The major Japanese shipping group Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) has come up with a new concept of how a ship might look like in 2050.
The concept of an emissionfree ship has been named the NYK Super Eco Ship 2050 and is part of the line’s Staying Ahead 2022 with Digitalisation and Green Management project. This plan incorporates the latest technologies and the line said “the design fits well the industry decarbonisation efforts aimed at halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”
The concept ship has been developed as a 2050-model pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) in co-operation with MI and Elomatic, an engineering and consulting company in Finland.
The NYK Line said: “The power needed to operate the ship has been cut by 70 per cent by remodelling the hull to decrease water friction, reducing the weight of the hull, introducing fuel cells for electric propulsion, and relying on other highly efficient propulsion devices.
“Instead of fossil fuel, the ship would be powered by solar energy and hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources, all of which would lead to a reduction of CO2 by 100 per cent and thus result in a zero-emission vessel.”
The NYK Line said the main features of the concept:
■ HULL: The weight of the hull would be “reduced through a dynamic, mathematical design that uses lightweight materials for the superstructure. In addition, computercontrolled devices, such as gyro stabilisers, are installed to provide active stability for the lightweight vessel hull.
“An air-lubrication system is used to reduce the frictional resistance between the vessel’s bottom and the seawater by means of bubbles generated by supplying air to the ship’s bottom. Automatic hull cleaning during port stays prevents any negative impact on vessel efficiency.
“Finally, propulsion efficiency is increased by replacing conventional propellers with flapping foils that mimic the movements of dolphins.”
■ ENERGY: The ship “is powered by hydrogen fuel cells produced from renewable energy sources. Waste heat recovered from the fuel cells is also used. On long voyages, solar power can be utilised.”
■ MAINTENANCE: This is “managed through use of digital twins, a technology that realises physical conditions digitally and enables real-time analysis from land offices, accident prevention and optimal maintenance.”
■ PORT AND CARGO HANDLING: The optimisation of route planning “is no longer a ship-level activity. It will be done at port and on a fleet level, which will enable justin- time arrival throughout the supply chain. Automatic mooring and efficient shipto- ship cargo handling will minimise port stays.”
The contract for the design and build of the port handling facilities on Teesside for Sirius Minerals Plc, owners of
On the afternoon of Nov 10 last year, a special ceremony took place off Sunderland to mark the sinking of
The Appledore shipyard in Devon is to be closed in March by its owners, the UK-based engineering company Babcock International.
The latest vessel to join the fleet of model ships used for training at Southampton University’s Warsash School of Maritime,
All fifteen people were rescued from a listing self-propelled self-elevating jackup platform, known in the US offshore industry as a
For the second year running, the Port of Long Beach, California, has broken its record for the volume of cargo
Drugs with a street value of $500mn were unloaded at Port Everglades, Florida, on Nov 15 by the US Coast
The major US oil exporting port of Corpus Christi, in Texas, set a new tonnage record during the first nine
In a major first on Oct 1, four liquefied gas carriers transited the Panama Canal in one day through the
A simulated collision - known as a tabletop drill - involving a LNG carrier and a fishing boat in Japanese waters has
The UK registered container ship CMA CGM Centaurus, 131,322gt, crashed into the quay at the United Arab port of Jebel
The P&O Cruises Australia cruise ship Pacific Explorer, 77,499gt, was detailed by the Australian authorities after spilling waste water in
American News In what might be seen as a return to the heady days of NASA’s Apollo moon program, the
British News Many people never thought they’d see it happen, but F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters have finally flown
American News The Zumult class destroyer USS Michael Monsoor was in dockyard hands at Bath in Maine for the removal
British News The assault ship HMS Albion, at time of writing, had just completed a five day visit to Tokyo
British News The latest survey vessel to join the Royal Navy was commissioned into service at her homeport of Devonport
The impending closure of the Appledore Yard is another loss of merchant ship-building capacity even though its bread and butter,
A country well used to tragedy, saw another, on Lake Victoria in September.
At this time, when all cross-border ferry operators ex UK must be extremely apprehensive as leaving the EU approaches, Seatruck
I would have liked to have seen the face or hear the language of the OOW when he realised he
Since she was rebuilt in 2011, the mulie barge Cambria has been based in Kent, but in September, after her
At the end of the Southampton Boat Show in September, the barque Kaskelot, which had been on display, was sold
I am amazed the port industry has not made more thorough and timely comments about the potentially negative impact of
Apart from the Whitstable Harbour Barge Race, all the other barge races have a yearly points system that counts up
During World War II, most of France’s traditional sailing vessels were destroyed and after the war, the emphasis was on
The Fjords DA has announced it plans to add another all electric passenger vessel to its award winning fleet, with
Public access to documents charting the history of the River Thames and London’s Docks over nearly 250 years has been
In November 2017, I was greatly saddened by the disappearance and assumed loss of the Argentine submarine San Juan.
Over the years at Sea Breezes, we have highlighted the inherent weakness of some of our electronic navigation systems to
An ambitious plan to bring marine manufacturing and support industries back to the Upper Clyde, if fully realised, will result
Turquoise Yachts, the Turkish based shipyard under the same ownership as the Dutch Oceanco shipyard, has commissioned Ken Freivokh Design
Following the example of the Lindblad Cruise Line and National Graphic in the USA, Ponant, the French cruise line which
Recent readers of these Cruise News pages will possibly be familiar with the coverage given to “Bridge 2017”, a transatlantic
The history of former shipping lines are frequently well chronicled in various museums.
