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Reduction of the operating costs Increase of transport security Reduction of pollutant and noise emission?We, the GL, see a great potential with this new HTP-Drive system for the ship- ping industry,? he said. To reduce fuel consumption and emis- sion values, the development center for ship technology in Duisburg, were, on behalf of the German Federal Environ- mental Ministry, deeply engaged with the subject many years ago. The conven- tional diesel-electric drive could not ful- fill the preconditions, e.g. weight and volume reduction. Hence new possibili- ties had to be developed. ?The idea to develop something new in this field kept me busy from this moment on,? said Claus-D. Christophel, General Manager Torque Marine IPS. After extensive research and develop- ment work, together with the develop- ment center for ship technology, DST, in Duisburg, Torque Marine IPS success- fully converted in 2010 a twin-propeller river freighter, MS ENOK, with a Torque Drive System. Measuring 84 x 9.5m, ENOK can load 1,500 to of cargo at a load draft of 2.86 m. ENOK is worldwide believed to be the first motor vessel, which has been equipped with a permanent magnetmotor (PM drive) as a gearless electrical direct drive. Since mid of 2010 the ves- sel runs in regular cargo service on Eu- ropean Waterways. Rudi Koopmans (64), captain of the vessel is more than satisfied with the re- sults: ?Within five seconds I can bring the propellers to a standstill. It?s a complete new world. Each second, we can react faster, is more safety. Since 14 years I am captain on this ship, but such an fantastic handling with thisnew Torque-Drive I never experienced before. The power of the shaft is step- lessly available. Today we have a noise level in our cabins of measured 47 dB(A). I don?t want to have something else anymore.? The High Torque Power (HTP) Drive-Concept The modular system consists of, ac-cording to power requirements, encapsu- lated diesel engines with water-cooled, permanently excited generators in modu- lar design and water-cooled redundant torque units, as well as weight and power optimized converters. Hence, for diesel-electric operationsmodern and compact torque drives are available, which, based on their low power-to-weight ratios, offer the follow- ing possibilities: Propulsion redundancy Extremely high torque which, via a shaft thrust bearing, is direct available at the propeller, Low noise emission and Almost maintenance free operation. For the time being driving power per shaft and propeller up to a maximum of1,890 kWe are available. To drive gener- 36Maritime Reporter & Engineering News TECHNICAL FEATURE PROPULSIONView on one shaft: left the drive unit, in the middle the thrust bear- ing and no transmission.MR#8 (34-41):MR Template 8/8/2012 3:13 PM Page 36