Padmesh Prabhune –
China has launched a new generation of highly energy-efficient inland cargo ships. The two ships were launched on August 22 at the Shandong Xinneng Shipbuilding Company.
While one of the vessels for container transport runs on LNG, 295 feet (90 meters) in length, the second vessel is 222 feet (67.6 meters) in length and uses a hybrid electric drive to transport general cargo. It is learnt that the ships with a fuel-efficient design will help to increase container capacity from 70 to 161 boxes.
The company stated it has four standardized designs, and a key feature is that the design has been standardized for ease of production. Using the standardized designs, the shipyard says will save costs and time in production and also make the ships more efficient to operate.
In addition to the 90-meter LNG-fueled containership and smaller multi-purpose vessel, they are proposing a 67.6-meter fully battery-powered multi-purpose ship and a 57.8-meter (189-foot) LNG-fueled ship.
Among the technologies employed are inland power packs for electric power as well as a gas-electric hybrid power system. The hull is low resistance. They predict the ships will have about six percent lower resistance which will produce at least a three percent energy savings. The deadweight of the vessels is five percent lower than older ships and through the use of LNG and batteries, emissions will be lowered by 90 percent. Carbon emissions with lowered by 15 percent.
Marex Media