The End of the “Sailing Fools” – Rise of the Unmanned Vessels

 

There is an old saying among mariners that goes something like this: “Smart guys invented ships, so that fools can sail the seas.” Don`t get me wrong, mariners of today are multi skilled, technically sound professionals in various fields of marine business, so if there ever were a times of fools, this certainly aren’t the ones.

These are the times of cost cutting frenzies that result in official prizes and recognition for the captains that managed to drive the daily food expenses for their crews well below $5. Let me repeat, well below $5 per day! Also these are the times in which total crew cost onboard large container ships (10 000 +) account to nearly 44% of overall operational expenses. Apparently in the case of Emma Maersk that amounts to roughly 1.3 million dollars per annum. These are also the times in which approximately 50% of maritime accidents are initiated by human error, while another 30% of maritime accidents occur due to failures of humans to avoid an accident.[1]

On the other hand, as we very well know and as Mr. Asimov stated so nicely: “The only constant is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in the society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account the world as it is, but the world as it will be.”[2]

So here we are, stage is set, it`s time to ask the question! Are the times of “sailing fools” coming to an end? Are we done sending our most valuable assets (our mariners for those who don’t see it clearly) on 30 days “torture” sails across the ocean? Is global maritime world ready to enter even vaguely serious discussion of the idea of unmanned vessels?

Rolls-Royce thinks they are, so they started developing their design last year. Apparently they figured out that by cutting out the crew they can make ships 5% lighter, consume 12.5% less fuel, and decrease other operating expenses down 44%. Bottom line amounts to roughly 50% reduction in the $375 billion industry. Ok, truth to be said, calculations show complete disregard to the fairly obvious need for additional levels of redundancy and backups which might significantly impact the scale, but lets leave it at this for the moment. EU Commission took the bate and rounded up several partners around the $4.8 million heavy project called MUNIN.  Ages ago, raven Munin flew around the world independently every day to gather information for its master the Norse god Odin, now he is called to service by masters of our modern Asgard.

Administrative hurdles set by regulators and insurers are also to be seen, although still quite shy and unoptimistic of the changes that new horizon might bring. Statements like this one: “It cannot and will never replace the eyes, ears and thought processes of professional seafarers…“ are countered by pictures like that one below.

Nevertheless, issue of roughly 1.2 million seafarers is quite a serious one. Like it or not, sailors salary has been the token of social peace for centuries now, and in most of what we tend to call “developing world” it still is. Today’s global seafarer supply by broad geographical area holds the answer to the question of why is it that EU and US are the only ones sharing the sympathy for the unmanned vessel concepts.

The OECD countries (North America, Western Europe, Japan etc.) remain an important source for officers, but growing numbers of officers are now recruited from the Far East and Eastern Europe. The majority of the shipping industry’s ratings are recruited from developing countries, especially the Far East and South East Asia.

The Philippines and India are very significant maritime labour supply nations, with many seafarers from these countries enjoying employment opportunities on foreign flag ships operated by international shipping companies. China has also seen a large increase in the number of seafarers, but at the moment most of these work on the Chinese fleet, meeting domestic requirements.

Churchill said: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” In our particular case this might merely be the beginning of the beginning, or maybe even beginning of the end for the “sailing fools”. Jury is still out, and as so often in life, “IT DEPENDS” might be the sole true judgment at the moment.

 

[1] Maritime Accidents and Human Performance: the Statistical Trail, Clifford C. Baker, Ah Kuan Seah,  American Bureau of Shipping, 2004.

[2] Isaac Asimov

[3] International Chamber of Shipping, www.ics-shipping.org, 2014.

 

 

European Commission, Shipowners and EU Ports – Solving the “Chicken or the Egg” LNG Dilemma

Let`s get something strait right away, ECONOMIC BENEFIT is the main driver behind shipowers interest in LNG fuel. Great bulk of the vessels currently calling the major European ports are already equipped with the technology necessary to meet the EU Sulphur Directive through the use of low sulphur diesel fuel. It all comes down to one simple question: Is LNG a more cost effective option than diesel?

Ok, so what is the big fuss all about?

European Comission and the EU Sulphur Directive passed in 2012 introduced the request for the reduction of sulphur emissions from maritime transport in the SECAs (Sulphur Emission Control Areas – Baltic Sea, North Sea and the English Channel) by rendering the recent IMO rules mandatory in the EU. According to the Directive, sulphur content in marine bunker fuels will have to be reduced to 0.1% by 01 January 2015 in the existing European SECAs, and to 0.5% by 2020 in the rest of Europe.

Furthermore, trialogue in the form of informal negotiation between EU states, Commission and European Parliament resulted in significant weakening of the Commission`s initial directive proposal for the deployment of LNG infrastructure in Europe. New proposal presented in Commissions “Clean Fuel Strategy” does predict LNG refuelling stations to be installed in all 139 maritime and inland ports on the Trans European Core Network by 2025, but fails to impose stricter obligations especially for the Europe`s biggest ports.

Shipowners on the other hand stress the importance of LNG as compliant fuel that will enable them to adhere to new regulation, while in the same time express grievance towards the Commision`s unwillingness to apply firmer bureaucratic pressure on major ports to invest in the LNG infrastructure. Thus, their concern that if they do incur capital cost of conversion and thus increase the demand for LNG bunkering, supply side in a form of LNG bunkering port facilities just will not be there to meet the rising demand might be well justified.

Third party in this “love” triangle, major EU ports, play a rather passive role by pointing out the fact that in this particular moment there is simply no demand for LNG bunkering , and that prospects for significant growth are still shady. So, major investments in LNG infrastructure are still out of question.

So here we are “Chicken or the Egg” dilemma. Judging by the setup we currently face, Commission will not apply further (at least not formal) pressure on member states and major port facilities, meaning that their position will remain mostly idle. One could even say that this is the most reasonable course to take. Maritime industry as a whole has a chance to adhere to prevailing regulatory demands by exploiting the latest technological advancements which are reaching fare pass the simple conversion kits for dual fuel usage. Regulator`s task is to set a standard, and so he did. Now, might be the industry`s turn to find the best way to comply.

Concerns over the LNG industry`s ability to manage the supply side seem quite unfounded, at least by looking at the actions taken by European GIE or American Black & Veatch and UOP Alliance. Early developments of integrated small scale LNG plants capable of processing between 50,000 and 500,000 gallons of LNG per day per single processing train, with the multiple train expansion capacity, and full scale implementation of several facilities a like in China, are making the strait forward case.

Moral of the whole story might be quite simple. It is up to shipowners to find the viable way to meet the regulatory standards in the manner that will reflect their corporate social responsibility but also have a positive impact on the bottom line. Once the best means are selected, route plotted and real commitment shown, then it is up to regulator to help clear the path.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

ALL ABOARD! ALL ABOARD! Adriatic seatrain is steaming off!

Ok, not quite yet, we still have to solve an issue or two. Nevertheless, “floating trains” are not that big of a deal actually. River trains are running up and down our inland waterways for several decades now. Why do you think there is such a big fuss around shallow Mississippi?

Basic idea is rather simple; you take some barges, load them up, tie them together and push them around with a nice big tugboat… BUT! Yes the “but” part of course. Copying that idea in sea or ocean conditions is a bit tricky. We already have ocean going tugs and barges of course, operating in their specialized missions under rather strict (justified) navigating restrictions. Idea of the “Adriatic Seatrain” is leaning towards making these common sight in Adriatic sea, and many other areas of the world.

Actually, big idea is that just a slight change in design of traditional ocean going tugs and barges can revolutionaries sea cargo transport as a whole. Concepts like Motorways of the Sea (MoS) introduced by European Union, stress the importance of connection between small ports, and advocate relatively small infrastructural investments behind it. So, regardless of the intentions to add a few million TEU to Port of Malta or decision to invest in brand new two or three million TEU terminals in Rijeka (Croatia) or Venice (Italy), cascading effect will occur, and concepts like “Adriatic Seatrain” might be the perfect thing to handle it. Peek preview of how this thing could work might look something like this;

• Super post panamax container ship (or a capsize bulk) docks and discharges in Malta, Rijeka or Venice.
• Cargo is immediately loaded on specialized barges following the “one barge one destination” principle (for example: Bari, Ravenna, Venice, Trieste, Koper, Rijeka)
• Barges are coupled together in the form of sea train by local harbor tugs
• One specialized high power push tug takes its place in the rear and departure operation is on the way
• While approaching the first destination port “one barge one destination” principle comes in handy. Train reduces the speed, but doesn’t stop while local tugboats simply escort away leading barge or set of barges
• Seatrain continues its journey to the next port of call

Do we have technology to make it happened? Yes we do! Specially designed barges can be equipped with electric motor drive azimuth thrusters on their bow and stern. Coupling arrangements like those considered by Mr. Harry Valentine could be designed and put in place. Following barge could thus sail in the water-slip-stream of the barge ahead of it, which creates a bow wave and increases hydraulic drag. Apparently, hydraulic drag at the bow of an extended-length coupled sea train would be close to that of a single ship. A push tug at the stern of the seatrain would require marginally greater propulsive thrust than provided by existing propellers. Power could be provided directly from the tugboat or even better, from the floating power unit with generators running on LNG or some other alternative fuel source. US are developing radiation-free boron-fusion and lithium-fusion nuclear technology; could that thing work in this case? Challenges are plenty of course, but so are the solutions!

Is seems that all the parts are in place. Question is, can we set them in motion? Ecological and economical benefits seem to cheer for us as well. Choo, choo! Never, Never, Never give up! 🙂

WOW! Check Out These Coolest Things Ever, BUT Promise You`ll Forget About It…

And so we did. Remember how guys from EMP (Eco Marine Power) designed those rigid sails that utilized both, power of wind and solar power in order to radically cut emissions and fuel consumption? Did they win the “Green Shipping Initiative Award”, together with a “Solution Inspiring Action Award” just few days ago? I certainly don’t.

Wait! Was there another thing with sails that Germans patched together? Yes, Yes, they called it something like: “ SkySails propulsion for cargo ships”, if I am not mistaking, and I certainly am.  Those guys even managed to install these things onto four different vessels and figured that they can generate up to 2000kW of propulsion power at the cost of just 6 US-cents per kWh.

Hm? NO I completely forgot about it.

What about pumping bubbles under the ship`s hull to make her glide smoother and thus spend more than 5% less fuel even with waves as high as 2.5-3 meters? Come on, it even sounds funny: “Mitsubishi Air Lubrication”!

And yes, of course last but not least, the thing I really enjoyed forgetting about:  The Gamma Propulsion System (TGPS). These fellows developed TGPS system that, apart from being significantly more powerful than conventional ones (Thrust Ratio kg/hp = 24.40) , saves over 35% of propulsion fuel, produces 35% less pollutants and maneuvers the vessel in all directions.  They even managed to build the prototype, test it and obtain some silly certification, Lloyd`s Register if I remember correctly.

Tests were conducted for various frequencies directly related to the motors rpm and results are shown above.

Oh man! Fuel price has gone up again! If only we could do something about it…

If you have forgotten about something cool as well, please share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Farming Like it Never Was – There is some elecricity here

It appears that abiotic theory for the origin of oil, which implies that oil is a natural product the Earth generates constantly rather than a “fossil fuel”, encountered some setbacks.  Wow, you really get to notice that every time your petrol pump counter does something like this with the “cash section”.

Worry not, apparently there are some fields that can save us all, farming is back like in newer was!

German crops, largest and most effective in Europe (ok, really no surprise there), now generate around 30,000 MW per year. Siemens in main producer of county`s crop and this giant is one of the flag ship products. Sole diameter of the three blade rotor is 154 meters!

Wonders do not end here, there are some other fields. Like for example fields of wheat in the WINDSTALK concept!  Apparently 55 meter high carbon fiber wheat stalk become the corner stone of the idea to use the power of wind in slightly different way. First, shock absorbers able to transform the vibration into electric power were needed, and Levant Power Corp. took care of that with introduction of their “Genshock system”. So, basic idea is pretty straight forward, wind moves the stalk, movement generates electricity (remember the shock absorbers), electricity is transferred into the network, and happy days, world is saved.

Do you think that kites are kind of cool? I don`t! Had one few years ago, after a half an hour of dragging it up and down the street in finally gave up, that freaking thing just couldn`t fly…

Guys from SkySails GmbH figured out how to make use of this awful toy. SkySails Power System operates at altitudes of between 200 and 800 meters. It can be installed on both conventional offshore foundations and on floating platforms. Use of traditional anchoring technologies and OSV`s (offshore support vessel) allows them to be secured quickly and easily at depths of down to 700 meters. Energy is generated when kite pulls rope from the drum that is connected to an electric power generator. Use of high altitude winds implies that this system is able to generate more energy than comparable offshore wind turbine systems.

Interestingly enough, technology has already proven reliable in another interesting concept:  SkySails Propulsion System for Ships. In favorable wind conditions system managed to replace two megawatts of power from the main engine, which resulted in 10 ton decrease in daily fuel consumption.

So, floating fields are growing strong and kites pull our ships around…what has the world come to.

Yes! Wheel is Round it Rolls Around. Now, Let`s Make Something Cool Out of It

Electric energy can be transferred wireless! Wow, that`s cool! If only we knew that before…oh, yes right, we did know that. Tesla kind of told us about it 70 years ago. Ok, never mind. Apparently some guys figured out how to charge your electric car while you are moving along your favorite highway. It figures that the principle is similar to the one used with a cool docking point where you just put your mobile phone on it and the charging starts. You don’t even have to take it out of your bag or maybe out of your pocket, but that sounds kind of risky…

So technology we already have, lots of good will and little disruptive innovation we need. Yes! Wheel is round it rolls around. Now, let`s make something cool out of it. And there are some interesting ideas in maritime world as well.

Bourbon Liberty Series leads the way in introduction of diesel electric propulsion systems to the world of offshore support vessels. Reduction in fuel consumption is up to 20%, and increased cargo capacity have proved them right.[1]

LNG carriers running on dual fuel engines like Wartsila`s DF50 are already old news nowdays. Question is are we able to support these developments with infrastructure which will encourage wider use of these technologies. LNG bunkering is one of the key issues. Analysis of operational feasibility are already on the way in port of Singapore. Also, DNV leads a discussion on LNG bunkers in Europe.

What about “FellowSHIP Project” and “Viking Lady” OSV? This cute Norwegian uses both molten carbonate fuel cell and LNG to produce all power requirements. Usage of this battery pack enabled a 30% reduction in fuel consumption, as well as massive reduction of CO2 emission. The fuel cell, which generates an electric output of 330 kW, was installed in the autumn of 2009 and has successfully run for more than 18,500 hours. Based on this, the Viking Lady is already one of the world’s most environmentally friendly ships.[2]

Let`s go back to ship design and Ulstein X-Box that aims for both speed and safety, while at the same time decreases power consumption and emissions. Equally efficient but little less extravagant was Maersk Line`s Triple-E class. “Big Thinking” gave birth to the world`s most efficient container vessel with capacity of 18000 TEU.

Dock wise Vanguard is another great example of thinking out of the box. The largest and most innovative semi-submersible vessel ever built, Vanguard will be capable of transporting 110,000t.

Great ideas, now let`s make them spin.

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[1] http://www.bourbon-online.com/en/marine-services/bourbon-liberty-series

[2]http://www.dnv.com/press_area/press_releases/2012/firsttruehybridsystemtobeinstalledonboardanoffshoresupplyvessel.asp