Rolls-Royce to Design, Equip Canadian Stern Trawler

The shipbuilding company VARD Group AS in Norway has received an order from a Canadian company for a shrimp stern trawler to be designed and equipped by Rolls-Royce, whose portion of the deal is worth in excess of £6 million.

The fishing vessel, to be delivered from VARD’s Aukra yard in Norway in December 2016, is of Rolls-Royce NVC 374 design and will be around 80 meters long featuring an ICE 1A ice class hull. It will be equipped with an array of Rolls-Royce equipment, including a B33:45 main engine, Promas propulsion and a power electric system with hybrid shaft generator (HSG). The Rolls-Royce package also includes a tunnel thruster, automation and winches. 

The new vessel will be equipped with fishing winches driven by permanent magnet (PM) engines. The contract represents the first commercial sale of this technology first launched by Rolls-Royce to drive thrusters more efficiently, silently and with less vibration. The PM winch engine is particularly suited to applications that operate in harsh conditions and combine a need for sensitive control and rapid changes in pull and speed, Rolls-Royce said.

According to the designer, operational efficiency in ice, low emissions, crew comfort, safety and excellent seakeeping capabilities have been the main considerations in the development of the ship design and complete equipment package.

Monrad Hide, Rolls-Royce, VP Sales & Contract for Fish and Special Purpose Vessels, said, “We’re delighted to once again be working with Vard on the construction of a sophisticated and highly capable vessel, and to also secure another contract for our new B33:45 engine which is gaining popularity across a range of vessels sine we launched it last year.”

The vessel’s main engine is the medium-speed Bergen B33:45 from Rolls-Royce, offering a 20 percent increase in power per cylinder compared to existing engines in the Bergen range. The engines are economical with a specific fuel consumption of 177g /kWh at full load and comply with IMO Tier II and III rules. The Bergen B33:45 is designed to run for 25,000 hours between major maintenance when operating at average loads. Since its market introduction last September the B33:45 has been selected to power five fishing vessels. 

The Rolls-Royce Hybrid Shaft Generator (HSG) is an advanced electric power control system for conditioning the electrical power coming from a shaft generator. It allows shaft speed to be reduced whilst maintaining a constant frequency for the electrical supply throughout the ship. This permits a much more flexible use of engine and propeller speed variations to maximize both propeller and engine efficiencies by running them at their design points. This has the benefit of improving fuel efficiency, reducing emissions and also significantly reduces operating costs. 

The vessel encompasses an onboard factory for the production of a variety of shrimps, and has a storage capacity of 2,100m3 on specialized decks for palletized cargo. There are also two packaging holds on two decks.