Page 51: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 2, 2005)

March 2005 51 industry move to higher operating speeds and lower unit transportation costs. While steam turbines have been the dominant form of propulsion in

LNGCs, and a service speed of 19.0- 19.5 knots has become an industry stan- dard, Wärtsilä 's latest study indicates that faster ship speeds attained with DF- electric machinery can result in reduced transportation costs.

The two vessel sizes covered by the research entailed a 150,000-cu. m. type, representing the present state-of-the-art in the business, and a 230,000-cu. m. design representing a future generation.

Both single-and twin-skeg propulsion were investigated for both conceptual designs, and a hybrid propulsion config- uration incorporating wing podded propulsors was additionally considered for the 230,000-cubic meter type. All options were optimized for five different service speeds, ranging from 17- to 25- knots. In the case of a 21.5-knot LNG tanker of 150,000 cu. m., the DF-electric plant would consist of two Wärtsilä 16V50DF and two 9L50DF main gensets, giving a total installed power of 47.5-MW, with propulsive effect deliv- ered through a single, fixed pitch pro- peller. The engines would use LNG boil-off as primary fuel and marine diesel oil as pilot and back-up fuel. The largest DF-electric plant ordered to date have been the 39.9-MW installations in

Gaz de France and BP Shipping new- build projects, employing Wärtsilä prime movers in different configura- tions.

Identifying Research

Needs

Tasked with drawing up a blueprint for the European maritime industries' future research needs, the recent launch of the

Waterborne Transport Technology

Platform signals a heightened political appreciation of the collective economic importance of the shipping, shipbuilding and allied sectors. Backed by funds from the European Union's Sixth Framework

Program for research and technological development, the pan-industry

Waterborne initiative has the ultimate goal of strengthening the knowledge base and stimulating innovation among

EU companies and institutions. A state- ment from the European Commission described the maritime sector as "big business", in that 90-percent of the EU's external trade and 40-percent of its internal trade is transported by sea, and referred to the region's role as a world leader in the design, manufacture and production of specialist, complex ves- sels. Intensified competition from east- ern Asia and, perhaps, EU enlargement, have sharpened Brussels' appreciation of the maritime field's contribution, poten- tial and vulnerabilities. Italian classifica- tion and certification body Registro

Italiano Navale(RINA), which is taking a leading role in the Waterborne project, estimated that total annual turnover within the maritime sector corresponds to around 2.5 percent of the EU's GDP.

While the direct forms of industrial aid of past years can no longer be counte- nanced, support for endeavors that can strengthen the technological base to sec- toral or wide benefit seems to be an acceptable course for public financial backing. By January 2005, a total of

Euro 153-million had been made avail- able for maritime research under the

Sixth Framework provisions. The antic- ipated level of sponsorship for

Waterborne had not been revealed at the time of writing. However, the study will be a major exercise with a long-term remit, and will feed into and beyond the

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