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A great year of maritime technology advances
You do not need a submarine to make your ship vanish from the surface of the sea. A ship built according to the stealth technology is able to disappear though it is still there. A series of five corvettes based on that technology are built for the Swedish Navy and presented in this years issue of the Yearbook of Maritime Technology.

We also give you two articles on how to reduce fuel oil consumption and reduce CO2 outlets by upgrading a ship’s propulsion system. And, while speaking of propellers, we give you the history of the Schottel Rudderpropeller.

The fuel cell system is, like the stealth technology – and the Schottel propeller for that matter – not a new science but nevertheless, until now we have not seen any large fuel cell plants producing electricity. It was used in the Apollo spacecraft for producing electricity and drinking water and the technology has been further developed since then. Read about the FellowSHIP project that aims to develop a complete integrated hybrid fuel cell system onboard ships.

Why are ships that are built for the same purpose so different from each other? We look at the factors having an impact on the architectural design of ships.
No matter what the ships look like, the seakeeping performance and the motion of the ship are of outmost importance and we show that it is possible to combine good seakeeping performance with big cargo capacity.

We also examine the challenges for tugs operating in exposed conditions and what it takes to keep a vessel upright and afloat for 24 hours after an accident.
Although the life of a piston ring will not get any easier due to increased load and low fuel quality, we will hopefully see piston rings in the future that will last for five years. We also show how cylinder liners are refreshed during normal overhauls with the help of a new wave grinding machine.

We look into a new ECDIS training center in Copenhagen and study a new concept for coastal transport and shipping.

A wide range of new inventions and further developments of well-tried techniques are constantly introduced to the shipping industry. A small selection, that I hope will be of interest, is presented on the special feature pages.

//Robert Hermansson