More power but fewer ferries

High speed diesels fight back as demand for speed wanes

International competition is extremely tough in the high-speed marine diesel sector as it is in most sectors of the market. Under such conditions, a manufacturer will only survive if he can offer environmental engineering with a guarantee for the future and keep pace with, or even ahead of, developments in legislation. The best exhaust gas and noise emission values are only achieved if the latest technology goes into the engines.

Many might have thought that once the gas turbine entered the fast ferry market it would mean the death for high-speed diesels, particularly as the speed of vessels was steadily increasing and vessels were getting larger and larger. If Buquebus wanted diesel power in its 60 knot Luciano Federiko L, it would have required the craft to be equipped with six diesel engines.

However, the diesel engine manufacturers have not been idle and have significantly increased the power of their engines to meet this demand for speed. Three high-speed diesel engine manufacturers have been successful in this market in the form of Caterpillar, MAN B&W and MTU.

However, now that the diesel engine builders have got something to fight back with, orders for fast ferries have all but dried up. The fast ferries that are being built however, are slightly slower than their earlier counterparts and a number of builders that The Motor Ship has spoken to confirm that this seems to be a trend. This means that diesel engines are coming back into their own and are not under so much of a threat from the gas turbine manufacturers.

X-Craft

It is not all bad news. Although fast ferry orders seem to be in decline, there remains a lot of interest in this type of vessel for military use. Both Austal and Incat have had demonstrator craft on loan to the US military and are confident of winning orders for significant numbers of craft.

One craft of this type is the new

X-Craft

, high-speed catamaran for the US Navy, which will be powered by two MTU 16V 595 TE90 engines and two GE LM 2500 gas turbines in a CODOG configuration that provides a speed of more than 50 knots. The Titan Corporation is the vessel?s developer and prime contractor, with design work carried out by Nigel Gee & Associates, now part of BMT in the UK.

MTU is providing the integrated propulsion system for the

X-Craft

, which comprises the modules for the LM2500, the ship?s MCS5 Type 2 monitoring and RCS 5 control system. The

X-Craft

?s electric power supply will be generated by four diesel generator-sets with MTU Series 60 diesel engines. It will be the first application of the MTU Series 595 diesel engines in a CODOG configuration for the US Navy.

On the commercial marine front, the GE/MTU partnership worked with SNCM in France on the Corsaire 13000. The companies also aligned with the Maritime Company of Lesvos in Greece on the Corsaire 14000-class fast ferry, which uses two LM2500+ gas turbines supplied by MTU in a CODAG configuration with two diesel engines. The 140m long Corsaire 14000 cruises at a speed of 42 knots on its route from Piraeus to the Island of Lesvos in Greece.

MAN B&W Diesel has managed to secure the order for four 20RK280 engines to power the first Revolution Series ordered at Incat Tasmania by Incat USA. The 112m catamaran is under construction in Hobart and is scheduled for delivery in 2004. MAN B&W claims that the vessel will be capable of carrying up to 1,500 tonnes deadweight and will be the largest diesel powered fast craft in the world.

The four 20RK280 MAN B&W Diesel engines will provide the 36MW required to power the vessel at speeds of up to 50 knots. Each 20 cylinder RK280 engine is rated for continuous operation at 9,000bkW at 1,000 rpm for this application, moving it into the high-speed sector.

Also under construction at Incat is a 98m Evolution 10B vessel for delivery in the first half of 2004. Four 16RK280 engines will power the 700 tonne deadweight vessel, each providing 7,200 kW at 1,000 rpm. They will be the first Incat vessels powered by RK280, previous vessels being equipped with RK270 units from MAN B&W Diesel.

More power, more life

Caterpillar has recently launched its 3412D propulsion engine to the commercial marine market. The V-12, four-stroke twin turbocharged engine offers more power than its predecessor, the 3412C without compromising engine life, says Caterpillar.

The 3412D is based on the proven reliable and durable 3412C platform with several significant improvements. The 3412D bore and stroke have been increased to 145mm by 162mm to provide 32.1 litres displacement.

The turbocharger and nozzle technology utilised on the 3412D also offers no visible smoke during steady-state operation and significantly less transient smoke.

It also meets US EPA emission requirements for 2004. It is available in a variety of ratings from 404bkW (542bhp) at 1,800 rpm in the A rated engine to 651bkW (872 bhp) at 2,100 rpm in the C rated version.

SEMT Pielstick has won the contract to supply the gensets for the Scorpene submarines under construction at IZAR in Spain and DCN in France for the Royal Malaysian Navy. The 12 PA4 V 200 SMDS, rated at 1330 kW/1300 rpm will be manufactured in France at SEMT Pielstick?s factory in Saint-Nazaire.

Pielstick claims that this unit is the only engine with a combined supercharging system featuring a turbo-charger and a mechanically driven compressor and, as such, is the only supercharging system that minimizes sensitivity to pressure variations induced by sea swell.