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Wärtsilä launches medium voltage power drive

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 08 March 2012 08 March 2012

Wärtsilä, the marine industry's leading systems integrator and solutions provider, says it has launched its new Medium Voltage Power Drive. The product will enable the delivery of electro and automation systems for large, electric propulsion vessels, such as drilling rigs and tankers, large passenger and cruise ships, various offshore service vessels, as well as compressors and pumps for the oil & gas industry. The addition of this medium voltage unit to the low voltage power drive range that Wärtsilä has offered since 2005 further enhances the company's total solutions offering to the shipping industry.

Wärtsilä's new Medium Voltage Power drive is especially designed for marine applications, while the previous units in this range were first developed for land-based applications. It has been developed with special attention paid to personnel safety, while the modular design allows easy installation and maintenance. With the new power drive, Wärtsilä will be able to offer medium voltage Low Loss Concept (LLC) solutions with increased efficiency and redundancy, which in turn leads to lower fuel consumption and reduced operating costs. It can also enable the possibility of having less power installed, thus benefiting customers by reducing both capital and operational expenditures.

Development work began in 2009, and has been carried out at Wärtsilä's R&D facilities in Norway. Pilot sales are scheduled to begin this year, with an internal pilot to be installed in early 2013 and an external pilot later in that year. The Wärtsilä Medium Voltage Power Drive is based on press-pack IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) technology with 3-level PWM inverter control. The modular design has large overload capacity, integrated gate driver boards, and a plug-in bus bar connection.

The unit can be used as a control device in various marine propulsion and thrusters applications, as well as in large fans, pumps, compressors and hoists. Together with Wärtsilä's patented Low Loss Concept, the introduction of this next generation of medium voltage power drives brings increased efficiency and redundancy to the larger marine electric propulsion market. It also has the added benefit of reduced weight and space requirements.

"This product launch emphasises once again Wärtsilä's unique position as a total solutions provider to the marine industry. The new power drive is the most compact in terms of space and weight on the market, while the technology is more advanced than anything else currently being offered to the shipping sector. It is one more step in our continued efforts to shorten the route to lower costs and increased profits for our customers," says Juhani Hupli, Vice President, Wärtsilä Ship Power, Technology.

Norwegian Cruise Line awards onboard cellular communications contract to MCP

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 06 March 2012 06 March 2012

Maritime Communications Partner (MCP), the leading onboard communications partner to cruise and ferry vessels, has strengthened its foothold in the US cruise market through a major telecommunications contract with Norwegian Cruise Line. The contract includes the entire fleet and two large newbuilds.

MCP's contract with Norwegian Cruise Line covers cellular telephony and prepaid services to passengers and crew in the existing fleet and the two yet-to-be launched cruise ships. All the ships will be equipped with a state-of-the-art network enabling future migration to 3G and LTE technologies.

"The mobile communication needs of our guests are changing rapidly," says Ross Henderson, Norwegian's Vice President of Onboard Services. "We were impressed with MCP's progressive attitude towards innovation - making MCP the best fit for Norwegian moving forward. As part of Telenor, MCP can tap into a wide range of other onboard communications services."

"This deal reinforces our position as the industry's most innovative onboard communications provider and adds a fleet of cruise ships to our growing family of vessels," says Fred Sorensen, MCP's Managing Director for the Americas. "This is another step in the right direction for MCP in the US and is a positive development for the cruise operators, their passengers and crew members. Clearly, the major industry players are seeking to meet their customers' demands by providing the best possible modern and future-proof communications systems available on the market today."

"We are happy that MCP is able to design and operate the most modern networks available at sea," says Norwegian's CIO Vincent Cirel. "We fully expect MCP's network to go a long way in addressing our cellular expectations and look forward to other creative solutions that we can deliver to our passengers and crew members."

KONE elevators chosen for P&O Cruises' newbuilding

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 29 February 2012 29 February 2012

KONE, a leading provider of elevators and escalators, recently signed a contract with the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to provide the People Flow® solutions onboard the latest ship ordered by Carnival Corporation & plc for P&O Cruises. The vessel will be the largest cruise liner built specifically for the British market.

Expected to the be the flagship of P&O Cruises fleet, the new vessel will top the luxurious feeling onboard with an unprecedented range of entertainment and facilities. KONE will contribute to the overall experience onboard with 27 KONE MiniSpace® elevators, four freight elevators, as well as five stair lifts and one platform lift for passengers with impaired mobility.

"We are happy to continue our good collaboration with Fincantieri and Carnival. This is proof that KONE's innovative solutions for People Flow are well received by our customers and cruise passengers. Through this order, KONE consolidates its market leader position in the cruise ship segment," says John Hemgård, Head of Marine Business at KONE.

Planned to enter operation in early 2015, the new vessel with a volume of 141,000 gross tonnes will have a passenger capacity of 3,611, and 1,350 crew members.

Dutch decks for German-built passenger ships

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 20 February 2012 20 February 2012

German shipbuilder Meyer Werft and Dutch deck specialist Bolidt Kunststoftoepassing BV have extended their close relationship. This includes work on the latest cruise ship to be built at Meyer Werft’s Papenburg shipyard. The 130,000 gross ton vessel, delivered this month, is fitted with some 15,500 m2 of Bolidt material for the outdoor decks.

The majority of the deck areas, as well as the stairs and steps, have been covered using Bolidt’s environmentally-friendly Bolideck Future Teak, a market-leading composite decking product that replicates the look and feel of traditional teak decks, but is ecologically more responsible and offers further benefits through reduced installation times and easier onboard maintenance.

"Completion of this newbuilding project continues an extraordinarily close working relationship between us and Meyer Werft," said Jacco van Overbeek, Bolidt’s Director, Shipbuilding. "For the past 25 years all passenger vessels delivered by Meyer Werft have been equipped with Bolidt decks." Other products used in the outdoor deck areas include Bolideck Select Soft, for some of the more colourful design features onboard, and Bolideck Select Hard for inside the pool wading areas. Bolidt has also supplied a special pool coating system and bespoke base design for the bottom of the pools.

The new vessel also features more than 3,400 m2 of indoor deck coverings and in excess of 3,500m of C-Rail from Bolidt. The composite rail is designed as an alternative to traditional teak handrails, offers significant weight savings, a relatively low maintenance requirement, and is moreover, a sustainable product that reduces deforestation.

The 340m long newbuilding is a sistership to a previous vessel which was delivered by the yard in 2011, and which was also equipped with Bolidt deck solutions. Mr van Overbeek said: “As this was a second sister vessel, coordination with the yard and owner proceeded extremely smoothly and we were able to complete all the indoor and outdoor works while the vessel was still inside Meyer Werft’s huge covered shipbuilding dock.

"The package we supplied provided a highly durable deck system, with enhanced design possibilities in terms of colour scheme especially, that was also extremely environmentally-friendly, and offered a lower maintenance requirement and enhanced slip resistance."

Two further cruise vessels at Meyer Werft due for delivery this year will also feature Bolidt products. For Celebrity Reflection and AidaMar, the fifth and sixth in their respective series, Bolidt is supplying all the outdoor decks using Future Teak, as well as Bolideck Select Soft in colourful areas, while the balconies will feature Bolideck 525.

Not only expert in supplying the mainstream cruise sector, the Dutch flooring specialist also has a wealth of references when it comes to river cruise ships. A significant current project involves installations onboard a series of four Viking river cruise ships, all of which are due for delivery in the first half of the year from Neptun Werft in Rostock.
The company has installed Future Teak on the balconies – a first for the river cruise sector – as well as on the forward lounge deck both inside and outside, the embarkation decks and shuffleboard area on the top deck.

Later this year, a further river cruiser is due for delivery from Neptun Werft, which Bolidt will supply. A-ROSA River Cruises’ newbuilding A-Rosa Silva, has Future Teak specified for the embarkation deck, some balconies and the outside grill restaurant seating area, as well as the bar surround on the top deck.

Back-to-back cruise dockings for Gibdock

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Products & services Products & services; Published: 03 February 2012 03 February 2012

Back-to-back cruise ship projects at Gibdock’s No. 1 dock have seen the return of the 37,584gt, 1,575-passenger capacity Thomson Destiny for its fourth visit since a first refit in Gibraltar in 2006.

The Thomson Destiny arrived at the yard on November 13 to undertake works afloat and then docked on November 21 one day after the Pullmantur Zenith had left the 260m x 38m x 10m dock after a 12-day stay.

"In many ways this was a routine dry docking, but with two large cruise ships docking one after the other we had to make doubly sure we managed the time pressures very carefully," says Gibdock Commercial Director, Richard Beards.

"Both vessels had to be completed by very specific dates in order to be able to maintain their cruise schedules and we once again demonstrated our reliability by delivering both ships within the time scales set by the owners."

The 214m long, 1982-built Thomson Destiny is owned by Louis Cruises and is on long term charter with Thomson Cruises. During the two week stay at Gibdock the yard carried out a variety of tasks including high pressure washing and painting of the vessel’s hull, refurbishment of the anchor chain, sea valves and bow thruster, pipe work and steel repairs in the tanks. Before entering drydock the yard carried out afloat repairs alongside.

Mr Beards says: "We have developed a close working relationship with Louis Cruises and the fact that we have been able to secure repeat business of this type shows we are gaining the trust of leading regional cruise operators."

Gibdock’s long-time Greek agent, Hellenic Industrial and Marine Agencies, was closely involved in this project, liaising with the owner to ensure the yard fully met its requirements.

"Gibdock has an excellent reputation among local owners, due to a combination of reliability, on-time delivery and high quality," says Alkis Koukis, managing director. "This latest docking of Thomson Destiny went very well and Louis Cruises was extremely pleased with the outcome. There was a very tight schedule but Gibdock got the job done to time and the feedback we have had from the owner was once again very positive."

Louis Cruises’ superintendant, Chrysanthos Chrysanthou adds: "Gibdock’s project management has been very successful as the yard was able to handle multiple activities, and adapt to changes and additional requirements, and still complete all works ahead of time. Cruise ships have tight schedules while on dry docking and each activity has to be planned and processed to ensure that all deadlines are met, while maintaining accuracy and high quality standards."