Page 33: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 2005)

Bulk Carrier--Handymax

Truly a 'maid-of-all-work' for the deepsea commodity trades, the 53,000-dwt Spar Lyra brought the innovative Diamond 53 bulk carrier concept to reality during the early stages of 2005, combining added-value in design with keenly competitive acquisi- tion costs. Subsequent tranches of orders sealed during the year have lifted the newbuild sales tally for the double-hull, handymax type to 35, involving yards in

China, Vietnam and India, while the

Diamond program has been given fur- ther dimension through the development of a 34,000-dwt version for the handy- size market. Conceived by the UK- based Graig Group and the Danish naval architecture and marine engineering consultancy Carl Bro, the Diamond 53 has broken new ground in bulkship design, combining an omniscient approach to trading needs, future regula- tory requirements and through-life maintenance, with intended construction in low-cost, internationally-emergent shipbuilding areas. Even in the absence of any mandatory requirement for a dou- ble-hull, the Diamond solution offers compelling long-term benefits to fleet operators. Spar Lyra leads a long series of Diamond 53s from Chengxi

Shipyard, China, eight of which are to the account of the Bergen-based opera- tor Spar Shipping. Bulker specialist Spar has secured long-term, 'blue chip' char- ters against all eight newbuilds, and has assigned technical management and manning of the vessels to Fleet

Management of Hong Kong.

Built to a Panamax breadth of 32.26-m and a length overall of approximately 190-m, the Diamond 53 offers a total grain-equivalent cargo volume of 65,700-cu. m. in five flush-sided holds.

The hatchways are exceptionally wide for a handymax bulker, and the holds are plumbed by four 36-t Tsuji deck cranes.

The design was prepared following extensive consultation with Det Norske

Veritas over structural and regulatory issues, and with key operational input from Graig, so as to ensure a balance between technical needs and commer- cially practical requirements. Compared with a conventional handymax bulker, employing a single-skin, side shell structure, the Diamond's double hull dis- penses with exposed side frames in the cargo holds. A flush face is accordingly presented to the cargo, making for ease of discharge and cleaning, and promis- ing significantly lower inspection and maintenance costs. A strong and robust structure is implicit in the double-hull configuration, which forms a second barrier to accidental water ingress.

High-tensile steel usage has been strict- ly limited, giving a clear orientation to mild steel in the interests of long-term integrity. Fire main, hydraulic and com- pressed air piping and valves, together with electric cables, are protected in a wing tank pipe duct in the Diamond 53 design, rather than being located on the weatherdeck, as in conventional bulkers.

Ballast, stripping and bilge piping and valves are positioned in a double bottom pipe duct, rather than being submerged in double bottom ballast tanks. Power is via a MAN B&W two-stroke diesel, 6S50MC-C type, producing 9,480-kW for a laden service speed of 14 knots.

December 2005 33

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