Products & services

Scanship and Virgin Voyages joining forces for cleaner oceans

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 09 November 2017 09 November 2017

A mutual interest in contributing to cleaner oceans has translated into an agreement between Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Voyages and Scanship, a Norwegian company specializing in waste management and waste water purification. Together they will join forces to develop a game changing technology which will transform waste to energy. The news on the collaboration was presented by Richard Branson during a Virgin Voyages event in Italy earlier this week.

“At Virgin Voyages, we are committed to having one of the cleanest fleets at sea and to work towards being zero discharge. Scanship’s technology could help us get closer to that goal,” says Tom McAlpin, Chief Executive Officer in Virgin Voyages.

“We are thrilled with the prospect of working with Virgin Voyages. Their vison for environmental sustainability fits well with our ambitions to convert waste to clean energy and to eliminate pollution to sea, says Henrik Badin,” CEO of Scanship.

The agreement between the two parties was announced during an event at the Italian shipyard Fincantieri in Genova Tuesday this week. Branson and his team marked the keel laying of Virgin Voyages’ first cruise ship. The ship is scheduled to be delivered in 2020.

“According to the agreement Virgin Voyages will support Scanship in its dialogue with shipyard and regulatory authorities and provide technical support and marketing efforts. Virgin intends to install the system on board its ships once the system has been shown to be effective and assuming that the cost is reasonable and can be agreed,” Badin says.

The technology is based on microwave assisted pyrolysis (MAP), a solution which rapidly heats organic waste with microwave power. On a cruise ship, energy from waste will replace fossil fuels to generate heat and energy. The final product of this process is purified water and charcoal.

“We believe that MAP can be scaled up and applied for waste management and climate friendly energy production in “smart cities” and industrial plants around the world”, says Badin.

Some technical details

– Scanship’s MAP solution rapidly heats organic waste with microwave power. Rapid heating without air converts waste to syngas (synthesis gas) and charcoal (solid carbon).
– Syngas has multiple energy conversion opportunities. On a cruise ship, it will replace fossil fuels to generate heat and energy.
– Charcoal is carbon captured in solid form. It is sterile, inert and can be used for soil improvement on farmland. The product can also be utilized for further clean energy production.

ABB to deliver first fuel cell system for Royal Caribbean

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 09 November 2017 09 November 2017

The system is aimed to be piloted on board a Royal Caribbean International vessel and will be the first fuel cell system to provide an energy source for a luxury cruise ship.

Last year was the first time that mobile power from fuel cells exceeded stationary installations, according to The Fuel Cell Industry Review 2016, and the maritime industry is quickly recognizing the potential of a technology that delivers emissions-free simplicity, maintainability and efficiency.

“Our goal is to take the smoke out of the smokestacks," said Harri Kulovaara, Executive Vice President of Maritime and Newbuilding, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. “We are dedicated to innovation, continuous improvement, and environmental responsibility, and using fuel cell technology gives us the opportunity to deliver against all three of these pillars.”

“This pilot installation demonstrates that fuel cell technology is now firmly in sight of the cruise industry,” said Juha Koskela, Managing Director, ABB Marine & Ports. “Fuel cells have been the next big thing for 25 years, but now they are reality.”

Fuel cells generate energy by exploiting an electrochemical reaction at the interface between the anode or cathode and the electrolyte membrane. They involve no combustion, converting fuel directly to electricity and heat.

“At ABB, we believe that the next generations of vessels will be electric, digital and connected. Fuel cell technology matches exactly that. Fuel cells have significantly higher efficiency than combustion engines and allow energy to be concentrated more densely than in petroleum fuels. If you use renewables to produce the hydrogen the entire energy chain is clean and truly emission free,” Koskela continues.

The pilot installation, including control, converter and transformer technology from ABB, will generate 100 kW of energy, and has been fully developed, marinized, assembled and tested by ABB Marine & Ports. ABB selected an FCvelocity proton exchange membrane (PEM) pure hydrogen fuel cell engine from Ballard Power Systems for its pilot system.

The debut installation, which anticipates RCL’s commitment to include emissions-free fuel cell technology as part of the powering for its forthcoming Icon-class ships will be on display at the owner’s Technology Display Days event in New York, 8-10 November.

Corsica Linea to take vessel performance management to the next level with Eniram's solutions

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 06 November 2017 06 November 2017

Eniram, a Wärtsilä company, has signed a five-year service agreement with Corsica Linea to take them to the forefront of digitalization and performance management. The agreement covers the fleet owned and operated by Corsica Linea between Marseilles and Corsica. These five vessels will be upgraded to the latest Eniram real-time performance management standards.

With Eniram's solutions, Corsica Linea is able to reduce fuel costs and optimize its operations. In addition, Eniram's solutions take into account upcoming regulations concerning the monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon dioxide emissions from maritime transport (EU MRV). The agreement also includes MRV reporting and analytics services. (The upcoming EU MRV regulation requires ship owners and operators to annually monitor, report and verify CO2 emissions.)

"We are extremely happy to see Corsica Linea take this step and to start collaboration with us towards future performance management," says Johan Backas, Managing Director at Eniram.

"Thanks to this agreement, Corsica Linea will get more analytics, insight and recommendations, guiding their future operations management," says Nicolas Rossi, Senior Account Manager at Wärtsilä.

Corsica Linea is the new brand name of Maritima Ferries, who acquired SNCM ships in 2016. Corsica Linea's five ferries provide year-round services from Marseille, the main trading port in France to the French Mediterranean island of Corsica.

Type approval granted to uprated MAN L51/60DF

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 06 November 2017 06 November 2017

MAN Diesel & Turbo’s MAN L51/60DF engine successfully passed its Type Approval Test (TAT), which ran from October 17th to 20th at the company’s Augsburg works in Germany, in front of the industry’s main classification societies. The nine-cylinder test engine has an output of 1,150 kW/cylinder at a nominal speed of 500/514 rpm.

The MAN L51/60DF engine can be employed both as marine main-engine and auxiliary engine. Augsburg’s testbed no. 20 hosted the test programme of a nine-cylinder version of the engine that ran on fuel oil (DMA) and natural gas.

The TAT tested the engine’s:
– alarm and safety system
– dual-fuel safety concept, including a test of its pilot-fuel system
– gas supply system.

The TAT also successfully tested the integration of MAN Diesel & Turbo’s proprietary SaCoSone engine control system with the engine.

Lex Nijsen, Head of Four-Stroke Marine, MAN Diesel & Turbo said: “The MAN L51/60DF, with its improved rated-output and new features such as gas-start capability, is a welcome addition to the ranks with the flexibility to act in a main or auxiliary capacity. Whether operating on fuel oil or gas, I’m certain its efficiency and high power output will be appreciated by the market.”

Kongsberg receives first DNV GL cyber security type approval for its K-IMS system

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 03 November 2017 03 November 2017

As the shipping industry digitalizes, vessels are becoming sophisticated hubs of connected systems and sensors that generate and exchange data both onboard and back to shore. This connectivity increases the need for cyber security and for ways of verifying the cyber safety of installed systems.

“At Kongsberg we have been delivering solutions for remote support and data collection for many years,” says Bent Erik Bjørkli, VP Digital Performance at Kongsberg Maritime. “Over the last few years, however, we have seen an increasing focus from our customers in the cyber security of the connected systems on their vessels. This was why we were so interested to work together with DNV GL on the development of the new type approval. With the new type approval, we can now demonstrate the security of our systems through an independent verification process.”

For the past year, DNV GL and Kongsberg have combined their efforts to develop a new type approval programme for the cyber security assessment of control system components: “Security Assessment of Control System Components, DNVGL-CP-0231”. The pilot system has been K-IMS, a core component in Kongsberg’s digital ecosystem Kognifai. Designed in accordance with the principles in IEC 62443-4-2 and IEC 61162-460, the type approval programme focuses on verifying both the technical reliability and cyber security of control systems.

“We would like to thank Kongsberg for choosing to work with us on this project, and we are very pleased that K-IMS is the first product to have received the new type approval,” says Odd Magne Nesvåg, Head of Control Systems at DNV GL – Maritime. “With the new ‘Security Assessment of Control System Components’ type approval programme, we have developed a rigorous certification regime to demonstrate the cyber security capability of onboard systems. By choosing this new voluntary type approval for their systems, maritime vendors now have a way to show their customers they meet a set of independently developed and verified quality standards in an area that is becoming ever more important in today’s connected maritime industry.”