Page 43: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 1986)

Research ship Alliance is under construction at Muggiano yard of Fincantieri in La Spezia.

Sophisicated vessel will be powered by GMT/AEG diesel-electric plant.

Research Ship For NATO Launched At

Muggiano Yard of Fincantieri-CNI

An oceanography and hydrograp- hic research vessel with exceptional features and designed to meet strin- gent requirements, particularly for silent and vibrationless running for underwater acoustic and other re- search work, was recently chris- tened Alliance by Lady Carring- ton, wife of the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organi- zation.

This ship bears the distinction of being NATO's first wholly owned vessel. When delivered next year from the Muggiano shipyard of Fin- cantieri-Cantieri Navali Italiani in

La Spezia, she will operate under the West German commercial flag conducting research on behalf of

NATO, commanded by a German captain, manned by British officers and Italian crew, and managed by

Glasgow-based Denholm Ship Man- agement.

With such a combination, the Al- liance is well named. This 3,200-gt ship has been built and engined in

ALLIANCE

Major Suppliers

Main engines (2) . . . GMT

Main generators . . . .AEG

Main propulsion motors . . . . . .AEG

Aux. propulsion gas turbine Kongsberg

Aux. propulsion alternator . . . . .AEG

Machinery control system . . . . .AEG

Steering gear . Frydenbo

Propellers . . . .Lips

Bow thruster Fincantieri

Couplings . . . . SKF

Auxiliary generators (3) . . . . . .AEG

Aux. generator engines Isotta Fraschini

Battery charger . . . .AEG

Vibration-absorbing tiles Lord Kinomatics

Main towing winch . . . . CNI

Aux. towing winch, deck crane, portable pneumatic winch, A-frame, & ocea- nographic winch . Pellegrini

Windlasses & capstans . . . . . . .CNI

Lifeboats Watercraft

September, 1986

Italy by Fincantieri; the generators, propulsion motors, extensive auto- mation, and control systems were designed and engineered by AEG in

West Germany; the dynamic posi- tioning system via satellite, and spe- cial vibration-absorbing insulation were provided by U.S. companies; the two rotary vane steering gears are from Norway; the lifeboats and davits are from the U.K.; the propel- lers were cast in the Netherlands; and a gas turbine for auxiliary pro- pulsion power was supplied from

Norway. Even Switzerland has con- tributed special potable water treat- ment, making this a truly multina- tional ship.

The Alliance will enter service next year with the SACLANT Re- search Center in La Spezia, NATO's principal facility for underwater re- search. She will be equipped to op- erate in any part of the world, and is strengthened for operations in ice.

With most ships designed and built for oceanographic research, the abil- ity to move or drift in near absolute silence and minimum sea distur- bance are most important. From the early design stage, the standards set for this vessel were exceptional.

The main and auxiliary diesel en- gines, the generators, propulsion motors, and other machinery are all mounted on special resilient foot- ings, and in some cases with double such seatings. All moving machinery is housed in acoustically insulated compartments, as are the steering gears and other items of machinery.

In fact, subcontractors were selected largely on the ability of their equip- ment to meet the low noise and vibration standards specified. Air- borne noise was also a major consid- eration.

The extent to which measures were applied against shipboard vi- bration is indicated by the special anti-vibration insulation system used in the double-bottom tanks below or adjacent to vibrating ma- chinery, especially on the shell plat- ing. Special thermal/acoustic tiles supplied by Lord Kinomatics of

Erie, Pa., are attached to the steel plating by special adhesives.

The diesel-electric plant for main propulsion consists of two Fincan- tieri-GMT B230 12-cylinder, me- dium-speed, 4-stroke 2,535-bhp en- gines, each driving an AEG 660-volt, 60-cycle AC generator running at 1,500 rpm and specially constructed to meet specific requirements for minimum noise and vibration. Each alternator is self-ventilated and en- closed in an acoustic container with an integral fire-extinguishing sys- tem, as well as a 220-volt space heat- er. The power generated is then fed through AC/DC rectifiers to each of the two AEG 1,470-kw propulsion motors, each driving at about 130 rpm a shaft and Lips adjustable- pitch propeller. Like the alterna-

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