Rolls-Royce Power Systems will supply LNG-fuelled engines and Schottel will deliver Rudderpropellers and PumpJets
Abeking & Rasmussen (A&R) is building three emergency response, fire-fighting and pollution recovery vessels in Germany.
These multi-purpose vessels are being built in A&R’s shipyard in Lemwerder for the German Government’s Waterways and Shipping Administration (WSV) as part of its modernisation programme.
Tasked with emergency towage, combating pollutant spills, waterways police missions and navigation work, they will also be capable of caring for injured seafarers and deploying hydroacoustic equipment.
A&R says the first of these multipurpose towage vessels will be delivered in 2023, a second in 2024 and a third in 2025.
The 95-m vessels with a beam of 20 m and maximum draught of 6.1 m will replace older ships Mellum, Scharhörn and Neuwerk in WSV’s facilities in Wilhelmshaven, Cuxhaven and on the Baltic coast.
Planning, design, engineering, tendering and construction supervision is being carried out by the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (BAW) ship technology division.
A&R says these multipurpose vessels will have green propulsion including gas-fuelled engines supplied by Rolls-Royce Power Systems and LNG storage tanks.
B36:45L6AG Bergen Engines will be specifically designed for burning methane safely even in explosive environments.
With a combined output of more than 12,000 kW, the engines will drive Schottel propulsion systems, including two powerful Rudderpropellers and one PumpJet per vessel.
“Manoeuvrability, high bollard pull and increased availability combined with maximum propulsion efficiency are important for these vessels,” says Schottel.
Propulsion will generate bollard pulls up to 145 tonnes and provide WSV’s vessels with speeds of more than 15 knots.
Schottel will manufacture two SRP 750 Rudderpropellers, each producing 4,500 kW of power at 750 rpm. It will also supply SPJ 520 PumpJets, each delivering 2,990 kW of power to further increase the manoeuvrability of the vessels.
These will be suitable for operation in shallower waters due to being installed flush with the hull. SPJ 520 units are mounted elastically, which reduces noise and vibration levels on board and underwater noise generation, says Schottel.
Extensive equipment will be on board to conduct emergency towing operations including a main tow winch on the stern, carrying 1,000 m of tow wire with a diameter of 64 mm.
Emergency grapnel equipment will be available for salvage, to stop floating shipwrecks or disabled vessels in case the towline cannot be used.
There will be accommodation for 16 regular crew, plus 34 additional personnel, and a helipad on the bow deck.
Part of the additional safety features on these vessels will be a gas-tight citadel structure with a protective air supply, enabling operations in hazardous atmospheres, such as while tackling shipping accidents involving toxic or flammable gases. Additional forces and materials can be brought on board the multipurpose vessels safely.
WSV is installing remote monitoring and digitalisation technology, with Schottel providing its MariHub data acquisition and gateway for internet of things (IoT) for each vessel.
These will record and analyse signals from sensors, machinery and other components, which can be evaluated by Schottel for WSV’s ongoing support requirements.
IoT data will be used for Schottel’s condition-monitoring service ProCMS, which enables early detection of irregularities in the drive train.
“This predictive maintenance approach significantly increases the availability of the multi-purpose vessels,” says Schottel sales director for automation and digital products Jan Glas. “ProCMS can reduce maintenance costs and improve maintenance planning,” he said during Riviera Maritime Media’s tug technology webinar week in Q4 2020.
Data is collated and can be transferred on the vessel for onboard processing and then to a cloud storage facility. From there it can be accessed from shore, analysed and checked against previous data for benchmarking and used for trending. Mr Glas says data can be used by remote support teams and incident analysis. “We can use data for root-cause analysis of issues,” he says.
Riviera Maritime Media will provide free technical and operational webinars in 2021. Sign up to attend on our events page
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.