Marine Propulsion News Roundup | September 15 – Offshore wind SOV engines, generators for US Navy submarines and more

GE power systems selected for Acta Marine’s future CSOVs

GE Power Conversion has entered into a partnership with Tersan Shipyard in Turkey to deliver the power and propulsion, dynamic positioning, and vessel control systems for two new construction service operation vessels (CSOV) for Dutch maritime support provider Acta Marine.

GE said the vessels are planned to be the first in the offshore wind sector capable of running on methanol and marine diesel/hydrogenated vegetable oil (MDO/HVO).

The vessels will also be fitted with GE Power Conversion’s energy storage and electric propulsion systems to reduce their carbon footprint.

The two new windfarm CSOVs will be used to support projects during the construction and commissioning of offshore wind farms, as well as to conduct maintenance work on operational wind farms.

Curtiss-Wright to supply generators for US Navy’s Columbia-class submarines

Curtiss-Wright Corporation has been awarded contracts provide generators for the US Navy’s future Columbia-class submarines.

The contracts have a total value of approximately US$120 million.

The Columbia-class submarine will replace the fleet of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines. The lead ship is scheduled to be delivered to the navy in 2027.

Liberty Lines’ ferries to be powered by MTU hybrid propulsion

Rolls-Royce has received an order from Spanish shipyard Armon to supply nine MTU hybrid propulsion packs for nine new ferries slated for Italian high-speed transport company Liberty Lines.

The vessels are scheduled to enter service between 2023 and 2026. The construction of an optional nine additional ships is planned for delivery between 2027 and 2030.

The concept for the fast ferries with sustainable hybrid propulsion systems has been developed in collaboration with Liberty Lines, Armon, the Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems, and the Italian ship classification society RINA.

The ferries will be equipped with Rolls-Royce integrated MTU hybrid propulsion systems, each comprising two MTU 16-cylinder Series 4000M65L engines, two gearboxes, two e-motors and electric systems, two variable-speed gensets, a battery system, switchboard and electrical power management system, and an MTU hybrid automation system that monitors and controls not only the hybrid propulsion system, but also various ship area systems.

The vessels will use different operating modes as needed. When in purely electric mode, they can enter and leave ports quietly and with significantly reduced emissions at a speed of eight knots; in hybrid mode, they can reach high speed in cruise mode when traveling across the sea whilst simultaneously charging the batteries by the two main engines and eliminating the need to operate the gensets for hotel load.

Liberty Lines will have the ability to continually remotely monitor the status of the complete propulsion system via an MTU remote monitoring system.

Shift Clean Energy’s storage system secures NK, IRClass type approval

Shift Clean Energy has received type approval from both the Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass) and Japanese Marine Standards (NK) for its lithium-ion, battery-based energy storage system (ESS).

The ESS is used for hybrid or fully electric propulsion systems for marine, offshore and inland waterway applications alongside land-based industrial and renewable energy applications.

In March 2022, Shift received approval from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for its ESS. In 2021, Shift confirmed its approval certification under new 2020 class rules for commercial vessel batteries set out by classification society DNV.

Click here to read other news stories, features, opinion articles, and vessel reviews as part of this month’s Passenger Vessel Week.