Page 15: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 2022)

On the far end, it may be kite controllers, hydrogen tanks, fuel cells, and ? ssion reactors.

All of that might be manageable if we were not in the middle of a technological whirlwind, the likes of which have never seen in our industry. This means that a line of batteries may only be installed for a few years and will be superseded by the next generation of batteries and that there will be many manufacturers of batteries before the consolidation starts. And that will apply to every component in the propulsion system.

As such, every vessel that enters a yard in the next few de- cades or so will be likely to have unique propulsion systems and unique components, each of which needs to be individu- ally ? gured out by a contractor who is offering to make repairs or offer conversions.

Because there will be such a rapid advance in technology,

Photo courtesy Rik van Hemmen repairs may become relatively rare due to lack of knowledge in making repairs or lack of spares. This means that rather and even higher costs in additional component modi? cations than making propulsion system repairs, conversions may be and replacements if an identical engine cannot be procured.

the order of the day.

While the electric components are not cheap, not one com-

That sounds really scary to ship owners who may see in- ponent comes close to the cost of an engine and can be re- creased maintenance and repair costs in being unable to make placed with a like (but not identical) component in the system.

repairs once they go hybrid. (It should be noted that many hy-

Having said that, I did have a pause for thought when one brid systems inherently have vastly lower maintenance costs of the electric outboards on the SHEWAC failed. The unit was due to fewer pumps, seals, heat exchangers, thru hulls and still under warranty (these units are very reliable and I think moving parts).

it was a case of infant mortality). Initially, the manufacturer

Strangely, this may not be as scary as it appears at ? rst, provided instructions and trickled various replacement com- since the march of technology comes to the rescue. The cost ponents to the repair yard to see if it would ? x the problem. of hybrid components can be expected to go down quite rap-

This took time and I asked the manufacturer if they could just idly, and the ef? ciency of these components can be expected supply a replacement outboard. Instead, we were asked to ship to improve too, and then a conversion may actually be a life the unit to a service center, which took more time to eventu- cycle cost saving. ally have the unit ? xed. I estimate the cost of all that trouble-

As such, a component failure may actually be an opportu- shooting, communication, shipping and labor came close to nity, rather than a problem.

the cost of a new outboard ($8,000) and a new outboard would

And component failures in well-designed hybrid systems have resolved the issue over a month faster.

are likely to be a much lower fraction of the overall vessel

I have waited longer for a gasoline outboard to be ? xed, so I value than propulsion components in standard vessels.

have little to complain with regard to the delay; but, knowing

Barring shipboard ? res, which are extremely expensive to that technology is changing fast, I wonder how much longer repair, the largest single damage cost aboard a vessel is an I can actually source a matched unit if there is another prob- engine failure and a full engine failure can be a signi? cant cost lem on this twin unit boat. Therefore, to have a spare on hand fraction of the entire propulsion system.

would not be a bad idea and that is just one ponderable in this

One of the ? rst realizations I had in designing and building expanding universe of repair and conversion issues. the SHEWAC was that the most expensive single propulsion component on the vessel was the standby generator at 3.4% of the total construction cost. Much lower than the cost of a propulsion engine. The full replacement of the generator unit

For each column I write, MREN has agreed to make a small would take about 6 hours in labor to remove and replace and donation to an organization of my choice. For this column I can be replaced with any generator package of similar size. nominate the Shake A leg Foundation. https://sailtoprevail.

(Note: this strongly argues for high levels of standardization in org/support/ They ? rst made me maritime ADA aware and interconnect features in hybrid systems.) If the vessel had been nothing is cooler than having the wind serve as your legs.

diesel propelled, the loss of a main engine would be a larger percentage, would incur higher labor costs for replacement, www.marinelink.com 15

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