MAN Diesel & Turbo's Propeller & Aft Ship unit has won an order to retrofit and upgrade a series of eleven 37,500DWT vessels from the Odfjell chemical tanker fleet.
The vessels are of the Kværner Class and are due to dock during 2015-17, at which time the upgrades will be implemented. The first vessel, 'M/T Bow Clipper', will dock and be upgraded in August 2015.
Each vessel has an MAN B&W two-stroke engine powering a four-bladed, controllable-pitch propeller and a PTO-driven shaft alternator. The vessels' new service speed at reduced main-engine output – combined with the implementation of MAN's highly-efficient Kappel propeller blades, a fairing cone and a pre-fabricated rudder bulb kit – will all contribute to power savings and reduced exhaust-gas emissions.
The Kappel blades, fairing cone and rudder bulb are designed and customised for the tanker's hull and rudder designs. The calculated power saving has been verified by tank-test analyses at MARINTEK (Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute) as reported in preliminary results.
