MAN Diesel & Turbo’s Propeller & Aft Ship organisation has delivered propeller upgrade packages to 19 vessels of Odfjell’s chemical tanker fleet that have delivered 20 per cent fuel savings.
The project, which commenced in 2013, replaced a conventional rudder set-up and propeller blades with a rudder bulb design and Kappel propellers. This has taken the vessels from an energy efficiency rating of D to A+.
Harald Fotland, senior vice president of Odfjell Tankers, described the retrofit, saying: “It’s one of the best retrofitting projects Odfjell has ever been involved in. It’s a fantastic result, this has been a dream project.”
Although originally intended to have a payback time of 12 months, the drop in the oil price since the inception of the project has pushed this back to 24 months, although Mr Fotland remains happy, saying: “We consider this to have been a very good investment.”
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