Full Steam into the Future

Research and development intensified on a wide front

© 2006-2010 PlanetSolar


To maintain tradition and to seek progress, that has always been the course that shipping has steered. Especially at times when growth is no longer reflected in record figures from day to day, attention focuses more and more on such values. Research and development are pursued on the one hand by a business that has always prided itself on innovation and are supported on the other hand by funds from economic stimulus plans. Sun, wind and hydrogen are major topics alongside data processing or concepts for more efficiency.

The power of hydrogen as an energy source is particularly interesting because its waste product is only so-called “unproblematical” water. Also as a storage medium for regenerative energies, hydrogen is frequently a good choice. However, this entails changes in the existing port infrastructure, which finds it difficult to prevail over existing technology. The Federal German Government has therefore set up the “National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Technology” (NIP) with industry and science. Until 2016, 1.4 bn Euro will be invested in this programme. The individual projects will be coordinated via the platform “NOW”. One of the projects is “e4ships” (we have already reported on this in OnBoard), in which the suitability of fuel cells for everyday use on board is to be verified.

The wind is for free
Not only in the cruise business is a “Green Ship” also an image factor. Here the extra cost for more environmentally-friendly raw materials and supplies can however more easily be added to the fares, after all it is also a case of an emotional value-added. And so experiments are not only being carried out with fuel cells: A French company has designed a cruise ship on which additionally 20,000 square metres of sails can be set. In the past few years, heavy-lift freighters have also “danced” with the wind. With the wind in the right quarter, towing kites that resemble paragliders help to reduce fuel consumption by a few per cent. A Dutch fishing company has now purchased such a towing kite in order to use it on a fishing trawler. The so-called SkySails system is also to be tested on a German fishing ship in Rostock.

Round the world with the sun
A couple of sailors from Switzerland and France aim to circumnavigate the globe on a 31 metre long solar trimaran – “PlanetSolar” in 140 days without sails and without diesel. This 15 metres wide and six metres high craft which looks like a cross between the Spaceship Enterprise and a fast motor boat will set off some time this year, thanks to a German investor who has been able to meet the costs of almost ten million Euros for the global project. The yacht will carry a total of 508 square metres of photovoltaic modules which are fitted on the deck to generate power. The power will then be stored in lithiumion batteries weighing 12 tons each. The trimaran with an overall weight of 58 tons is being constructed in a boat yard in Kiel, with each detail of the Solar Trimaran tested in the flow canal and the wind tunnel. The Germanischer Lloyd simulated its behaviour in a sea state: the trimaran is designed as a “wavepiercer”; it cuts through high waves. Four electric motors together transmit up to 176 kilowatts to two drive shafts with oversize carbon propellers. “PlanetSolar” can be seen at the Hamburg Port Birthday celebrations in May.

Advances in navigation
“Faster, higher, stronger” is the well-known Olympic motto. Generally, the draft of a ship increases as soon as a ship gets bigger. Due to geographic restrictions, harbours on the other hand can only adjust slowly to the new challenges and then mostly only in a few places. In many areas, the underwater landscape stays the same – and was hitherto only furnished with depth data at selected points in sea charts. However, in future electronic harbour charts will be able to supply exact modelling and a three-dimensional representation of the depths and data on the underwater landscapes with “PortECDIS” (Electronic Chart Display and Information Service). Even facilities on the quay including ladders are integrated into the display. The underlying project for this, EFFORTS (Effective Operations in Ports), was financed over a period of three years with money from the EU. The new harbour chart gives pilots, the personnel on the bridge and tug captains a substantially improved total overview during demanding manoeuvres. Navigation and onboard automation are brought together on one computer platform by a maritime components supplier in Hamburg with a new navigation system “NACOS Platinum series”. According to the manufacturer, the system is distinguished by simpler operation together with a higher degree of automation. The development is also based on co-operations within the “Innovation Alliance Hamburg”, which since the end of 2008 has been bringing university research together with business enterprises.

Folding container of fibreglass
René Giesbers’ eco-friendly folding container idea was introduced two years ago. Instead of steel, the Giesbers “Cargo Shell” is made from fibreglass, with a wooden floor. The box can be folded down or erected in 15 seconds using two forklift trucks, and can be produced with a significantly smaller CO2 input than a steel container. It also improves the CO2 footprint by virtue of a 400 kilograms lower empty weight and is expected to have a service life two and a half times as long as that of a “steel box”. The downside is, the acquisition cost which is three times that of one made of steel. Earlier concepts failed on this count – but when the economy picks up again the CO2 reduction and the space-saving design of the folding container during no-load transports could help it to achieve the breakthrough.   

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