Nils Holgersson News

Avenir LNG announced its wholly owned subsidiary Avenir Marine has organized the first LNG and BioLNG delivery in the Port of Lübeck, Germany. On June 10, the chilled fuel was bunkered into TT-Line’s new RoPax ferry Nils Holgersson at the Scandinavian quay of the Baltic Sea port.To execute the operation Avenir teamed up with LIQUIND 24/7 GmbH, a leading German LNG infrastructure provider, and Landwärme GmbH, one of Europe’s leading biomethane traders. The fuel delivered to the…

Providing the first application for podded electric drives in the ferry market, July's arrival of the innovative RoPax vessel Nils Holgersson signaled a vibrant new phase of development of the busy Travemuende/Trelleborg route between Germany and Sweden. The TT-Line project marries an advanced diesel-electric configuration with pragmatic requirements relating to operating efficiency, plant and power flexibility, cargo section design and environmental compatibility in the eco-sensitive Baltic trading regime. Completed by the Bremerhaven yard of SSW Fahr-und Spezialschiffbau, the 34,500-gt Nils Holgersson is also notable for the arrangement of its multiple, main diesel generator sets within the vessel's double-shell structure rather than in a conventional engine room location aft.

The SMM exhibition in Hamburg has once again proven that it is the cradle of marine technology and the grand-daddy of all marine exhibitions. On display in 12 separate halls were more than 1,300 exhibitors from more than 50 countries, launching new products and discussing business with an estimated 37,000 visitors. More telling that sheer numbers, in this case, is the feeling of the exhibition and the ubiquitous marine technology theme. The quality of attendee and exhibitor is always high, but this edition of the bi-annual exhibition seemed especially charged due to the many positives currently running throughout the full spectrum of the maritime market.

The Nils Holgersson, the TT-Line ferry which had been out of service owing to damage to one of its two pod drives, left the Lloyd shipyard in Bremerhaven on September 6, bound for Travenmunde to resume scheduled service. As Siemens and Schottel keep a replacement propulsion module in stock for this project, the time lost by the Nils Holgersson could be kept to a minimum by simply exchanging the module in question. In the case of the Nils Holgersson, the exchange work was completed in only five working days. Small cause, great effect: an installation error in the cabling of the monitoring system let ultimately to the failure of a drive. That was the result of the examination of the defective SSP10 at the plant of Schottel-Antriebstechnik in Wismar.

Winners of the Lloyd’s List-SMM 2002 Awards for innovation in shipbuilding and marine technology were announced in the Hamburg Congress Centre last night (September 24) at a gala ceremony which brought day one of the world’s biggest maritime fair to a glittering conclusion. Several hundred leading industry figures gathered for the final stage of an initiative launched in March by Lloyd’s List and SMM organisers Hamburg Messe to recognise the technical advances which enable maritime commerce and defence. With 13 awards in three merchant and naval categories, the inaugural scheme attracted a massive wave of nominations for ships and support systems reflecting the cutting edge of ingenuity in improving performance, reducing costs and protecting the environment.

The evolution of podded propulsion systems has gained steam in recent years, as a number of notable new systems have entered the market with new options. The era of podded propulsion is here and now, and despite some technical glitches with the systems - notably faster than anticipated bearing wear - it is safe to assume that the system's popularity will only grow with experience. Pods, obviously, are not the single solution for every marine application. As with any other technology, limitations exist. However, podded propulsion solutions have opened more marine technological avenues than they have closed as Harri Kulovaara, senior vice president of fleet operations and newbuilding…

Despite a marked drop in shipbuilding volume during the past decade to lower cost competitors in the East, Germany's marine market has maintained it adherence to the highest technical standard while carving its niche in the world of constructing complex, high-value vessels. In many ways, the saying "the more things change, the more they stay the same" could be aptly applied to the current status of the German marine market. While the world, and certainly the business of constructing commercial ships for the world fleet, has changed dramatically in the past decade, Germany's role in this market has stayed remarkably on course. Facing steady market erosion to competitors in Japan…

Compelling design and operational arguments in favor of podded electric drives can be expected to transcend any negative impressions formed from the recent clutch of problems and complications experienced with such systems in certain cruise ship and ferry applications. Experience has shown that technical innovation in the maritime field has invariably been accompanied by early setbacks in some shape or form. In an industry where conservatism is the order of the day, and understandably so where assets are subjected to the rigors of the elements as well as the vicissitudes of the markets, those operators willing to be the standard bearers with new technology provide a beacon for the wider maritime community.