CONTRACT SIGNALS RETURN TO H&W SHIPBUILDING

Credit: UK MOD Crown Copyright 2018. Modi fi ed by TEAM RESOLUTE®

2025, with recapitalisation and yard improvements starting immediately. All three support ships are expected to be operational by 2032.

The newbuilds, designated fleet solid support ships (FSS), will have cargo space for 9,000m2 of supplies and stores. They will have a beam of 34.5m and will be the longest vessels deployed by the civilian-crewed RFA, and will have some commonality with the 201m Tide-class fleet tankers. Four of the latter were constructed by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to BMT’s Aegir design and commissioned between 2017 and 2019.

Rolls-Royce Power Systems achieves 100% H2 operation

Rolls-Royce has announced that it has conducted successful tests of a 12-cylinder mtu Series 4000 L64 gas engine running on 100% hydrogen fuel. The tests were conducted by the Power Systems business unit and were described by Rolls Royce as ”showing very good characteristics in terms of efficiency, performance, emissions and combustion.”

Rolls-Royce has stressed that the development of hydrogen solutions is focused on meeting emerging demand from the stationary energy sector, rather than the maritime sector. However, the successful tests represent another important step towards the commercial introduction of hydrogen solutions.

However, the first installation

EU ETS deal

of the new engines running on 100% hydrogen is expected to take place at the enerPort II project, where it will generate climate-neutral energy for a planned container terminal at the inland port of Duisburg in Germany’s Ruhr region.

Tobias Ostermaier, President –Stationary Power Solutions, at Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems noted that the the engine “will be available to our customers as a reliable and clean power source for gensets and combined heat and power plants.”

Dr Jörg Stratmann, CEO –Rolls-Royce Power Systems, added: “We see hydrogen as one of the central elements of the energy transition. It can be used for both storage of excess energy and as a fuel, not only for engines

First digital register

but fuel cells and cogeneration plants to generate climateneutral electricity and heat.”

For several months, the mtu gas engine has been undergoing bench testing and continuous improvement in terms of efficiency, performance, emissions and combustion using 100% hydrogen as fuel. With green hydrogen, these mtu engines can be operated in a CO2-neutral manner in the future.

Due to the different combustion behaviour of hydrogen compared to natural gas, some engine components including fuel injection, turbocharging, piston design and control, were modified in the test engine.

Briefs

NH3-ready orders

GTT has succeeded in an appeal to the Supreme Court of Korea requesting that implementation of a lower court’s ruling against GTT be suspended. The Supreme Court of Korea agreed to suspend the execution of a Seoul High Court decision permitting shipyards to request that GTT separates its technology license and technical assistance until a final ruling is made by the Supreme Court of Korea.

Screen Ships For Suspected Sanctions Evasion

The EU’s legislative bodies reached a preliminary agreement on including shipping in its Emission Trading System (EU ETS) in late January 2023. Subject to final adoption, ships above 5,000 GT transporting cargo or passengers for commercial purposes in the EU will be required to acquire and surrender emission allowances for their CO2 emissions from 2024. Offshore ships will be included from 2027.

The Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) completed the launch of the world’s first digital ship register on 16 January 2023. The DMA informed customers in December 2022 that all registration-based reports notified after 15 January 2023 would need to be filed digitally using MitID in the Digital Ship Register (DSRG). The change will affect more than 6,000 vessels registered in the Danish shipping registers, including vessels domiciled in Greenland.

Grimaldi has entered into a contract with Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company Limited (SWS) and China Shipbuilding Trading Company Limited (CSTC), to build five new PCTC (Pure Car & Truck Carrier) vessels. The USD630 million order includes an option for two further vessels. The vessels will be delivered between 2025 and 2026. The 200 metre-long and 38-metre wide vessels will have a capacity of 9,000 ceu (Car Equivalent Unit).