CSBC explains how building feeder ships for Taiwanese lines under its Seaway Optimum Design and Operation philosophy leads to energy savings
CSBC explains how building feeder ships for Taiwanese lines under its Seaway Optimum Design and Operation philosophy leads to energy savings
Energy efficiency, the 2020 sulphur cap and big data are all major factors for Taiwan’s biggest shipbuilder CSBC when it comes to container ship construction and design.
The company is currently building a 2,800-TEU container vessel for Yang Ming and an 1,800-TEU ship for TS Lines.
Container ships are an important focus for the shipyard. Since it was founded in 1973, CSBC has delivered more than 680 ships of various ship types, which includes nearly 550 container ships. Explaining the shipbuilder’s approach to the container ship sector, a spokesperson explains “Although newbuilding prices are reported to trend upwards, competition for shipbuilding orders remains tough, and the newbuild needs are always at the mercy of the shipping market. During the past few years, CSBC has been highly dependent on merchant ship orders for 90% of our revenue, and we realise shipyards have strived so hard due to the downturn in the shipbuilding market, and global shipbuilding has been a buyer’s market in recent years.
“To improve earnings, container ships will not be our only core business. To be more specific, our strategy in the container sector will focus on certain vessel types such as container ships of 10,000 TEU plus and 1,800-TEU to 3,000-TEU feeders, and bulk carriers of 208,000 dwt in particular. Our core competency comes out of our strength of design and production to create economical and reliable products.”
Both TS Lines and Yang Ming are repeat customers of the shipyard. TS Lines ordered four 1,800-TEU feeder vessels in 2015 and 2016 from CSBC and the owner booked another pair in 2018 for the same design with modifications to meet new regulations. TS Lines comments that the delivered 1,800-TEU feeders benefited from superior energy savings and manoeuvring performance, and they find that fuel savings could be up to 15% compared with similar-sized vessels in their existing fleet.
Yang Ming ordered several 1,500-1,800-TEU feeder box ships at CSBC a few years ago, and in the past two years, CSBC delivered a series of 2,800-TEU container vessels to another Taiwanese operator. The spokesperson explained “Therefore, we thought that when Yang Ming planned to increase fleet capacity, CSBC would be one of the builders they would contact, and indeed, CSBC stood out from the competition to provide high-spec vessels for them.
“From the two returning clients, it shows CSBC is well-known in the feeder box ship market and is highly recognised for innovation and energy savings.”
‘Sea sword bow’ design
Singling out the ships CSBC is building for them, the spokesperson says “The significant feature of these two ship types is the sea sword bow, a straight stem which is less sensitive to trim and draught, wave-piercing bow – instead of breaking by the hull, which is less sensitive to trim and draught. This has been built under the shiyard’s core design philosophy, Seaway Optimum Design and Operation (SODO).
CSBC launched this industry-university co-operative research project 10 years ago, with the aim of achieving energy savings of 10%. A few years later, the shipyard declared the core design philosophy of this programme to be SODO.
“We chose the best combination of the energy saving devices, the twist leading edge rudder and rudder bulb, and adopted the flow field characteristics by computational fluid dynamics technology verified by the model basin.”
Due to the 2020 sulphur cap, CSBC is trying to remodel the vessels, to equip them with scrubbers and include more tank capacity for low sulphur fuel for flexibility.
The internet of things (IoT) is a key feature for the shipyard when it comes to constructing the box ships. The spokesperson says “With the era of IoT, we also help owners to set up the firewall for cyber security and collect big data including the VDR, AIS, AMS and VRC data, and the accommodation wifi system.
The feeder ships CBSC is building for Yang Ming benefit from the shipyard’s Smart Ship programme.
The Smart Ship programme was partly applied in the Evergreen series (the Evergreen newbuilds had all been delivered.)
Meeting IoT demands
The spokesperson says “By these efforts, we are not only proud to introduce achievements to potential customers and secure most of our revenue from newbuilding orders, but to lead the trend of cutting-edge technology with the sea sword bow. It may be a turning point to start a new era, the era of IoT.”
The shipyard is also preparing for the final goal of the autonomous ship as part of this programme. The spokesperson says “First, we are trying to make things automatic. There will be powerful operational support from devices. To build up the communication and for all kinds of applications, we have started the 4IntShip project, including setting up a network environment, the intranet and internet, to collect and give suggestions.
People need a more efficient data collecting and comment system to help and support their decisions. That is our aim at this stage.”
ECOShipCond is the first output of this project, which informs the operator of the most energy-saving way to use the ship, from the comparison of speed, draft and trim. This was tested by the CSBC-built 8,600-TEU series of container vessels crossing the Pacific Ocean from Asia to northwest America, resulting in 2-4% fuel oil savings.
The spokesperson adds “We are currently testing the IntAShipCond, pumping ballast water to tanks in a barge to transport offshore. With IntAShipCond, simulation is carried out by software instead of the crew.”
Elsewhere, CSBC is making other ship sectors part of its core business. “Recently Taiwan’s Government is keen on indigenous programmes for navy ships and submarines. As the largest shipbuilding company in Taiwan, CSBC plays a major role. By doing so, it can upgrade Taiwan’s shipbuilding capabilities to a higher level,” says the spokesperson.
CSBC is also seeking to take advantage of Taiwan’s Government plan of wind power with its harbour facilities. Windfarm infrastructure such as pin piles, transition pieces, and parts for offshore substations are fabricated in CSBC’s yard.
The shipyard’s target is to have merchant shipbuilding, naval shipbuilding, and offshore engineering each contributing 30% of its revenue by 2025.
The shipyard also has an active current investment programme, encompassing its above goals. This includes:
Yang Ming boosts eco-fleet
Yang Ming has been implementing a fleet renewal programme in order to meet the IMO 2020 requirements.
As well as the newbuilds currently under construction at CSBC, in 2019 it signed a charter agreement four 11,000-TEU container ships.
During the ceremony in Hong Kong, the time-charter agreements were signed by Yang Ming chairman Bronson Hsieh and Shoei Kisen president Yukito Higaki. The four new vessels will be delivered in 2022.
Yang Ming said that to enhance the company’s mid- to long-term operational efficiency and competitiveness, it “continues its fleet optimisation plan”.
In addition to these four container ships, in 2018 Yang Ming ordered another 10 11,000-TEU newbuildings through long-term charter agreements with owners Costamare and Shoei Kisen, which will give Yang Ming a total of 14 11,000-TEU newbuild container ships between 2020-2022. These eco-type newbuildings with modern designs will gradually replace some of Yang Ming’s high-cost, older ships.
Yang Ming highlighted the 2020 IMO low sulphur cap and that “every carrier has prepared accordingly to ensure a smooth transition in operation next year”. It said that all the newbuildings Yang Ming has ordered are designed in compliance with the IMO regulation with lower bunker consumption.
The carrier commented “With the new ships which will mitigate the pressure of high bunker prices and increased operating costs following the implementation of IMO 2020, Yang Ming will become more cost-competitive and environmentally friendly in the future.”
To reduce its higher operating cost and mitigate environmental impact of the older ships, it has an ongoing fleet renewal programme to replace older ships upon the expiry of their charter agreements and further review the old, high fuel consumption, non-eco fleet.
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