Products & services

VIKING LifeCraft gets 100% approval

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 18 September 2019 18 September 2019

VIKING Life-Saving Equipment A/S, the leading global safety products manufacturer and service provider, has announced the first flag state approval of its entire VIKING LifeCraft system, meaning the world-first inflatable and electrically powered evacuation solution is now cleared for installation on ships around the world.

The stamp of approval was issued by the Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) on August 23, 2019. This follows earlier approval of key components of the system, such as the Survival Craft, as part of the innovative system’s development journey. Full commercial availability of the triple award-winning VIKING LifeCraft is set to follow within a few months of the breakthrough approval.

The VIKING solution has been approved as a novel life-saving appliance system – a well understood and accepted category in the maritime industry. The novel life-saving appliance designation reflects the dual nature of the VIKING LifeCraft system, which breaks the mold by making it possible to replace current lifeboat and liferaft evacuation options with a superior, hybrid solution.

”The LifeCraft system goes far beyond the capabilities of existing evacuation solutions and I am very proud of my team and our achievements,” says VIKING CEO, Henrik Uhd Christensen.

Well-tested winner

While the VIKING LifeCraft system is a completely new and innovative product, it is based on well-proven technologies and extensive series of tests. And, while most maritime safety products and systems that achieved novel life-saving appliance approvals to date have been adaptations or variations of conventional life-saving appliances, this is the first time a complete – and completely innovative – evacuation solution has fallen under this category.

“Everyone in the industry knows that novel life-saving equipment requires strict alternative design studies and documentation that can show their superiority to existing life-saving appliances,” says Niels Frænde, Vice President of Sales – Cruise & LifeCraft, at VIKING. “We’ve certainly gone the distance with the new system, setting new standards for our design and testing activities throughout the process.”

Innovative design

The LifeCraft system has a capacity to save 812 people and consists of two main elements: Inflatable VIKING LifeCraft survival crafts, and a fully self-contained stowage and launching appliance that can either be placed on deck or built into the ship’s side.

Every system is equipped with four survival crafts holding 203 persons each. With four independent electric engines at its corners, each survival craft is highly maneuverable and its ability to quickly turn 360 degrees is unmatched by conventional motor-propelled survival crafts. This design feature is just one of many innovations that showcases how the LifeCraft system
exceeds the capabilities of existing evacuation solutions.

Worldwide roll-out

“We expected the final approval process to go every bit as smoothly as the previous novel life-saving approval, and it did,” says VIKING CEO, Henrik Uhd Christensen. “And this achievement comes at a perfect time, considering the amount of interest cruise shipowners are showing in getting this new evacuation solution installed and operational. Now they can take their plans for incorporating VIKING LifeCraft into both newbuilds and existing ships to the next level.”

Wärtsilä launches gas engine suited for hybrid propulsion solutions

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 18 September 2019 18 September 2019

The Helsinki, Finland, based technology group Wärtsilä launches the Wärtsilä 31SG pure gas engine for marine market applications. It is based on the successful Wärtsilä 31 product platform.

The increasing adoption of hybrid propulsion offers additional opportunities for pure gas engines. The Wärtsilä 31SG is ideally suited for hybrid applications, since it provides outstanding thermal efficiency while also providing investment cost reductions that help offset the additional cost of energy storage.

Pairing the Wärtsilä 31SG with battery packs furthermore enables designing for redundancy, while securing the highest total system efficiency

The diesel version of the engine has been recognised by Guinness World Records as being the world’s most efficient 4-stroke diesel engine. The Wärtsilä 31SG engine further reduces the total cost of ownership and the environmental footprint for vessels operating in regions where there is a developed gas infrastructure.

The commercial launch of the Wärtsilä 31SG takes place in September at the Gastech 2019 conference and exhibition being held in Houston, Texas, as well as at the Neva St. Petersburg exhibition and maritime forum in St.Petersburg, Russia.

Following Wärtsilä’s introduction of dual-fuel engine technology in the 1990s, LNG has become established as a viable and attractive marine fuel. This has led to the rapid expansion of the global LNG bunkering infrastructure, which sets the stage for the next evolutionary step, namely a larger scale application of pure gas engines within the marine and offshore industries.

“The highly efficient Wärtsilä 31SG moves the industry forward by providing owners and operators with a practical means for lowering costs and enhancing environmental sustainability. The gas-only focus and lean-burn spark ignition technology allows for further optimisation of thermal efficiency, while lowering greenhouse gas emissions and facilitating adaptations for alternative heavier gas fuels, such as LPG,” says Rasmus Teir, Product Manager, Wärtsilä Marine.

Wärtsilä has an extensive track record with SG lean-burn technology, with more than 1800 engines delivered and 37 million running hours accumulated in demanding land-based energy market applications. The Wärtsilä 31SG was introduced to the energy market in 2017, and now builds on this pedigree to offer reliable pure gas solutions with low lifecycle costs also for marine customers.

This latest Wärtsilä development is in line with the company’s target for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from gas engines by 15 percent from 2015 levels by 2020.

Cooperation between Rauma Marine Constructions and Meyer Turku extends further – the new Tallink Shuttle will be designed with support from Turku shipyard

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 12 September 2019 12 September 2019

The cooperation between ship building company Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) and Meyer Turku will continue. The new Tallink Shuttle ferry is the latest order from Rauma shipyard. RMC has acquired a licence to use the planning materials of the Shuttle’s sister ship, MS Megastar, from Meyer Turku, and the materials will be used in planning the new ferry. The new shuttle will be more environmentally friendly than its predecessors, and it will be handed over to Tallink in early 2022.

In March 2019, Rauma Marine Constructions Oy (RMC) and AS Tallink Grupp agreed on building a new Tallink Shuttle. For the planning phase of the project, RMC has acquired a licence to use the planning materials of MS Megastar, the Shuttle’s sister ship with similar basic features. Built at Meyer’s Turku shipyard, MS Megastar was delivered to Tallink at the beginning of 2017. Smooth cooperation is essential to the success of the Finnish Maritime Cluster, says Jyrki Heinimaa, CEO of Rauma Marine Constructions.

“Besides RMC and Meyer Turku, the whole maritime industry and Finland as a country will benefit from this cooperation. We are very happy about collaborating with Meyer. This joint effort allows us to plan and build the new Shuttle in a cost-efficient way, using solutions that have already proven to work well”, Heinimaa says.

The cooperation between Rauma Marine Constructions and Meyer Turku began in summer 2018, when Meyer Turku placed an order from RMC for two blocks for the hull of the cruise ship Costa Smeralda. The companies have since signed more agreements on building several additional blocks. All in all, 12 hotel area blocks have been or will be built for cruise ships owned by Costa Cruises or Carnival Cruise Lines.

“Promoting the ship building industry in Finland is important to us. Our earlier cooperation with RMC has been successful, and this is a natural way to continue working together”, says Jan Meyer, CEO of Meyer Turku.

The new energy efficient Tallink Shuttle ferry is the largest ship ordered from Rauma Marine Constructions, and the vessel is valued at about EUR 250 million. The new shuttle ferry will be approximately 212 metres long, and it will be able to accommodate 2,800 passengers.

Altogether, four ships have been built for Tallink Grupp at Rauma shipyard, and two more have been planned in Rauma. The previous ship built in Rauma for Tallink Grupp, Baltic Queen, was delivered in 2009 and now operates between Tallinn and Stockholm.

AecorLink and Viking Line sign internet contract

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 17 September 2019 17 September 2019

AecorLink AB, a company in the forefront in providing vessels with high capacity internet, announced today that the company has been awarded a communication contract with Viking Line. The ferry operator will with this agreement significantly improve the internet connectivity onboard its ferries.

The demand for fast broadband is constantly increasing and with this new project it will satisfy the present and the future demand for the ferry operator itself, its guests and the crew. Reliable internet connection is vital not least in order to attract the onboard conference guests, a segment which Viking Line particularly is targeting. AecorLink together with its partner, Specto Remote who does the service and installations, manage to deliver high-speed broadband thanks to a number of base stations along the routes, and a new proprietary configuration which effectively is tracking the base stations also over large distances.

Viking Line has already implemented the new technology on the cruise ferry Viking Grace which successfully has provided high-speed internet connectivity since May this year, on the route from Stockholm to Turku over the high season. Viking Line now will integrate the rest of the fleet with the network and expand the infrastructure to include the full coverage between Sweden, Finland and Estonia.

“Viking Line is for us a high-profile client, with a renowned name in the maritime ferry industry, so it is of course a fantastic opportunity helping Viking Line becoming even more competitive. To participate and to deliver this network where we and everyone can see this vast demand, is extremely motivating. We know the invaluable difference it makes offering passengers access to high speed broadband with low latency. AecorLink has for many years refined its innovative, ship to shore, seamless microwave technology. We have today the most stable solution with unbeaten capacity over the longest distances in the business. The new coverage between Sweden, Finland and Estonia is now in place, designed for many more clients to easily access it at very reasonable terms.” says Ulf Harderup with AecorLink.

“We see this project as part of our continuing commitment to improve our customer’s experience onboard Viking Line’s vessels. AecorLink’s established and proven network gave us the confidence to select them as our business partner in this area” says Kaj Sundström, Network and Communications Manager for Viking Line.

AecorLink AB is a Swedish communication internet service provider targeting the maritime industry. Beside microwave shore to ship connectivity, the company is operating different techniques stretching from WiFi, LTE4G, Tactical UHF to different satellite solutions. Aecorlink also commission the onboard Wi-Fi connectivity and Captive Portals with Data analytics.

Wasaline ferry to get Wärtsilä Nacos Platinum navigation system

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 12 September 2019 12 September 2019

The new Wasaline RoPax ferry, currently under construction at the Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) yard in Finland, will be fitted with the technology group Wärtsilä’s Nacos Platinum navigation and communication system. This latest order, placed with Wärtsilä in August, is in addition to the comprehensive package of Wärtsilä products, systems, and integrated solutions ordered earlier. These solutions include Wärtsilä 31DF dual-fuel engines, hybrid propulsion and power management, and the capability to operate on LNG and BioLNG fuel, making it one of the world’s most efficient and environmentally sustainable vessels.

The Wärtsilä Nacos Platinum system represents a unique combination of control systems for navigation, automation, power and propulsion, as well as the Wärtsilä Data Bridge platform. By integrating all these functions into a single integrated system, the vessel can be navigated, controlled, and monitored from various onboard positions. The truly multi-functional operator stations enable unequalled flexibility and convenience. The Wärtsilä Data Bridge solution enables advanced Wärtsilä data analytics optimised by Eniram that give insights into the vessel’s performance, thereby unlocking further potential for enhancing the vessel’s operational and technical efficiency.

With ship systems becoming increasingly connected, Wärtsilä’s competences in advanced electrical and automation (E&A) solutions is playing an important role in the development of intelligent vessels. The Nacos Platinum system is a key ingredient in fully connected vessels.

“Wärtsilä’s Smart Marine approach is to develop the technologies that enable greater efficiency and better environmental performance, and that approach is perfectly defined with our solutions for this vessel. For example, the CO2 emissions will be 50 percent less than those of the current ferry serving this route. Adding to that, the Nacos Platinum system will further enhance the ship’s operational and navigational efficiency,” says Henrik Wilhelms, Director, Offshore & Special vessels, Wärtsilä Marine.

“Our ferry will be something exceptional and it will feature the most advanced and reliable technology. After 21 years as Captain in all waters, I have experienced most of the systems on the market. For us the Wärtsilä solutions were the best choice as the products and systems meet all requirements, says Peter Ståhlberg, CEO of Wasaline.

“Based on the needs and requirements of Wasaline, the RMC shipyard has ambitiously developed this new ferry with a focus on the latest environmental technology. In this context, we are pleased that Wärtsilä will supply its Nacos Platinum integrated navigation system, since our evaluations have found this to be the optimum alternative,” says Håkan Enlund, EVP Sales & Marketing at Rauma Marine Constructions.

The Wasaline ferry service between Vaasa, Finland and Umeå, Sweden is operated by NLC Ferry, and this latest addition to the fleet is scheduled for delivery in April 2021.