Page 36: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2013)

36 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? NOVEMBER 2013 Marine Design Annual ? Slow Steamingvery economically and at the same time in a manner that is safe and as gentle on the materials as possible. ?Not to forget, and this is very im- portant, we are working closely with the engine manufacturers to solve the problems,? Erdtmann said. ?But vessels speed reduction is not all to improve the efÞ ciency of our ships. We are using a number of other subjects as well, such as trim optimization software, modern weather routing software, propeller ad-aptation to the reduced speed of the ves-sels, special anti-fouling coating for the hull, an adapted bulbous bow and other things as well.? According to Erdtmann a number of things have occurred be-cause of the enormous speed reduction. Many individual measures were initiated and implemented so that the NSB-ships could be operated efÞ ciently in the long term in this Super Slow Steaming area, which was actually intended only for op-erations on rivers.? Initially, damages were caused to the main engine auxiliary fans. Counter- measures were immediately initiated: spare fans were procured and these were equipped with special seals and bear- ings.? Scavenging air-duct-check-valves re- quire alert crew? Increased cleaning requirement for turbocharger nozzle rings and exhaust gas boiler plants? Installation of ß exible turbocharger in ongoing vessel operation? Precautionary measures against en- gine overloadingErdtmann summarized: ?But at the end of the day we can say that Super Slow Steaming is a very worthwhile measure to be competitive for now and also in the future?(Photo: MAN Diesel&Turbo) Christian Ludwig, Senior Manager RetroÞ t & Upgrade said, ÒWith the application of the standard fuel injection valves of the slide valve type, this was very important for this success.Ó (Photo: NSB Shipping)Actual measurement data of an NSB vessel of the 6,500 TEU class. MR #11 (34-41).indd 36MR #11 (34-41).indd 3611/11/2013 3:58:26 PM11/11/2013 3:58:26 PM