Recently Olympic Shipping has installed the first of Rolls-Royce newly-developed permanent magnet tunnel thrusters into the hull of the OLYMPIC OCTOPUS, a Rolls-Royce designed UT 712 L multifunctional anchor-handling vessel (AHTS).  The ship is built to a classic offshore industry design. Her type classification UT 712 has been around since the 1980s, and is still regarded as a solid workhorse in international waters. Today’s L edition has a new hull design, with a bulbous bow, and meets the requirements for Ice-C and Clean. The design allows for flexibility in the choice of onboard equipment. This flexibility is particularly well exploited in the UT 712 L vessel.  The new thruster design concept is based on a permanent magnet motor in a rim, which drives the propeller in the centre and also frees up space directly above the thruster where traditional tunnel thruster motors are located, making room available for other equipment or alternative use. Compared to tradition... [More]

Norwegian shipping company Fjord Line's two new international cruise ferries will be powered solely by environmentally friendly liquefied natural gas (LNG) instead of the more polluting heavy fuel oil.  When MS Stavangerfjord is put in operation in April this year, it will be the first and largest cruise ferry in the world to sail with a "single LNG engine," thus using the, for the time being, cleanest fuel available. "In this way Fjord Line will meet the new, stricter standards for sulfur content in fuels long before the deadline in 2015," says CEO Ingvald Fardal.   Going green: MS Stavangerfjord will be the first cruise ferry in the world to be powered exclusively by natural gas (LNG).  Fjord Line has two new cruise ferries under construction at Bergen Group Fosen. When both are in service, travelers will be offered daily departures all year round on the routes between Bergen, Stavanger and Hirtshals, and between Hirtshals and Langesund. Now these will also be the "gr... [More]

Development of a mini-water jet propulsion system with a diameter of just 100 millimetres to quietly propel an unmanned surface craft on remotely controlled intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, is the daunting challenge to be tackled by Rolls-Royce as they participate in a US Government funded project led by Candent Technologies Inc. Image credit: US Navy Candent Technologies, based in Greenfield, Indiana, was selected for the award of a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I contract from the U.S. Navy.  This Phase I program of the contract is the first step in the development of a high efficiency heavy fuel propulsion system for a small surface unmanned craft (volatile fuels like gasoline, hydrogen, propane, or methanol not permitted).The project, known as MUSCL (the US Navy’s Modular Unmanned Surface Craft Littoral) is to develop an X-class unmanned surface vessel, whose purpose is to reduce risk to manned forces and perform tedious and rep... [More]

A detailed knowledge of how a vessel’s power and propulsion systems are operating gives confidence for continued safe operation. It can also help control costs and extend times between overhauls: precisely the aims of Rolls-Royce Marine’s HEMOS advanced condition monitoring system, the maritime equivalent of similar monitoring systems in the civil aircraft sector.A few years ago Rolls-Royce fitted a prototype of  ‘HEMOS’ (acronym for ‘Health & Monitoring System’) to Farstad Shipping’s offshore platform supply vessel Far Searcher, then more recently, based upon experience gained, they fitted a commercial version to the same company’s offshore anchor handler Far Scorpion. OSV 'Far Searcher': Photo courtesy of Farstad Shipping Advanced Condition Monitoring with HEMOSHEMOS has the ability to record and analyse data from as many as a 'Gee Whiz' 4,500 points  on board Far Scorpion as well as transmit it to shore for detailed a... [More]

Rolls-Royce is specified as gas turbine supplier for the Republic of Korea Navy’s new Incheon Class (FFX Batch II) frigate program, marking a first supply of the MT30 to an Asian Navy: The Incheon was built at HHI and is scheduled to be commissioned in summer 2013. Eight ships are planned for the FFX class and will be built at HHI and DSME. A further 18 ships are projected to enter service by 2020 to replace the Po Hang and Dong Hae classes. The frigate of 2,300 displacement has an LOA of 374 ft (114 m). The propulsion system is a two shaft CODAG arrangement with a single MT 30 gas turbine that delivers up to 36MW of power and diesel engines provide for lower power requirements. The maximum speed is 30 kn and cruising speed is 18 kn giving a range of approximately 4,500 nm. [More]

The M/S Høydal, will be the world’s first LNG-powered coaster, was built at the Tersan Shipyard, Turkey for NSK Shipping, Norway. The 2,650 dwt vessel has an LOA of 230 ft (70 m) and will be powered by a single Rolls-Royce Bergen C25:33L6P engine rated at 1,650 kW at 1,000 rpm operating on LNG. Propulsion is by a Rolls-Royce CP propeller and the maximum speed is 14 kn. The is a 3,200 ct ft (90 m3) LNG tank on board and refueling is planned to be supplied from a permanent bunkering facility near the charterer BioMar’s factory, once a week. Natural gas (LNG) propulsion will make the vessel environmentally friendly and reduce emissions of NOx (nitrogen oxides) by over 90 per cent. [More]

Earlier this month the second of three Sigma Class frigates, the Sultan Moulay Ismail (#614), was handed over to the Royal Moroccan Navy by the builders, Damen Schelde Naval Shipbuilding (DSNS), Netherlands. The first frigate, the Tarik Ben Ziyad (#613) was commissioned in September 2011, the third ship (#615) is due for delivery later this year. The second and third ships have an LOA of 98 mand displacement of 2,075 t. Propulsion is by twin Pielstick 20PA6B STC diesel engines each rated at 8,910 kW at 1,094 rpm. Maximum speed is 28 kn, at the economy speed is 14 kn giving a range of 4,800 nm. Sigma offers a flexible series of variants described as corvettes or frigates. The program has attracted several export orders. [More]

Nor Lines the Norwegian logistics and shipping company has ordered two liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueled cargo vessels of 5,000 dwt with an option on two further vessels, at Tsuji Heavy Industries (Jiangsu) Shipyard, China. The ship is a Rolls-Royce Marine design for a mixed cargo vessel and follows an Environmental Ship Concept (Environship) presented at the this year’s Nor-Shipping Exhibition and Conference and winning the Next Generation Award. The vessel has an LOA of 394 ft (120 m) and uses a Bergen B Series lean burn gas engine type B35:40 V12 developing 3,930 kW (5,268 hp) at 750 rpm. A Hybrid Shaft Generator (HSG)system is specified, reducing the need to run auxiliary gensets. The shaft generator can also operate as a power take-in motor thereby providing redundancy for the propulsion system. [More]

At the end of June, the Royal Norwegian Navy received delivery of their third Skjold Class FPB vessel. The program is being supplied by a consortium of three contractors: the Norwegian companies Umoe Mandal and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and DCNS, France as the combat system design authority. The vessel is a Surface Effect Ship (SES), of fiberglass/ composite construction built in Norway by Umoe Mandal. The propulsion arrangement is COGAG with a father/son turbine arrangement of Pratt & Whitney ST40M of 2,982 kW (4,000 hp) and ST18M of 1,393 kW (1.894 hp) gas turbines Two diesels are available for slow steaming. The performance is record breaking with a top speed in excess of 60 kn. [More]

Rolls-Royce’s Promas integrated propeller and rudder system claims to offer gains in propulsive efficiency of between five to fifteen per cent for new builds and retrofits. The resulting benefit in practice depends on a number of factors, so each vessel needs to be considered on its merits however in most cases the payback period lies between 18 to 24 months.. Improvements can be made to FPP and CPP systems with single and multiple propellers. A Promas Lite system can be installed during a scheduled drydocking and can normally be fitted within a week. [More]