From seventeen entries, the Maritime Innovation Award jury has selected its three nominees: Conoship with their eConowind unit, Huisman Equipment BV with a new offshore crane design and Value Maritime with a "plug and play" scrubber. The winner will be announced at the Maritime Awards Gala 2019 on 4 November.
The Conoship eConowind unit is an auxiliary wind propulsion unit for ships in the form of a forty-foot container. Inside are two folding "VentiFoils": a wing shaped element of ten metres high using modern innovations in aerodynamics creating high propelling force relative to its size. Smart suction is integrated in the wing, resulting in double the force while reefing when needed. As with sailing, wind power is directly converted into thrust for the ship, which, at the same sailing speed, results in lower fuel consumption and therefore less CO2 emissions.
One or more eConowind units can be installed on all types of ships, just as easily and quickly as a standard container. It is also possible to fix the VentiFoils on the ship itself. All that is needed is a 400-460 volts, three phase, fifty-sixty hertz power connection.
The Ventifoils can be rotated automatically to find the optimal angles relative to the apparent wind. The generated force will be transferred right into the deck and will help with propulsion of the vessel enabling engine power to be reduced. Depending on the ship type, sailing area and speed, between ten and twenty per cent of fuel can be saved.
The eConowind unit fits into a container (picture by eConowind).
Lighter Offshore Cranes
The two 10,000 tonnes offshore cranes Huisman Equipment BV supplied to Heerema Marine Contractors' crane vessel Sleipnir are based on completely new design principles. This has led to considerable weight savings of the cranes. This means that less steel is needed for the cranes themselves and it improves the stability of the ship.
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The Sleipnir equipped with the two 10,000 tonnes offshore cranes (from SWZ|Maritime's October 2018 issue, picture by Heerema Marine Contractors).
The main innovations are a segmented slew bearing for carrying horizontal, vertical forces and swivelling the crane, hoisting winches that also serve as a counterweight and a crane body construction consisting of load-bearing plate elements. The jury is impressed that the highly detailed reliability studies have led to an optimisation of the design in such a way that the customer can be guaranteed that lifting operations can be carried out at all times.
Plug and Play Scrubber
Value Maritime has developed a small "plug and play" Scrubber (exhaust gas cleaning system, EGCS). It is contained in a twenty-foot transportable module. It filters both sulphur and ultrafine particulates from the exhaust fumes of ships. Furthermore, the CO2 footprint is ten per cent lower than when using marine gas oil (MGO).
Because it has been possible to reduce the size of the scrubber to make it suitable for smaller ships and capacities, a new segment within the shipping industry can be served. Because of the modular concept, the system is also suitable for older ships and the scrubber can be financed independently of the ship's current financing. This means even leasing the scrubber is an option.
Maritime Awards Gala
The Maritime Awards Gala is an annual networking event organised by the Maritime Awards Gala Foundation. During the event, five maritime awards are presented: the Maritime Award KNVTS Ship of the Year, the Maritime Innovation Award, the Maritime Designer Award, the Maritime Royal Netherlands Navy Van Hengel-Spengler Award and the Maritime KVNR Shipping Award. The Gala takes place on 4 November during the Maritime Week (2-9 November 2019).
Picture (top): The plug and play scrubber is suitable for smaller ship types (by Value Maritime).
