Maersk Supply in AHTS battery conversion first

Written by Nick Blenkey
The AHTS vessel Maersk Minder will be fitted with the Wärtsilä HY system to reduce its fuel consumption and emissions.

Copenhagen-headquartered Maersk Supply Service has ordered a battery pack for one of its M-class anchor handling tugs supply (AHTS) vessels. While the addition of battery packs has become well proven in the platform supply vessel (PSV), the conversion looks to be the first for an anchor handler.

“To the best of our knowledge, this will be the world’s first AHTS hybrid battery conversion,” says Mark Handin, COO of Maersk Supply Service, which says the conversion is in line with its target to reduce its carbon intensity by 50% across its fleet in 2030,

Maersk Supply Service has selected the Maersk Minder as its first vessel for battery installation. The vessel will operate in the North Sea from third quarter 2021, with plans to install the battery in late 2021 or early 2022, depending on delivery time. The concept is designed to meet our customers demand for lower carbon vessels.

“The expectation is that the new battery pack will decrease the fuel consumption and thereby reduce CO2 emissions by 15%,” says Allan H. Rasmussen, Head of Technical Organization, and responsible for the decarbonization initiatives in Maersk Supply Service. “The responsibilities for anchor handling vessels vary considerably from heavy tows of offshore floating units to subsea work in Dynamic Positioning mode. With the specialized tasks and variety of operational capabilities, it is important that we thoroughly test the vessel setup utilizing the batteries and validate the CO2 savings during the first few months of operations.”

WÄRTSILÄ SOLUTION SELECTED

The vessel is equipped with Wärtsilä engines, thrusters, propeller arrangement, seals and bearings, along with integrated automation and planned maintenance systems and Maersk has selected the Wärtsilä HY Module, a containerised hybrid battery power and energy storage system, for the conversion.

The main system components are the hybrid drive, the energy storage system (ESS), and the transformer. Control and monitoring of the hybrid system is handled by the energy management system (EMS). Together, the system achieves peak shaving, spinning reserve, and significant efficiency improvement by running the engines at optimal load and using the batteries to absorb a large proportion of the load fluctuations.

“The Wärtsilä Low Loss Hybrid battery system (LLH) seamlessly integrates with conventional engines, like Maersk Minder’s,” says Kenneth Bang, Account Manager at Wärtsilä, who adds that the system “will be a great fit for anchor handling tug supply vessels, as it already is for other vessel types.”

The Wärtsilä HY containerized hybrid battery power and energy storage system will support Maersk’s efforts to reduce the carbon intensity of its fleet. [Image: © Wärtsilä Corporation]
Categories: News, Offshore, Oil & Gas Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,