Page 66: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 2014)

66 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • SEPTEMBER 2014

First North American Boat

Powered by Volvo Penta IPS

Thomas Paine, a new 50-ft. aluminum patrol boat that joined the Massachusetts Environmental

Police fl eet in July, is the fi rst commercial vessel in North America to be powered by Volvo Penta

IPS propulsion. Built by Metal Craft Marine Inc., the new boat is equipped with twin Volvo Penta

D11 510hp marine diesel engines driving IPS650 steerable drive units. The Volvo Penta IPS con- sists of a steerable underwater drive unit with two forward-facing counter-rotating propellers. The drive units pull the boat rather than pushing it through the water, thereby increasing effi ciency. “We decided to install IPS instead of traditional shafts in the new boat primarily because of its low- er fuel consumption and extended cruising range, allowing us to build the boat with a smaller fuel tank, saving space and weight,” said Chris Baker, acting director, Massachusetts Environmental Po- lice. “Because the boat idles a lot on station, the automatic DPS was another critical factor in the decision to go with the Volvo Penta IPS.” www.volvopenta.com

GreenSteam Optimizer

GreenSteam Optimizer is an onboard decision support system that is an adaptive, data-driven so- lution, helping the master to make the right deci- sions. Achieving maximum fuel effi ciency means operating at the most effi cient speed using as little fuel as possible. The optimal settings and param- eters such as trim, draft are a vital in setting up the vessel, and depend on a range of conditions such as load, waves, wind, water depth and many other factors. By continually optimizing the trim and draft of the vessel based on data collected onboard the vessel, propulsion resistance is mini- mized, saving fuel. The GreenSteam Optimizer is compact and intuitive, simple to use and fi tting the unit to existing vessels is simple and straightfor- ward requiring no major modifi cation of the ship, the developer said. Installation takes less than a day if the cabling has been prepared. The system consists of two small GreenSteam radars installed in the bridge wings, and touch screen console which connects to wind and fl ow meter sensors, trim and the radars. www.greensteam.dk

Mermaid Kohler Range Launched

The partnership between U.K. diesel engine marinizer Mermaid Marine and Kohler expands

Poole based Mermaid Marine’s offering to small- er inboard engines with the company now able to supply engines from 31kW to 376kW.

It has come about through Mermaid Marine’s parent company, Power Torque’s work with JCB which has partnered with Kohler’s Global Power

Group to use the Italian manufactured engines in several of its compact machine lines in what the company terms the next stage of its engine strategy. “The decision to partner with Kohler to develop engines for JCB compact machines was driven by the synergy in the technologies used by

JCB and Kohler to achieve stringent emissions legislation,” said Alan Tolley, JCB’s director of engine programs. The Mermaid Kohler mechani- cal engine is marinized by Mermaid Marine and meets the next stage of emissions targets without the need for a diesel particulate fi lter. The engines feature cylinder block with bed plate architecture, a 4-valve cylinder head, gear driven valve train and optimized direct injection (DI) fuel system.

The engines use direct injection technology and are naturally aspirated with mechanical govern- ing. The range currently comprises two engines, the KDI 1903M three cylinder, 42hp / 31kW and the KDI 2504M four cylinder 49hp / 36kW with further developments planned in terms of options and power ratings. www.mermaid-marine.co.uk

VSP for Norderney Ferry

Ferries operated by Norden-Frisia AG have been serving the East Frisian island of Norderney for decades. Navigation in these coastal waters poses special challenges: in some areas the wa- terway only leaves a few centimeters below the keel and the water contains a signifi cant amount of swirled-up sand. A new sister ship of the dou- ble-ended ferry MS Frisia IV equipped with Voith

Schneider Propellers (VSP) is to enter service in summer 2015. Norden-Frisia AG had already se- lected a VSP propulsion system for the Frisia IV which has been serving the route between Nord- deich and Norderney since 2002. This propulsion concept proved successful and will now also be used for the new vessel.

The ferry will be built by the Cassens shipyard in Emden. With a length of 74.3 m and a beam of 13.4 m, it will be slightly longer than her sister ship. The newbuild with a draft of 1.75 m and is designed to carry 1,340 passengers and 60 cars, reaching a speed of eight knots in shallow wa- ter and 12 knots in deeper water. Four type 16R5

EC/100-1 Voith Schneider Propellers will be used for propulsion and maneuvering. The propulsion concept is diesel-electric, and the VSPs are driv- en by speed-controlled electromotors. Voith also supplies bow tooth couplings connecting engine and VSP, thus eliminating the need for intermedi- ate gearboxes and additional shafts. www.voith.com

Volvo Penta IPS (Photo cour tesy of V olvo Penta IPS)

GreenSteam Optimizer (© Cai Rönnau )

VSP

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