Shogun shows the green way

Pioneering spirit transcends through generations. If The Motor Ship owes its existence to any one company, Italian shipping line Mediterranea di Navigazione is a definite contender.

In 1910, Giorgio Cagnoni, the great grandfather of the company?s current ceo Paolo Cagnoni, was the first European shipowner to be convinced by the advantages of diesel power and turn his convictions into reality by having the Sulzer-powered motor ship Romagna built. Almost a century on from this first motor ship, the ancestors of Giorgio Cagnoni are continuing his visionary tone.

Mediterranea di Navigazione has just taken delivery of the 35,000 dwt chemical/product tanker Shogun, which is the first such vessel to have RINA?s Green Star environmental logo issued to it courtesy of it achieving the Italian classification society?s voluntary Clean Air and Clean Sea standards.

Paolo Cagnoni explains that it is company policy to have products that meet current regulations while looking at the potential for future regulations and ensure the vessels will meet those too. “We are not a speculator,” he explains. “We trade the vessels for a very long time.”

Shogun, which was built by Korea?s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, is an IMO type-II chemical/products tanker. According to Cagnoni, the environmental specifications for the vessel are a reaction to both future legislation and to the demands of certain charterers. The ship enters service on charter to Enel, an Italian energy group, which states that environmental

protection

is a company-wide principle and objective.

Conserving ocean life

The main structural impact that the environmental notation has had on Shogun is the extension of its double bottom in order to give the fuel oil in the bunker tanks extra

protection

should the ship be involved in a grounding or collision. The

protection

of bunker tanks by a double bottom in order to reduce the risk of accidental discharge of fuel oil is a requirement of the Clean Sea notation.

The ship has had additional holding tanks fitted for grey and black water in order to allow storage onboard. It also has a large recovery tank for separated oily bilge water.

Company policy is to try and discharge all waste oil and water at shore facilities. However it recognises that this won?t always be possible or practical so it has equipment onboard to allow disposal at sea, but with minimal environmental impact.

An oily bilge water separator, for example, treats the solution fed into it so that the water output has an oil content below 15 ppm, suitable for discharge overboard. The waste oil produced by the separation can be burned in an onboard incinerator. However, discharge overboard of separated water and incineration of waste oil are only committed as a last resort and only in open sea, a long distance from land (according to Marpol), says the company.

The hull of Shogun is coated with a TBT-free self-polishing foul-release coating supplied by International. The European Union has recently issued a ban on the use of certain tin-based compound paints (such as TBT) on large ships? hulls from January 1, 2003. The IMO has adopted a convention which bans the application of tin-based compounds from the same date and completely prohibits them from January 1, 2008.

“It is very expensive, but TBT-free,” says Cagnoni about the hull coating applied on Shogun. Tanks are coated with TCA900, a phenolic epoxy supplied by International.

Mediterranea di Navigazione is also bidding to reduce the transfer of marine organisms in its ballast water. It issues its masters with a manual that deals with stress calculations and safety of the vessel when travelling in ballast and exchanging ballast. The manual also emphasises to masters that a suitable distance should be maintained between port and the ballast operation in order to minimise the chances of introducing alien species to new marine environments.

Atmospheric

protection

Propulsion power on Shogun is provided by a single Hyundai Heavy Industries-built MAN B&W 6S50MC main engine, which has a mcr of 8,560kW at 127 rev/min. This is coupled to a fixed pitch propeller to drive the ship forward at speeds of up to 15 knots. A Becker flap-type rudder provides Shogun with course keeping and manoeuvrability assisted by a 1,000kW bow thruster.

Three Yanmar 8N21 AL engines, delivering 1,200kW each at 900 rev/min, provide auxiliary generation for three brushless IP23 motors to power the Framo cargo pumps and other onboard equipment. The exhaust emissions of all the diesel engines meet the voluntary NOx content limits set out in the IMO?s revised Marpol Annex VI. This is a requirement of Clean Air. The engines also meet SOx emissions limits set out by Clean Air.

As explained earlier, incineration is used as a last resort and only in open seas, according to Marpol. There is no specific equipment fitted to clean the exhaust gases or the smoke generated by the incinerators.

Clean Air also deals with emissions from air-conditioning/refrigeration systems and from incineration plants. On Shogun, Cagnoni explains, the air conditioning and refrigeration plant uses non-ozone destroying gases and procedures are in place to ensure there is no loss of gas to the atmosphere.

RINA?s Green Star logo has already been sought for several passenger ship newbuildings, as proof that they meet the highest possible environmental standards, in excess of current legislation.

Ugo Salerno, ceo of RINA, says: “Our green standards are proof of the highest level of commitment to the marine environment and the certificate we have issued [to Shogun] recognises the significant investment in technical and human resources made by Mediterranea di Navigazione to ensure its new vessel sets a new international standard for environmental friendliness.”

Cagnoni says, “We have always had a strong commitment to quality and the environment, and we achieved ISM and ISO certification long before it was compulsory. Now we are happy to be showing the world a lead in building and operating cleaner tankers. Leading the way in building an eco-friendly ship is not just a recognition of our social obligation to the delicate sector of the maritime transport business in which we operate, it is more a fundamental component of our business strategy, and a source of pride and success for our company.”