Europort 2013 will showcase the innovative technology available that is designed to meet shipping’s critical challenge posed by environmental restrictions under ‘Tier III’ legislation.

Radical tightening of permissible nitrogen oxide and sulphur emissions from ships will change shipping profoundly after January 1, 2016, particularly within Emissions Control Areas.  Staged just over a year before the new regime comes into force, November’s Europort 2013 will offer the maritime and offshore sectors the chance to find out how technology innovators have risen to regulatory challenges, and consider their actions before new restrictions bite.

The International Maritime Organization’s Tier III restrictions require the approximate 74% reduction in NOx emissions when compared to Tier II-type engines. Permissible NOx emissions under Tier III are restricted to between 3.4g/kWh and 2.0g/kWh, depending on an engine’s rated speed.

Shipowners also need to address tightening sulphur dioxide emissions restrictions from 2015, particularly in ECAs. Under the currently agreed schedule, the amount of sulphur permitted in marine fuels will fall in ECAs from a current 1% to 0.1% in 2015, and globally in 2020 from 3.5% to 0.5%.

In short, it will simply no longer be permissible to burn heavy fuel oil (HFO) as freely as before. To meet the regulatory demands, owners will either have to operate on lower sulphur fuel or distillates, burn gas, fit an exhaust gas scrubber, or change their operating profile. 

Understandably, both future fuel selection and the energy efficiency of ships already built and in service are key themes in both the ‘Advanced Technology’ and ‘Mare Forum’ conference programmes that are integral to Europort 2013.

Real progress on one of the industry’s future fuel options will be highlighted in the ‘Pioneering with LNG’ session at the Advanced Technology Conferences, where Dutch expertise in inland operations, shipbuilding and marine equipment design has come into its own. Mare Forum will address the wider strategic issues on future trends in fuels, as part of a wider debate on ‘eco ships’, using the stimulating, free-flowing and informal approach to discussions that is the hallmark of the Mare Forum formula.

As ever, new vessel designs are also a feature of this year’s Europort, and here too environmental imperatives are central to the innovations on show. Typical is the new PSV 3300 offshore vessel from Damen Shipyards, the starting point for its new portfolio of offshore vessels.

Specifically designed to Damen’s ‘E3’ principles – to be Environmentally friendly, Efficient in operation and Economically viable – the first PSV 3300 was delivered in July to Norwegian owner World Wide Supply. The design features a wave piercing bow, slender hull lines, and diesel electric propulsion with azimuth stern drives, in a combination that minimises fuel consumption. Long smooth lines in the entire form also have a positive effect on the durability of coatings.

Damen is also responsible for delivering the first vessels built in Europe to the ‘E-KOTUG’ design for Kotug, which features a hybrid Rotor®tug solution developed to reduce emissions, improve fuel-efficiency and cut noise. The Rotor®tug approach means energy can be stored for standby or very low power operations, so that vessels can perform these parts of their duties without noise or emissions. Mid 2014 will see delivery of the first Kotug vessels built to this design, in the shape of two hybrid Rotor®tugs ART 80-32 and Kotug has issued an open invitation to visit booth 6608, where the Rotor®tug company will be present to go through the technology.

This solution is, however, no means the only one that looks to optimize fuel consumption by providing innovative solutions to real life operational needs. Van der Velden, another company along the Europort ‘Green route’ will be presenting its environmentally friendly Van der Velden^® FLEX tunnel, whose ability to retract confers major benefits in terms of speed, loading capacity, manoeuvrability and reduced fuel consumption. With the tunnel embedded into the vessel hull, resistance is lowered and efficiency increased. When sailing in shallow waters the Flex tunnel is deployed to ensure sufficient water flow to the propellers and maintain their efficiency.

Driving ships in the most efficient way possible through the water is not only a matter of a vessel’s physical, or indeed mechanical, attributes. Polish company Enamor, for example, is exhibiting at Europort 2013 to draw attention to the suite of control and automation products it has developed that address issues raised by the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) arrived at by IMO.

These will include the company’s Propulsion Control Assistance System ETNP-10 – a cost-effective drive control that takes into account the draft of the ship, its current load and the rotation speed of the shaft. The device allows users to observe the field of drive and to initiate an immediate response when limit values are exceeded. Parameters such as torque, power, rotating speed, vessel’s speed, efficiency, etc. are constantly measured and analyzed.