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ment Manager. ZF also provides parts recognize.” world. For now, designs that meet Tier and any change to those is always an is- commonality across propulsion plat- He also remarks that RAL is seeing a 4 requirements are a challenge, particu- sue,” he says. forms in order to help ? eets reduce parts growing trend toward tugs that are tai- larly on vessels that are tightened up “If we need to add some volume into inventory. lored for each speci? c operation, though against tonnage limits. “We build a lot the engine room, we need to take it away

With a variety of innovative products it is different in different parts of the of tugs that are 499GRT internationally, somewhere else.” such as transmissions, control systems, thrusters and propellers, and of? ces worldwide, ZF is a signi? cant player in the commercial market. While the name of the game is to help vessel owners im- prove fuel economy and ef? ciency by optimizing drive systems for workboats,

Schwarz says increasing vessel safety is also critical. “As contracts get more competitive as more requirements come in, everyone is looking to run their ves- sels as safely as possible, so we’re al- ways looking at areas where we can im- prove safety. We’ve provided thrusters for over 40 new vessels in a little over three years. This technology is helping make our customer’s vessels safer and brings modern engineering to their sys- tems.”

On another safety note, RAL’s Fitzpat- rick says the new Maritime Labor Con- vention regulations for crew accommo- dation is causing most tugs to get bigger. “Tugs have become shorter and wider to accommodate that, but we’re now put- ting 80 ton bollard pull in a 25-meter tug that a few years ago would have been maxed out at 60 tons. The class regula- tions and international stability regula- tions still have to catch up. It’s some- thing we’re pushing the class societies to

Rolls-Royce is supplying a

LNG propulsion package for an NSK Ship Design cargo carrier for Norwegian ship- owner NSK Shipping.

Image: Rolls-Royce www.marinelink.com 53

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