Four freighters on course for savings
Damen has completed the retro-fitting of four ships for Bam Shipping. Its technologies to reduce fuel consumption are already in action on two of the ships.
The Damen Shipyards Group recently completed the conversion of several bulk carriers for BAM Shipping. Together with Atal Solutions and other partners, it has equipped four ships with technologies that are intended to increase efficiency, according to the company.
A mix of technologies in action
To achieve this, a number of technologies have been implemented on board the vessels, “including the ‘Damen Air Cavity System’ (Dacs), the ‘Damen Triton IoT’ solution, low-friction anti-fouling paint, frequency converters and shore power connections,” the company said.
The project partners initially assumed that these technologies could reduce fuel consumption by as much as 20-25%. However, these calculations don’t include the four other solutions implemented retrospectively yet, which were implemented later on the ships.
In the near future, the ships are expected to have a certificate of savings from the classification society Rina. According to Damen, two of the ships are already in operation “and show several signs that the expected efficiency levels are being achieved.”
Partner on board for financial aspects
The company provided the retrofit for the project, while Atal Solutions secured the project’s financing of approximately USD 125 million.
“A clearer picture of the savings.”
“We’re very pleased with the preliminary results of this project and look forward to class verification in the coming weeks,” said Edwin Sieswerda, CEO and founder of Atal Solutions. After Rina has verified efficiency, the partner companies would have a clearer picture of how much fuel savings the technologies will offer.
The chief executive officer praised Damen’s approach to getting involved with its partners’ ideas. “They always listened to what we had to say and always found ways to make it happen.”
Lessons for the future
Rutger van Dam, the business development manager at Damen, described the project as unprecedented. Despite challenges he’s satisfied with the end result. It shows “that you can achieve a lot with the right people and the right attitude.”
He underlined the fact that the company has learnt its lessons from the project and will apply them in future to meet its emissions goals.