Shipping

The first of three ethane-fueled engines has been delivered for a trio of ships on order for Germany’s Hartmann Reederei on order at China’s Sinopacific Shipbuilding. They will be pioneers for ethane fueling, believes René Sejer Laursen, promotion manager at MAN Diesel & Turbo.

The ships will each carry 35,000m3 of the gas so have an obvious source of fuel, but Mr Laursen has a bigger vision: “we see potential for all ships to use ethane gas in the future,” he said during a presentation about the company’s multi-fuel engines during the Danish Maritime Days in October.

Continue reading “A waste product from shale gas production offers ethane-fueled engines”

Britannia P&I Club has reported a recent case where a cargo of pressure boiler parts was physically damaged during transportation in moderately heavy weather en route from Hong Kong to Houston, supposedly due to poor packaging.

The ship encountered high seas and winds of Beaufort scale 9. The master had adjusted speed and course so as to minimise rolling and pitching but despite his actions, inspections carried out by the master in the cargo holds revealed the cargo stowed in hold no. 2 had been damaged.

Continue reading “Physical damage caused to cargo due to poor packaging”

DNV GL has noticed an increase in the number of reported incidents involving aft propeller shaft bearing damage. With this in mind, they have issued technical advice with their opinion on the contributing factors to this damage. Much of the damage in the reported cases has developed within a short period of time, typically a few minutes to an hour.

Typical damages observed and their consequences
The observed trend is not specific to a vessel type – rather, it reflects operation of the affected vessels in areas with limitations on the draft of the vessel or loading conditions, without suitable precautionary measures to limit the RPM/power of the engine.

Continue reading “DNVGL issues bulletin following propeller shaft bearing damage”

New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has issued the investigation report for the passenger and freight ferry Aratere which was in Cook Strait en-route from Picton to Wellington when the starboard propeller shaft fractured and the propeller was lost. The ship was able to complete the trip using its port propulsion system only.

On 5 November 2013, when the ship arrived in Wellington, divers confirmed that the starboard propeller tail shaft had totally fractured within its tapered section, near the forward end of the propeller.

Continue reading “Fracture of propeller shaft resulted in loss of starboard propeller”

Siemens has commissioned its first specialized transport wind turbine vessel, the Rotra Vente, to transport the large nacelles used in offshore wind turbines.

The 141-meter long vessel can carry multiple 8MW nacelles per trip and will connect Siemens’ coming manufacturing site in Cuxhaven, Germany, with installation harbours in the North and Baltic Seas.

For Ro-Ro loading, a large bow door can be opened. A telescopic roof protects the nacelles from salty seawater spray and can be slid away for optional lift-on loading.

Continue reading “Siemens commissions first customised wind turbine vessel”