Marine Innovations
In extending its adherence to delivering cost-efficient and safety driven technologies, DNV has introduced a new means of quickly and accurately determining steel thickness can speed ship surveys. It is especially valuable in inspecting old and corroded steelwork. Present-day methods, based on ultrasonic thickness measurements, are said to have dubious reliability on heavily corroded plates, and for large vessels are also considered too slow. The basic technological challenge was to transmit 100 percent of the signal energy through corroded steel plates, and receive and interpret the reflected signal to give an accurate thickness measurement. The basic principles of the new measuring method (half-wave resonance) have been known for 40 years.
Carnival, Wärtsilä Clearing The Air
As the world's cruise lines grow exponentially larger and are increasingly falling under the gaze of environmental and regulatory bodies, the push to ensure that ships are run safely, efficiently and environmentally sound gains new importance each day. The world's largest cruise ship company - Carnival Corporation (CCL) - has hooked up with one of the premier builders of marine diesel engines - Wärtsilä NSD - to develop a smokeless diesel-electric propulsion system for cruise ships. Code-named "project enviroengine," prototypes of the new engine are expected to be available later this year for laboratory testing and are expected to be available commercially in 2001. Following successful completion of testing, Carnival plans to utilize those engines on its future newbuilds.
Carnival, Wärtsilä Clearing The Air
As the world’s cruise lines grow exponentially larger and are increasingly falling under the gaze of environmental and regulatory bodies, the push to ensure that ships are run safely, efficiently and environmentally sound gains new importance each day. The world’s largest cruise ship company -- Carnival Corporation (CCL) -- has hooked up with one of the premier builders of marine diesel engines -- Wärtsilä NSD -- to develop a smokeless diesel-electric propulsion system for cruise ships. Code-named "project enviroengine," prototypes of the new engine are expected to be available later this year for laboratory testing and are expected to be available commercially in 2001. Following successful completion of testing, Carnival plans to utilize those engines on its future newbuilds.
A broader-based payback from R&D
Consolidation in the diesel engine building sector is partly a reflection of the substantial capital expenditure required to maintain product development and technological advance in a business characterized by comparatively low unit margins. By spinning-off new technical solutions arising from the engine design program into upgrading and conversion packages for existing populations of machinery, the manufacturer and licensor can gain more from R&D endeavors. Complementing new engine sales, product releases aimed at plant already in operation represents another stream of payback on heavy investment in technology. The companion effect of the strategy…
