No this isn’t going to be a post about china’s new submarines…. instead we look at designing ships to be quiet for more relaxing purposes.

Eurodam News, Holland America’s newbuild blog, shares the secret;

When Zuiderdam, the first Vista-class ship, entered service, it quickly became evident that the aft part of the main restaurant had higher-than-usual noise and vibration levels. On all Holland America ships the aft section of the main restaurant is located above the propellers, but on Vista-class ships the main restaurant was located three decks lower and therefore is closer to the propellers.

Fincantieri engaged Danish consulting company Odegaard & Danneskiold-Samsoe to work with the shipyard’s noise and vibration department to develop a solution. They hit on the idea of installing an air-injection system that would create a cushion of air bubbles between the propellers and the hull to absorb some of the noise frequencies that would otherwise be transferred directly to the hull. A similar system had been installed on private yachts before, but the technology had never been tried on a large cruise vessel.

For the rest of the article click HERE.

This article was originally posted in October 2007

Never Sea Land brings us the largest engine ever built:

The Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel ship engine is the most powerful and most efficient prime-mover in the world today. The Aioi Works of Japan’s Diesel United, Ltd built the first engines and is where some of these pictures were taken.

It is available in 6 through 14 cylinder versions, all are inline engines. These engines were designed primarily for very large container ships. Ship owners like a single engine/single propeller design and the new generation of larger container ships needed a bigger engine to propel them.

The cylinder bore is just under 38″ and the stroke is just over 98″.

The engine weighs in at 2,300 tons and is capable of delivering 109,000 horsepower.

The largest piston in the world!

More Enormous Piston Rods.

“DU-Sulzer 12RT A96C” translated to “One large MFD”

How it works. [Continue Reading →]

We first met Hydraulic Marine Systems during our coverage of the International Workboat Show in December and, like the rest of the trade show participants, were amazed by the product. Boiled down, they lease mobile propulsion units that can be readily affixed to a barge or used to provide supplemental power to any vessel with available deck space. This system has already proved valuable for salvage operations with new uses being discovered on a frequent basis.

Here is a video demonstration of the product: [Continue Reading →]

The deckies run of this blog is just about over since today we are joining maritime recruiters everywhere and posting the sign “Engineer Wanted”.

If you are an engineer looking for a few extra dollars and possesses both writing and Internet skills please contact us today.

Not sure you’re sold on the idea of joining the ranks of maritime bloggers? Give YOUblog a try, it’s the simplest way to get started.

-gCaptain

MarineBuzz points us to Norway’s plan to build a One Nautical Mile long tunnel for ships. Reuters tells us:

Norway has drawn up plans to build the world’s first shipping tunnel which would save time and money for vessels passing through a coastal area known for its dangerous seas.

Strong winds, high waves and powerful currents in the area of Stad on the southwest coast of Norway cause long delays while ships wait for calmer conditions.

The tunnel, estimated to cost around $310 million and take five years to build, would cut through a peninsula, saving ships the risky journey around the coastline. Continue Reading…

While the concept isn’t new, France has been building tunnels for barges since the 19th century, this is the first tunnel of it’s size. Head over to Marine Buzz for more photos and information.

You have all done well on the previous quizes so here’s a challenge. What’s featured in the picture above?

UPDATE:

Ignacio-Wenley Palacios correctly identified the photo as marine salvage equipment known as Titan Pullers. The company’s website says:

Titan’s 300-tonne linear hydraulic pullers otherwise known as “Titan Pullers” is shown above. The pullers have been used in a variety of manners including dragging vessels off the beach or onto barges, parbuckling vessels, rolling vessels onto barges or onto breakwaters or to vertically lift sunken vessels. Several examples of relevant “Titan Puller” jobs are provided on the bottom of this page to illustrate the versatility and capacity of these machines and Titan’s ability to successfully apply skill and innovation to accomplish challenging wreck removal jobs.

Here is a photo fo the pullers in action:

Read more about these masters of disasters HERE.

Our friend Jean Pierre de Lutz is building a new boat using green technology and writing about it on his blog. Knowing we are interested in new technology geared toward reducing ship emissions he pointed us to the European Union funded project Wartsila METHAPU. Here are the details:

After nearly one and a half years of research and development, the EU-funded METHAPU (‘Validation of renewable methanol based auxiliary power systems for commercial vessels’) project is about to start trials on a prototype of a methanol-based solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) unit. The protoype will be tried and tested for performance and emissions under real-life conditions onboard a car transport vessel involved in international trade.

According to the independent Norwegian organisation Det Norske Veritas (DNV), one of the five project partners, the world’s fleet of ships is the source of two percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, ten percent to 15 percent of nitrous oxides (NOx) and four percent to six percent of sulphur oxides. DNV specialises in risk management in various areas and operates internationally. ‘Fuel cells represent an interesting possible solution to the problem of reducing local and regional emissions,’ the DNV comments in its report on ‘Fuel cells in ships: safety & reliability’. ‘The technology is, however, still fairly unproven.’

This is what the EUR 2 million METHAPU project, to which the EU contributes EUR 1 million, is set to change: The one-year trial will help to assess the maturity of methanol-based technology and its suitability for daily use in the shipping sector.

You can read the full article HERE.

Starting a Wärtsilä 6 L 64… for a truly amazing engine read our post: The Wartsila-Sulzer Super Engine

Marine Buzz reminds us why we never signed up to work aboard a Chemical Tanker.

The ship pictured above fails to impress the Icelandic tourists who board her for a short whale watching tour but after talking with the crew their attitude changes. ABC News tells us:

By April, visitors to Europe’s northernmost capital will get a taste of that future by taking whale-watching tours aboard the ship, or renting one of the world’s first hydrogen-powered hire cars.

The conversion of the Elding to hydrogen power will initially be confined to the use of a fuel cell to power the engine that runs its lighting, but for 43 euros ($72) a trip, the ship will offer whale-watchers unprecedented peace.

When the crew spots whales at sea, they shut down the main engines to let people hear the mammals swim and blow water – an experience owner Vignir Sigursveinsson says has been marred in the past by the rumble of a diesel auxiliary engine below.

“When we have the hydrogen machine, the boat will be completely soundless, which will make the experience of seeing the whales in their natural habitat even more magical,” he said.

For more on this ambitious project click HERE then visit the Icelandic New Energy Commission HERE.