Gelibolu Shipyard Begins Building Conoship River Cargo Ship

Gelibolu Shipyard in Turkey has started building a next generation diesel-electric short sea shipping vessel developed by ship design and engineering firm Conoship International Projects (CIP).

The 3,600 tdw general cargo vessel is suited for sea-river operations, designed to be efficient and environmentally friendly with enlarged propeller in combination with a ConoDuctTail and optimized hull lines. The ship is also ready for wind-assisted propulsion, with space for the placement of Econowind VentiFoils, which would reduce the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by about 10% annually, depending on sailing route, according to CIP.

The environmentally friendly cargo ship comes as the global maritime industry makes strides to reduce emissions. The EEDI of the vessel as calculated as a diesel-driven vessel is already below the phase 3 requirements, CIP said.

Additional elements of the design arrangement facilitate a switch to future fuels. “For example take off the generators and replace them with a methanol power generator set and then put in methanol tanks as well, or take them off completely and put on liquid hydrogen tanks and fuel cells,” said Jan Jaap Nieuwenhuis, Managing Director at Conoship International. “All these redesign possibilities were taken into account from the beginning of the conceptual design process.”

Gelibolu Shipyard, which hosted a steel cutting ceremony for the newbuild on November 24, expects to deliver the vessel in 2023.

In addition, Dutch-based Holland Shipyards Group is slated to build two more of these 3,600 tdw diesel-electric cargo vessels, as well as three enlarged 3,800 tdw, tween deck fitted versions of vessel for another undisclosed owner. The five cargo vessels at Holland Shipyards are scheduled to be delivered in 2024.

CIP said it is also working other variants of the ship, including a 5,800 tdw version currently in development and expected to be brought to market soon.