No More ‘Tug Dilemma’
An ABB-chartered cable-layer ordered in September 2015 might be the only hybrid battery-powered offshore service vessel (OSV) in anyone’s new-build program right now, but don’t say that to the ABB man who led the team that designed the radical electrical system, Onboard DC Grid. The new cable-layer design is the first OSV since the Dina Star to boast a new DC Grid, but in the coming months, “There could be several more,” said ABB Global Product Manager, Johan Olav Lindtjorn. Some of those designs will eventually be tugs.
Barillec to Present ‘Marine Apps’
Barillec informs it has chosen the Electric & Hybrid Marine Expo to unveil its new identity and to present its “Marine Apps”. The show will be held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, from June 23-25. Barillec develops marine applications based on 60 years of global experience in marine electricity and electronics, including energy conversion and monitoring and controls to manage ship propulsion and power generation. In the past 20 years, the technological evolutions in shipbuilding…
Optimal Electric Ship Propulsion Solution
Throughout the history of shipbuilding, the key challenge too often has been how to build the right ship around a given propulsion system, rather than creating tailored propulsion system for the ship. That was true when the best propulsion "engines" available were sails, and it is also true for today's diesel, gas turbine and electric hybrid systems as well. The ideal, of course, is to allocate cargo space, cabin space, the shape of propulsion units, and even the shape of the ship's itineraries around the needs of the marketplace rather than around the limitations imposed by the ship's propulsion system. Factors that remain in the path of that ideal include the underlying efficiency across a broad operational range with which chemical energy is turned into mechanical energy…
