Lloyd's Register (LR) and the Shanghai-based Bestway Marine Engineering Design have completed their joint-industry project to develop an environmental bulk carrier.
According to the provisional data from the project, the new design for a 35,000DWT bulk carrier will achieve an 18 percent improvement in environmental efficiency over comparable previous versions when measured against the IMO's Energy Efficiency Design Index, a method by which a ship's CO2 efficiency is measured.
According to LR, the new 'Emerald' design exceeded targets in a number of key areas: it reduced the Handysize model's steel weight by 12 percent, making room for more revenue-generating cargo without increasing fuel consumption (the target was a 10 percent reduction); it also reduced fuel consumption by 19.5 percent (the target was 15 percent).
Both companies have since committed to return to the drawing board to see what further practical gains can be made with 35,000DWT and other ship designs to answer calls from the market for "greener", more efficient ships.
