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Further facets of martime technology

In this the 2007 edition of the Scandinavian Yearbook of Maritime Technology we proudly present a wide range of innovations, R&D and – generally speaking – a lot of extremely interesting topics. Even though we, to a certain extent, have focused on environmental matters we are sure that this comprehensive yearbook gives the reader many angles of approach when it comes to modern maritime technology and related issues.

The global short sea shipping fleet is old and in many cases unfit for the modern transport systems. During the next 10 to 15 years more than 3,000 newbuildings will be required each year. In the article Effective short sea shipping and fleet renewal, DNV representatives tell more.

Breaking up old ships is a very hazardous business and the workers at scrapping yards in India and Bangladesh are in many cases unprotected against harmful materials. IMO, is drafting a convention to regulate the breaking up of old ships. The goal is to protect the workers and the environment by identifying harmful materials onboard by means of an inventory list. Henning Gramann at Germanischer Lloyd gives us further details.

Toshiro Koiwa and his colleagues at Nippon Kiaji Kyokai are enlightening us when it comes to measure structural fatigue by means of compact damage sensors that can detect accumulated fatigue damage in the welds. The sensors are placed at structural important places on the hull and inspected at certain intervals.

SSPA Sweden AB has carried out a study on shallow water manoeuvring. As the hydrodynamic behaviour of ships in shallow waters is very different compared to ships in deep water, the focus of the study, written by Johannes Hüffmeier and Peter Ottosson, is on the difference of the manoeuvrability of ships in shallow and deep waters.

In another article from SSPA Sweden AB Peter Gylfe, Robert Hjulbäck, Magnus Källman and Hans Liljenberg are writing about the LÄSS project, Lightweight Construction Applications at Sea and how hydrodynamic improvements of ship propulsion can make a significant contribution to increasing the competitiveness of transport systems at sea.

Before ships normally operating on high sulphur fuel are entering SOx Emission Control Areas, SECA, they need to change to the specified low sulphur fuel. This can be done in different ways and Andy Wright from ABS London Engineering gives us a lesson.

Another way of controlling the SOx emissions is to clean the exhaust gases by using SOx scrubbers. According to Wärtsilä there are two different technologies worth further development when it comes to marine applications: sea water scrubbing and fresh water scrubbing with an added chemical. Torbjörn Henriksson expounds the ideas.

Zoi Nikopoulou, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, examines and describes the economic benefits and business opportunities for ship owners who voluntarily participate in NOx trade in EU waters. The article can be seen as a guideline for the future market for shipping companies and other parties.

The quality of a material depends on its chemical, metallurgical and mechanical properties and we have five major alloying elements that influence the properties of steel plates. Htay Aung, M.E. in Metallurgy and a student at the World Maritime University in Malmö, writes about the different types of steel plates used in ships.
Abraham Papakirillou and Stefano Russo, Lloyd’s Register EMEA in London, give us an overview of the new statutory requirements for passenger ships according to the Large Passenger Ship initiative taken by IMO.

When the Swedish Maritime Safety Inspectorate wanted to develop a ­methodology for risk assessment in Swedish ports, they contacted Force Technology in Denmark. The port of Norr­köping was selected and a simulation session during six days was carried out. Cathrine M. Steenberg tells more about it.

For thirty-five years the development and production technology regarding the use of composite material when building ships was a military secret. Only last year, after signing a contract with Kockums, Oceanic-Creations AB got the rights to use composite materials for civilian applications. Ronny Nordell gives us the full story.

As the size of ships, the available power and the speed have increased immensely and rapidly during the last 50 years, new hull forms and extensive numerical and experimental research is required. Jaap van Heerd from MARIN in the Netherlands takes a look at some of the highlights in the design of passenger vessels and the development of improved hull forms.

Oskar Levander, Wärtsilä Corporation, points out in his article New concepts in ferry propulsion that the Contra Rotating Propeller concept with a mechanical thruster, can offer more than ten per cent reduction in fuel costs and in operational costs.

For those of you who want to know more and go deeper into the different topics than we have the possibility to do here, we have provided e-mail addresses to the authors. Don’t hesitate to contact them.

//Robert Hermansson