VESSEL REVIEW | Su Jiaoxun 0001 – Chinese transport ministry places hybrid patrol vessel into service
The Chinese Ministry of Transport (MOT) has taken delivery of a new traffic enforcement vessel built locally by Jianglong Shipbuilding.
Su Jiaoxun 0001 (苏交巡0001), which will be operated by the MOT in the waters off Nanjing in Jiangsu province, is the first inland water-capable law enforcement vessel in China to be fitted with a hybrid electric propulsion arrangement consisting of a diesel generator, a lithium battery pack, and an azimuthing thruster, which eliminates the need for a shaftline.
The vessel's duties also include traffic supervision and emergency response in the Yangtze River and nearby waters in Jiangsu province.
Propulsion system guaranteeing versatility
The hybrid propulsion arrangement supplied by the 704 Research Institute subsidiary of the China Shipbuilding Group enables the vessel to generate significantly reduced noise and vibrations even when operating for extended periods.
An integrated energy management system adopts a distributed architecture and a dual-master controller design. Among other things, the system facilitates remote real-time monitoring of vessel operating parameters from a shore control station.
Su Jiaoxun 0001 has steel/aluminium construction, an LOA of 43.25 metres (141.9 feet), a beam of eight metres (26 feet), a depth of 3.4 metres (11 feet), and an operating speed of just over 13 knots.
Also installed are an AC/DC power distribution system and an energy management system to help the crew optimise energy use, thus prolonging the operational life of the vessel and some of its critical machinery.
The energy management system adopts a distributed architecture and a dual-master controller design, and the high information transmission rate and fibre-optic transmission ensure real-time transfers of data, thus greatly improving redundancy and reliability.
Advanced monitoring for more streamlined operations
Through an innovative design combining three different power modes and a berthing mode, the human-computer interaction interface can easily switch between the various modes without interruption in the vessel’s operation.
The vessel’s DC switchboard adopts a large-capacity, compact water-cooled structure design and integrates three-dimensional heat dissipation channels and dual redundant protection architecture.
With the aid of a multi-level active/standby selective protection algorithm, the switchboard has an accuracy rate of more than 99.9 per cent in fault identification, and it can accurately isolate short circuit fault branches within just 500 microseconds.
This results in enhanced safety and shorter maintenance periods, allowing the vessel to be operated on patrols as much as possible.
