Lloyd’s Register Classification Society (LRCS), China, and Shenzhen-listed Shanghai Bestway Marine Engineering Design (Bestway) are to jointly develop a new fuel-efficient bulk carrier as owners and regulators for shipbuilders increase pressure to offer environmentally friendlier and more cost-effective vessels.
The comprehensive research-and-development project comes as a growing number of yards and owners are using this year’s decline in vessel ordering to rethink the designs of the next generation of orders.
Reducing the Environmental Impact
“In the foreseeable future, the environmental impact of commercial ships will increasingly influence their designs, the way they are operated and their eventual disposal,” said Nick Brown, Country and Marine Manager, China, LRCS.
Research Topics
The project, which will combine the expertise of Bestway, LRCS and the London-based Lloyd’s Register’s Strategic Research Group, will be divided into two work packages:
– energy-efficiency research into the ship’s hull and systems,
– technical approval and implementation of the proposed solutions.
Work will focus on finding energy-efficient alternatives for a 35,000-dwt “Handysize” bulk carrier and will include research into:
– bow-shape optimisation to improve vessel-handling and hydrodynamic resistance characteristics
– wake-fields in the stern region to minimise the resistance at the aft end; propeller-rudder energy-saving devices to improve the wake-flow aft of the propeller hub and reduce the drag from fluid flow over the rudder profile
– propeller dynamics (to improve open-water and rotation efficiencies)
– deckhouse arrangements to minimise wind resistance
– reducing the friction of anti-fouling coatings below the waterline
– machinery and systems designs to enhance energy efficiency and to reduce environmental pollutants (investigations to include selection of main engines, systems for ballast-water treatment and other related systems)
– methods to optimise structural designs and optimise the distribution of hull weight (studies to determine modes of operation, including favourable trim and draft conditions).
Energy Efficiency Design Index
As a precedent-setting environmental design study, improvements to the vessel’s energy efficiency will be evaluated by using the International Maritime Organization’s new Energy Efficiency Design Index. Operational design improvements, such as to ballast water treatment systems, will be qualified against emerging legislative or rule requirements and industry trends.
The project is part of the ongoing research initiatives being undertaken by Lloyd’s Register’s Strategic Research Group.
Source: https://www.lr.org/News+and+Events/PR+Lloyd%E2%80%99s+Register+joins+forces+with+Shanghai+Bestway+Marine+Engineering+to+design+%E2%80%98ship+of+the+fut.htm[Lloyd’s Register]
