Monday, February 7, 2000
Carnival and
Wärtsilä partner to develop environmentally friendly
diesel
Common rail fuel injection and direct water injection will be
used in a new generation of environmentally-friendly cruise ship
diesels. Carnival Corporation has entered into a working partnership
with the Finnish engine manufacturer, Wärtsilä NSD,
to develop a smokeless diesel-electric propulsion system for
cruise ships.
Prototypes of the new "project enviroengine,"engine
are expected to be available later this year for laboratory testing..They
are expected to be available commercially in 2001. Following
successful completion of testing,
Carnival plans to utilize those engines on its future newbuilds.
According to Captain Jim Drager, Carnival's
vice president of corporate shipbuilding, when complete, the
enviroengine,installed in a diesel-electric propulsion system,
will be one of the most environmentally friendly power plants
available for ships.
"We have studied the attributes of
gas turbines, which we are considering installing on several
Carnival Corporation newbuilds now under contract, but still
believe that eventually our current diesel- electric systems
can be as environmentally friendly as gas turbine alternatives,"
he said.
Drager pointed out that because of efficiency,
diesel-electric systems are far less taxing on precious fossil
fuel assets and also emit substantially less carbon dioxide to
the atmosphere.
According to Daniel Paro, Wärtsilä's
group vice president - technology, the enviroengine is being
created by combining "common rail technology" with
a direct water injection system. Common rail technology uses
an electronically controlled method to inject the precise amount
of fuel at exactly the right time, resulting in greater engine
operating efficiency and virtually eliminating smoke emissions.
Direct water injection reduces nitrous
oxide (NOx) emissions by spraying water into the combustion chamber
to cool it down immediately prior to injecting the fuel. Cooling
down the chamber reduces NOx formation, which occurs at high
temperatures. This method reduces NOx emission value to the same
level as gas turbine NOx emissions.
Paro said, "The cruise industry has
made its desire to have the most environmentally friendly ships
sailing the seas well-known to its suppliers, and we are happy
to have Carnival working with us on this exciting development.
Since the mid-1980s, Wärtsilä NSD has spent more than
$100 million (U.S.) on emission reduction research." He
added that Wärtsilä will have spent more than $10 million
(U.S.) on the enviroengine development before the prototype testing
models are even built.
Drager said that in addition to being utilized
on future newbuild orders, power plants on several vessels currently
under construction, including Carnival Cruise Lines' "Spirit-class"
ships and the Costa Atlantica, could be converted to the enviroengines.
Additionally, Carnival plans environmental conversions on several
of its existing vessels, including Holland America's Alaska-based
ships.
"Direct water injection technology,
and the smokeless feature of the new enviroengine, once perfected,
will provide substantial environmental advantages," Drager
said.
Liberian
Senate suspends chairman of maritime committee
The Liberian senate has suspended its committee Chairman on Ways,
Means, Finance and Maritime, reports Star Radio in Monrovia .
(The station is staffed by Liberian journalists and managed by
the Swiss NGO Fondation Hirondelle with financing from the U.S.
Agency for International Development through the International
Foundation for Election Systems. Additional funding is provided
by the government of The Netherlands and the Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency).
Senator Mohamed Dukuly of Bomi County was
suspended along with two finance officials of the Senate. They
are the Senate's comptroller, Hector Frank and the Procurement
Officer, Reginald Gerring. The Senate also requested the three
men to submit themselves to an ad hoc committee for investigation.
Nimba County Senator George Koukou chairs
the ad-hoc committee. It is to investigate financial transactions
at the Senate for the past two years. Senator Koukou was also
appointed to act as Ways, Means, Finance and Maritime Chairman.
The plenary decision followed the rejection
of a motion for reconsideration filed by Senate's Majority leader,
John Gray of Cape Mount. Senator Gray last Tuesday filed a notice
for a motion of reconsideration. He filed the motion after the
Senate decided on the suspension of the Ways, Means, Finance
and Maritime Committee chairman.
Daewoo Heavy Industries
joins consolidated marine diesel manufacturer
Chosun Ilbo reports that Daewoo Heavy Industries (DHI) is now
a partner in a marine diesel manufacturing company formed by
the earlier merging of the marine diesel manufacturing activities
of Korea Heavy Industries and Construction (Hanjung) and Samsung
Heavy Industries (SHI).
The new firm, now called HSD Engine, will
be owned 51% by Hanjung, 29% by SHI and 20% by DHI.The firm's
total capital has been increased to W30 billion, up from W5 billion.
TotalFina
commissions ROV survey of Erika wreck
CSO International, a French unit of the Coflexip Stena Offshore
Group (Nasdaq: CXIPY; French Reglement Mensuel: CFI FP), headquartered
in Paris announced today that Totalfina has awarded it with a
contract for a detailed surveyon the two portions of the wreck
of the tanker Erika
The contract is part of ongoing operations
undertaken during January 2000 by the Triton(R) XL 18, aboard
the "Abeille Supporter", for the Maritime Prefecture
of Brest. The Triton(R) XL 18 had patched leaks on the two portions
of the wreck.
For this new investigative mission, Totalfina
chose the dynamically positioned vessel CSO Marianos, one of
the 15 vessels of the CSO Groupsubsea construction and installation
fleet . The Marianos is a subsea intervention vessel for diving
support able to work in all conditions, in any latitude, for
construction works and saturation diving on offshore oil fields.
The CSO Marianos, which has been on site
since February 5, will operate two Triton(R) XL work class, remotely
operated vehicles (ROVs), the XL 18 and the XL 34, and a Tiger
survey class ROV.
The Triton(R) XL is manufactured and distributed
by Perry Tritech, an American company based in Florida and one
of the world-leading manufacturers of subsea remotely operated
vehicles. Perry Tritech is a 100% owned company of the Coflexip
Stena Offshore Group.
Jean-Michel Dumay, Chief Executive Officer
of Coflexip Stena Offshore International, commented: "This
mission demonstrates the intervention capabilities of the Triton(R)
XL as well as the CSO operational teams, whose performance during
the investigation and repair work in January were exceptional
given the very low visibility and difficult conditions on the
site of the wreck."
About the CSO Marianos
The CSO Marianos is a rapid intervention
diving support vessel of a versatile and proven design which
achieves high
year-round utilization.
The principal dimensions are as follows:
length overall 90.0 m
length between pp 78.7 m
breadth molded 18.0 m
depth molded 8.0 m
operating draft: 5.5 m - 6.5 m
displacement: 6,520 t at 6.5 m draft
gross tonnage: 4,294 t
other features include: cranage - 60/21 t at 8.3/23m
helideck for Super Puma
The Marianos features a twin bell, 16-man diving system rated
to 450 m.
The vessel is designed to provide a cost effective, multipurpose
base for offshore maintenance and light construction operations.
About the Triton(R) XL
The Triton(R) XL is a submarine work class
ROV of 3.3 metric tons adapted for sub sea construction work.
It is unlike survey class ROVs which are lighter and not as powerful.
It can work at depths of 2,500 meters with 100 horse power.
It is 3.1 meters long, 1.5 meters broad,
2.1 meters high and equipped with 3 vertical and 4 horizontalt
hrusters that allowing it to reach a maximum speed of 3 knots
give a traction force of 500 kg.
Its lights have a total capacity of 3000 watts and it is equipped
with:
- 3 sub sea cameras, one color and two black
and white, one of
them can intensify images in low visibility conditions,
- 2 manipulators, one for dexterity, one
for strength, able to
cut 38 mm diameter cable with a hydraulic guillotine cutter
- 1 sonar
- 1 giro compass,
- 1 depth sensor,
- 1 altimeter
This ROV can be deployed from a "Top-hat"
through its Tether Management System (TMS) with a 200 meter excursion
capability once at working depth, the umbilical ensuring liaise
between the bottom and the surface.
All surface equipment onboard the vessel
comprise:
-- the Launch and Recovery System (LARS), (A-frame and winch)
-- an electro-hydraulic power pack
-- a control and command room for the whole system
-- a workshop room for mechanical, electronic and hydraulic
maintenance
of all components of the systems.
Total footing of these equipments is 60
sq. meters for a total weight of 58 tons.
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