of sunshine, the batteries will be used far less.
“We’re also educating city planners to make them think about using waterways,” says Mcfarlane. “So many cities have the waterways, they’re just not used. They should be.”
News is getting around about the boats, and last month Time magazine named them in its 200 best inventions of the year in the Transport section, calling it a ‘quiet, clean waterborne commute’.
Danish offshore engineer Cadeler has placed an order to build a sixth F-class vessel, which will treble its fleet.
It is the second F-class vessel, a hybrid design that allows the vessel to convert from working as a foundation installation vessel to a wind turbine generator installation vessel. It is scheduled for delivery in 2026.
“The global demand for offshore wind capacity and technological developments resulting in increasingly larger wind turbines calls for large installation vessels,” Cadeler says. ”As a result, Cadeler has now ordered its second F-class vessel, offering clients a unique hybrid design.”
The vessel will have a deck space of 5,600m2, a payload of more than 17,600 tonnes and a main crane capacity that has not yet been revealed. It will be built by the Chinese shipping firm COSCO Heavy Industries, which is also building two X-class vessels for delivery in the second half of 2024.
Kongsberg Maritime will supply the thruster package, electrical solutions and integrated control system, including dynamic positioning system.
Both F and X-class vessels can transport and install seven complete 15MW turbine sets per load, or six sets of monopile foundations, which means fewer trips to and from the offshore site.
“In line with the X-class vessels, the F-class will cater for some of the largest dimensions in the offshore wind industry,” the firm says.
Tallink Grupp has had its new flagship fast ferry MyStar delivered, with the first commercial voyage taking place on December 13.
A new fast-speed 2,800 passenger ferry has been delivered to the port of the Estonian capital of Tallin.
MyStar was welcomed at the Old City Harbour by a small crowd as she was escorted in to the harbour by a Alfons Håkans tug boat displaying a water cannon salute.
MyStar, which was built at the Finnish shipyard Rauma Marine Constructions, will take passengers on the Tallinn-Helsinki route in tandem with Megastar, a sister ship. ”The most technologically advanced and energy efficient vessel in Tallink’s fleet, MyStar is 212.4 metres long,” says Tallink Grupp. ”The ship’s five eight-cylinder dual-fuel main engines are capable of running on liquefied natural gas and marine diesel fuel. The vessel has design speed of up to 27 knots and is using diesel-electric propulsion combined with fixed pitch propellers, giving the best efficiency compared to other vessels.”
CADELER DUE TO TREBLE ITS FLEET OF JACK-UPS
8 How Cadeler’s fleet of offshore installation
vessels will look
”The decision to build another F-class vessel is based on the strong market demand for assets specialising in installing foundations,” said CEO Mikkel Gleerup. ”Our yet-to-be-built F-class vessels have already been sought after by our customers.
“As announced in August, we have signed a contract with Orsted and have also entered a long-term agreement with an undisclosed customer booking the F-class from 2027-2030.”
FLAGSHIP FAST FERRY DELIVERED TO TALLIN
MyStar comes equipped with shore-to-ship power solution and smart car deck solution.
Tallink Grupp is one of the leading providers of passenger and cargo transport services in the northern Baltic Sea region, with 15 vessels.
The ship has been delivered at a good time.
8 MyStar was brought into harbour by a tugboat
with a water cannon display
In August, the Port of Helsinki reported that ship passenger numbers to Tallin were back up to 80% of pre-Covid levels.
