First four-stroke in boxship retrofit to burn LNG
NOVEMBER 6, 2015 — German feeder containership operator Wessels Reederei and MAN Diesel & Turbo have now signed a contract covering the retrofit of the four-stroke 8L48/60B main engine in the 1,000
NOVEMBER 6, 2015 — German feeder containership operator Wessels Reederei and MAN Diesel & Turbo have now signed a contract covering the retrofit of the four-stroke 8L48/60B main engine in the 1,000
NOVEMBER 2, 2015 — Athens headquartered Costamare Inc. (NYSE: CMRE) and York Capital have ordered two 3,800 TEU containerships from China’s Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. for first and second quarter
The partners in the study — LNG containment system specialist GTT, containership operator CMA CGM (and its subsidiary CMA Ships) and classification society DNV GL — say the concept that has the potential to offer a more efficient, more flexible and greener box ship design than current 20,000 TEU two-stroke diesel engine driven ultra large container vessels.
They have dubbed the vessel the “Piston Engine Room Free Efficient Containership” (PERFECt).
Essentially, the concept ship takes advantage of the flexibility of electric drive to use space previously occupied by the main to carry cargo, more than offsetting the extra volume required by the LNG fuel tanks in comparison with conventional HFO tanks.
A comprehensive analysis with the DNV GL COSSMOS tool simulated components of the power production and propulsion system to analyze the COGAS system, making it possible to get detailed data for the calculation of the overall fuel efficiency for a complete round voyage.
Using a global FEM analysis, the project partners also evaluated the impact of the changes that were made to the general arrangement.
The two 10,960 cu.m LNG fuel tanks are located below the deck house, giving the vessel enough fuel capacity for an Asia/Europe round trip.
With the gas and steam turbines integrated at deck level within the same deck house as the tanks, space normally occupied by the conventional engine room can be used to increase cargo capacity significantly.
The dissociation of electric power generation from electric propulsion allows the electric power plant to be moved away from the main propulsion system, giving a great deal of flexibility. In fact, say the partners “an engine room is not needed any more.”
The three electric main motors, which are arranged on one common shaft, can be run fully independently of each other providing increased redundancy and reliability and a high level of safety.
With gas turbine-driven power production utilizing a very clean fuel as well as electric propulsion, the ship’s machinery systems will be simplified and more robust. This approach is also expected to lead to new maintenance strategies, already common practice in aviation, that would enable shipping companies to reduce the ship’s engine crew and save costs.
The study also suggests that optimizing the power plant through minimizing the steam turbine size, reducing power capacities, condenser cooling, and using a two-stage pressure steam turbine and steam generator will increase the system’s efficiency further. The next phase of the study aims to optimize the propulsion system and ship design to attain even greater efficiency and increased cargo capacity.
THE PRICE TAG
As part of the analysis, costs for additional and reduced systems to the base case ship (CMA CGM’s 20,000 TEU Marco Polo) were considered.Additional costs included:
Costs that could be eliminated or reduced in compared to the two-stroke engine system included:
At the end, the CAPEX (capital expenditure) for the COGAS ship are seen as being to be 20% to 24% above those for a conventionally-fueled vessel.
The OPEX (operating expenditure) costs largely depend on the difference in fuel price, the additional income related to the additional containers which can be transported and the savings related to a possibly higher system efficiency.
On the basis of the current gas price in Europe, which is nearly the same as the HFO price a business case in comparison with a two stroke ship using HFO plus scrubber as a reference therefore “needs compensation either by a larger difference between gas and LNG price or by additional benefits from efficiency improvement and additional revenue from additional container slots.”
Still, the partners say that the results of the feasibility study, including the CAPEX and OPEX calculations, encourage them to plan a more detailed evaluation of the overall system in a follow-up project.
The adjustment reflects the market challenges facing Maersk Line, the world’s largest containership operator. The Group is maintaining its result guidance for 2015 for all its other businesses.
The previous expectation, announced in group’s second quarter report, had looked for an underlying result contribution from Maersk Line above $ 2.2 billion. The Group now expects an underlying result from Maersk Line of around $1.6 billion.
The Group’s sensitivity guidance for the last six months of 2015 states that a general decline in the freight rate of $100 per FFE (Forty Foot Equivalent) will impact Maersk Line’s result negatively by around $ 0.5 billion, and that a volume reduction of 100,000 FFE will have a negative impact of around $ 0.1 billion.
“Maersk Line has over the years taken steps to ensure a cost effective and resilient operation, but the current deterioration in the container shipping market is impacting also our business,” says Group CEO Nils S. Andersen..
In the third quarter Maersk Line achieved an average freight rate of $2,163/FFE down from $2,679/FFE in the equivalent 2014 quarter) and carried 2,427,000 FFE (2,401,000 FFE in Q3 2014. These results were lower than expected.
As a result of the market circumstances, says the Group, “initiatives have been taken to adjust Maersk Line’s network accordingly.”
The El Faro, a 790-foot roll on, roll off, cargo ship, departed Jacksonville, Florida, Sept. 29, en route to San Juan.
At about 7:30 a.m. Thursday, watchstanders at the Coast Guard Atlantic Area command center in Portsmouth, VA, received an Inmarsat satellite notification stating the El Faro was beset by Hurricane Joaquin, had lost propulsion, and had a 15-degree list. The crew reported the ship had previously taken on water, but that all flooding had been contained.
No further communications have been received from the vessel
A Coast Guard HC-130 search and rescue crew from Air Station Clearwater, Florida, spotted the life ring 120 nautical miles northeast of Crooked Island, Bahamas. A Coast Guard MH-60 helicopter crew recovered the life ring and confirmed it belonged to the missing ship.
Search and rescue crews have searched more than 30,000 square-miles since Thursday.
Sea conditions in the search area yesterday were reported to be 20 to 40-feet with winds in excess to 100 knots. Visibility for search and rescue flying between 500 and 1,000 feet was reported to be less than one nautical mile at times.
Tim Nolan, President of TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico, issued the following statement regarding ongoing efforts to locate and communicate with the El Faro and her crew:
“This morning TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico’s second ship, the El Yunque, and a contracted tugboat reached the area between the last known vicinity of the El Faro and the location that the Coast Guard recovered a life ring yesterday and carried out a visual survey.
“The two vessels discovered a container, which appears to be from the El Faro, and observed what appears to be an oil sheen.
“At this time there has been no sighting of the El Faro or any life boats.
“TOTE Maritime Puerto Rico and the Coast Guard remain focused on the continuing search for the crew. The contracted tugs as well as other vessels transiting the area are also keeping a lookout for any sign of the ship.
Our thoughts and prayers remain with the 33 individuals aboard the ship and their families. They are our number one priority.”
A Coast Guard pilot searching for the missing containership, near the eye of hurricane Joaquin, recounts the weather conditions Oct. 3, 2015. The Coast Guard has been searching since Oct. 1, after losing communications with the El Faro.
U.S. Coast Guard video
The ships are a variety in class, size, age, and engine type and, by putting them under third party management, Maersk Line aims to create efficiency gains for the whole fleet by learning from industry best practice.
With 20 Triple-E vessels delivered and in regular service, and several large orders placed for new vessels to be delivered in the coming years, Maersk Line’s fleet is becoming larger and increasingly modern and efficient. At the same time, Maersk Line aims to continuously improve how ships are managed.
“We believe we are among the best ship managers and that our crews are among the best. But we want to verify and challenge this belief. We have therefore decided to contract thirdparty ship managers to take on the full ship management of 12 of our vessels for a period of five years,” says Maersk Line’s Head of Technical Operations, Ole Graa Jakobsen.
Ship management covers all technical aspects of running a vessel, including crewing, safety performance, environmental performance, technical operations, and energy efficiency.
Maersk Line has selected E.R. Schiffahrt and Bernhard Schulte based on criteria such as transparency, key performance indicators, and governance model.The vessels will be transferred to the two suppliers by the end of 2015.
Maersk Line will reassign the crew members currently serving on the 12 vessels.
E.R. Schiffahrt says the three sub-Panamax and three post-Panamax containerships that it will manage are between 2,500 TEU and 11,000 TEU. The contract with E,R. Schiffahrt includes their crewing and technical operation, as well as measures relating to security, environmental protection and energy efficiency.
“‘This management mandate from Maersk Line confirms to us that we are on the right path,” says Isabelle Rickmers, E.R. Schiffahrt management board member and head of new business. “At the same time, it inspires us to demonstrate our performance on a daily basis and to continue to optimize it. We see our customers as our partners. Their requirements and needs are our main focus. With Maersk Line, we now have a strong customer at our side and look forward to a successful partnership.”
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) will manage six vessels ranging in size from 2,500 to 11,000 TEU from its Ship Management Center in Hamburg, Germany, and will be responsible for all aspects of management including crewing, technical operations, safety performance, environmental performance and energy efficiency.
“We are proud to have been awarded this contract by Maersk in line with their aim to continuously improve management of their fleet,” said CEO Captain Norbert Aschmann. “This is a significant vote of confidence in BSM and reflects our commitment to safety, operational efficiency and transparency and emphasis on the achievement of key performance indicators agreed with our business partners.”
SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 — Jones Act operator TOTE today announced that its operating companies — Sea Star Line, which serves Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, and Totem Ocean Trailer Express, serving the
All twenty newbuildings are planned to be deployed in the intra-Asia trade. Evergreen believes that under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) that is now being negotiated, the ASEAN countries, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand will remove trade barriers, boosting regional cargo growth.
The first ship in CBC series is set to be delivered during the second half of 2017 with the completion of the CSBC series due by the first half of 2018. The first ship from Imabari Shipbuilding is planned to be delivered during the first half of 2018 with the completion of the series due by the first half of 2019.
Evergreen’s B-type vessels will be 211 meters in length, 32.8 meters wide, and have a design draft of 10 meters with a capacity of around 2,800 TEU. The ships are designed to load 13 rows of containers on deck, which is within the span of existing gantry cranes in the major ports on the intra-Asian trade.
The hull design of the vessels is wider in comparison to ships of a similar capacity, enabling the ships to navigate in the shallower ports encountered in the intra-Asia trade and to enhance their cargo carrying capability. The ships can cruise at a speed up to 21.8 knots, enhancing their on-time performance and competitiveness.
Vessels operating on regional trades, such as intra-Asia, often sail in coastal areas. To reduce their impact on port communities and eco-systems, Evergreen has imposed stringent eco-friendly criteria on their operation. The B-type vessels will be equipped with a range of environmental protection devices.They will have electronically-controlled fuel injection engines, meeting IMO Tier II standards for NOx emissions and Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) requirements.
The agreement for B-type vessels is the third project in which Imabari will participate in Evergreen Line’s fleet renewal program. Evergreen has signed agreements with Shoei Kisen Kaisha, the ship owning arm of Imabari Shipbuilding Group, to charter five 14,000 TEU containerships to be delivered in 2017 and eleven 18,000 TEU containerships to be delivered in 2018 and 2019.
All twenty newbuildings are planned to be deployed in the intra-Asia trade. Evergreen believes that under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) that is now being negotiated, the ASEAN countries, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand will remove trade barriers, boosting regional cargo growth.
The first ship in CBC series is set to be delivered during the second half of 2017 with the completion of the CSBC series due by the first half of 2018. The first ship from Imabari Shipbuilding is planned to be delivered during the first half of 2018 with the completion of the series due by the first half of 2019.
Evergreen’s B-type vessels will be 211 meters in length, 32.8 meters wide, and have a design draft of 10 meters with a capacity of around 2,800 TEU. The ships are designed to load 13 rows of containers on deck, which is within the span of existing gantry cranes in the major ports on the intra-Asian trade.
The hull design of the vessels is wider in comparison to ships of a similar capacity, enabling the ships to navigate in the shallower ports encountered in the intra-Asia trade and to enhance their cargo carrying capability. The ships can cruise at a speed up to 21.8 knots, enhancing their on-time performance and competitiveness.
Vessels operating on regional trades, such as intra-Asia, often sail in coastal areas. To reduce their impact on port communities and eco-systems, Evergreen has imposed stringent eco-friendly criteria on their operation. The B-type vessels will be equipped with a range of environmental protection devices.They will have electronically-controlled fuel injection engines, meeting IMO Tier II standards for NOx emissions and Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) requirements.
The agreement for B-type vessels is the third project in which Imabari will participate in Evergreen Line’s fleet renewal program. Evergreen has signed agreements with Shoei Kisen Kaisha, the ship owning arm of Imabari Shipbuilding Group, to charter five 14,000 TEU containerships to be delivered in 2017 and eleven 18,000 TEU containerships to be delivered in 2018 and 2019.
SEPTEMBER 10, 2015 — In an aggressive expansion of its capacity, Chinese container shipping giant COSCO yesterday announced it had entered shipbuilding contracts with domestic shipbuilders worth a total $1.51 billion for