NOVEMBER 7, 2012 — Spain's Astilleros Gondan last month launched the 92.6 m x 20.6 m platform supply vessel Edda Ferd for Norwegian shipowner Østensjø Rederi AS. Scheduled for delivery from the shipbuilder in September next year, the vessel has been designed by Skipsteknisk and has accomodations for 40 people and a deck area of 1,000 sq.m.

The Edda Ferd will be the first vessel to have a new diesel-electric propulsion system developed by Siemens and Østensjø Rederi.

The new concept combines the Østensjø Rederi environmental concept "Mindset" with a new diesel-electric technology developed by Siemens in Trondheim, Norway. Siemens says the system will be an alternative to more expensive solutions for offshore service vessels such as propulsion solutions based on gas driven engines.

The new system takes into account a realistic operational profile for offshore vessels with variable and often low engine loads which have often previously been disregarded as low engine loads have unfavorable energy consumption and emission data.

"We have had a very successful collaboration with Siemens says Assistant Managing Director, Kenneth Walland, of Østensjø Rederi. Together we have come up with a solution that gives us three benefits in one. Firstly, the investment is NOK 50 million lower compared to the gas operation as an alternative propulsion technology; secondly, it reduces fuel consumption; and last but not least, we get a ship that is world class so far as the environment goes."

According to Siemens, for an offshore vessel, the system will reduce the total energy consumption by 15 percent compared with today's solutions with diesel electric propulsion systems. Compared to gas/dual fuel operations the energy savings is 23 percent.

The Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute in Trondheim, which is part of the SINTEF Group, was commissioned by Siemens and Østensjø Rederi to verify the environmental effects of the new solution, and the results are encouraging. The total emissions of NOx and greenhouse gases for the new vessel is lower than for other comparable vessels with diesel or gas operations. Compared with gas-powered (dual fuel) offshore vessels with the same operating profile and which will be granted CO2 fee exemption as a result of their environmental profile, the calculations show a total of 27 percent lower emissions of greenhouse gases.

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