LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES ABOARD While fires in crew laptops and smartphones may be of concern, large DC lithium-ion storage batteries are designed to minimize this risk. By Capt. Jeff Werner
W PROFILE OF THE MONTH Chief Engineer
Hector Arceo Real PHOTO CAPT. GRANT MAUGHAN
How did you get into yachting? I started working on small tourist boats from 1975 to 1985 as an engineer. We used to take 300 people from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, up to Jalapes Beach, where they would swim and barbecue, and then bring them back at the end of the day. I got a call to go up to Seattle to repair an engine on Itasca, did some cruising there and down to Oregon, and then got asked to stay on board.
You’ve been on the same yacht for 35 years now — what has kept you so long? Itasca eventually came down to Puerto Vallarta and I worked as the chief engineer for many years there. The boat stayed around the area, so it made it easy for me to see family and be near home.
How many new owners have you worked for, and does it make a big difference? With this new owner, it is five owners. I was the chief engineer for five years, and then a new owner had his own chief engineer, so I sailed for many years as the 2nd engineer. But the job generally stays the same for the engineering department.
What’s the best thing about staying with one yacht for so long? Best thing is I can focus on one boat and know all the machinery very well and all the little idiosyncrasies.
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FEBRUARY 2022 | TritonNews.com
What’s your favorite destination so far? New Zealand
Is there somewhere you would like to go that you haven’t been to yet? I have been to so many places on Itasca, I don’t know where else I could go.
What’s the worst problem you have had to deal with in your many years of yachting? Having different captains on board with different ideas on how to run things. Also, having to change a piston and liner while at anchor off Palma.
What are your plans for life after yachting? I have a house with fruit trees. I have four sons and one daughter and six grandkids, so I will keep busy. I used to have a mechanic’s garage, but because I went away for so long it was hard to look after and find the right people to operate it, so now I rent it out as a gym.
How did your family handle you being away at sea for 35 years? Of course, I spend a lot of time away from my wife. A previous owner of Itasca would fly my wife to some of the locations the boat was at. We would spend some time on board and then fly home together for holidays.
hen a new technology enters the yachting industry, promising to revolutionize the operation of vessels, it is usually met with a mixture of skepticism, misinformation and the perennial question, “Why does it cost so much?” Lithium-ion batteries designed for a yacht’s direct current (DC) power storage are no exception to this rule. Over the past few years, headlines about exploding batteries and fires caused by the small batteries used in laptops and smartphones, have led to concerns about fires on board. While that potential still exists with the variety of electronic devices that crew members use, the large 12-volt and 24-volt DC lithium-ion storage batteries used to supply the daily operation of a vessel are designed to minimize this risk. However, it takes a whole new mindset to understand the use of lithium-ion batteries compared with lead-acid absorbed glass mat (AGM) storage batteries. Right now, the safest marine lithium storage batteries use lithium iron phosphate and are controlled and monitored by a smart battery management system that extends the battery’s lifespan. Lithium batteries can be much more deeply discharged compared with AGM batteries, and the battery management system will keep them from going flat or being overcharged. Lithium-ion batteries require a cooler operating environment than AGM batteries, and thought must be given to the spacing between the batteries to allow for cooling airflow and ventilation. China dominates the lithium-ion battery supply chain, from mining to construction, which keeps the price of these batteries high. The cost of a single 24V storage battery is about $7,500. The promise of recycling lithium-ion batteries to recover metals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt used in the manufacturing of new batteries is very close. The technology to harvest these metals from spent batteries exists, however, a significant investment is needed in companies to scale up the recycling to produce the quantities needed to sell back into the supply chain at a profit. ‹
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