Norway has introduced a new competitive and eco-friendly maritime transport concept, the Cargo Ferry project.
The result of more than two years of work, the concept has been developed as an alternative transport solution for containers that are carried for more than 200 km on land. The project was presented on board Nor Line's brand-new LNG fuelled ship, the M/S Kvitbjørn.
Cargo Ferry Report
The report presents a logistics solution, ship concept and market analysis, while also documenting the Cargo Ferry's potential profitability. A group of 27 companies with interests and expertise in short sea shipping, led by DNV GL, Shortsea Services and Marintek, have cooperated to develop the report.
Moving Long Distance Truck Cargo off the Roads
The main market for the Cargo Ferry concept is goods currently transported on trucks for long distances to and from coastal Norwegian towns. After conducting extensive customer analyses and interviews, the project has identified this market as covering some 17-20 million tonnes of goods each year.
Four Main Routes
The Cargo Ferry concept offers transport to and from destinations that are linked together by efficient maritime transport on four main routes, including distribution to and from ports. The logistics solution covers the transport of goods from one goods terminal to another, or from one warehouse to another, but can also include transport from a sender to a recipient, or be limited to only port-to-port. The primary customers are those that, individually or collectively, fill up a container, either as a full container load or a large less-than-container load.
Eco-Friendly Ship Concept
Cargo Ferry is built around a concept for a new "lift on/lift off" (LoLo) vessel. With its own cranes and cell guides, the vessel can carry 110-140 40-foot/45-foot containers. The ship has a service speed of 12-15 knots, is LNG-fuelled, has a battery for hybrid operation and can use shore power. As a result, the vessel has an extremely low emission profile. It also operates without assistance from shore through the use of an automated mooring system.
Reduced Environmental Impact
A fully developed solution with the capacity to deal with the cargo volume identified in the report will require fourteen ships transporting the equivalent of 220,000-270,000 45-foot containers annually. However, the overall transport price will be twenty to thirty per cent lower than if trucks are used and the concept is flexible, punctual, eco-friendly and has daily departures.
M/S Kvitbjørn
Incorporating many innovative features, the M/S Kvitbjørn is fuelled by LNG and can carry as much cargo as 200 trucks. Using LNG as fuel virtually eliminates sulphur and particulate emissions, as well as significantly reducing the vessel’s NOx and CO2 emissions. The DNV GL classed ship will sail on a fixed route between northern Europe along the coast of Norway to the north of the country and back. Developed in close cooperation with Rolls-Royce the vessel has an innovative hull design, propulsion system and power generation system on board.
Picture: The M/S Kvitbjørn is fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and can carry as much cargo as 200 trucks.
