Upgrade Packages Ordered for Odfjell Tankers
Fuel-saving upgrade package with Kappel technology to optimise propulsion efficiency and lower fuel consumption of 11 vessels
MAN Diesel & Turbo’s Propeller & Aft Ship organisation has won an order to retrofit and upgrade a series of 11 × 37,500 dwt vessels from the Odfjell chemical tanker fleet. The vessels are of the Kværner Class and are due to dock during 2015-17, at which time the upgrades will be implemented. The first vessel, ‘M/T Bow Clipper’, will dock and be upgraded in August 2015.
Each vessel has an MAN B&W two-stroke engine powering a four-bladed, controllable-pitch propeller and a PTO-driven shaft alternator. The vessels’ new service speed at reduced main-engine output – combined with the implementation of MAN’s highly-efficient Kappel propeller blades, a fairing cone and a pre-fabricated rudder bulb kit – will all contribute to power savings and reduced exhaust-gas emissions.
The Kappel blades, fairing cone and rudder bulb are designed and customised for the tanker’s hull and rudder designs. The calculated power saving has been verified by tank-test analyses at MARINTEK (Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute) as reported in preliminary results.
“It’s a very exciting project and we are proud to be part of it. With our new design possibilities, we are furthermore looking forward to offering this fuel-saving concept to other fleets with similar operational patterns,” said Kjartan Ross, Business Development Manager of MAN Diesel & Turbo’s Propeller & Aft Ship organisation. He continued: “With the long lifetime expectancy of Odfjell’s high value, quality vessels, this upgrade investment is straightforward and very attractive”.
Front runner
As technological front-runners, Odfjell embarked on the ambitious Kværner Class newbuilding programme of 37,500 dwt ships with 52 fully-segregated stainless-steel tanks and piping systems in 1991. The first such vessel was delivered in 1994 and the new series was packed with new technology: controllable pitch propellers, shaft alternators on main engines, bow thrusters, fixed tank-cleaning machines and radar positioned in each tank to gauge ullage. Odfjell was also a pioneer within the area of fully computer-controlled engines. The last ship in the series, ‘M/T Bow Firda’, was delivered in 2003 and has a main engine – an MAN B&W 7S50ME-C type – with electronically controlled timing and no camshaft – a world first.
The following Kværner Class vessels are currently scheduled for upgrade: Bow Flower, Bow Clipper, Bow Fortune, Bow Cecil, Bow Flora, Bow Cardinal, Bow Faith, Bow Cedar, Bow Fagus, Bow Chain and Bow Firda.