A new ?European Propulsion Platform?

At the recent Motor Ship Marine Propulsion Conference, Martin Bloem, Managing Director of the Holland Marine Equipment association, emphasised the importance of innovation, the environment and cooperation in the region, and even the prospect of a European Propulsion Platform.

“It was a good decision to organise this conference in Amsterdam. Holland is known as the ?Dutch Maritime Valley? and nowhere in the world will you find more maritime knowledge within such a small radius. The Dutch maritime sector employs 190,000 people, and produces annually 25 billion euro.

The world is constantly moving, developments are faster and the shipbuilding and shipping industries are no exception. New rules being set for safety and the environment are placing more demands on new technology. This can be frustrating but can also lead to new opportunities for technology suppliers. It is up to us to create new solutions, and help shipowners to cope with new demands.

The European manufacturing industry (shipyards and equipment suppliers alike) is experiencing the inevitable production shifts to low wage countries. So, in monitoring the final product from a more remote distance, the strength of West European companies is now the knowledge to integrate individual components and systems.

Propulsion systems too are getting more complex every day and the development of diesel-electric configurations offer many future possibilities for propulsion combinations. This includes fixed propeller, jet propulsion, pod propulsion, retractables, bow and stern thrusters.

More often the option of electric propulsion is considered and chosen, especially when it comes to high power consumption because of the special purpose of a vessel, e.g. dredging or crane operations. But the more complex a vessel becomes, the more complex its propulsion? and then it isn?t just the components, but the optimisation of complete systems.

The demand for system solutions asks for increasing cooperation between the system integrator and the suppliers. The first can be design offices or shipyards, but increasingly electrical engineering firms take on this role.

The dynamic cohesion between propulsion engines and propulsors is difficult and it takes high-quality knowledge to tune the various aspects. The behaviour of a ship and her systems in waves has its effects on the possibilities and availability of the systems, which is very important to shipowners.

Technological developments help gain more knowledge in these aspects. A new technique like Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) means a breakthrough in the calculations of hull shapes. It is more or less a standard software package to analyse the fluid dynamics around a ship?s hull or a component like a propeller. With this software new insights can be gained which were up to now not possible and even better optimisation can be obtained.

Optimisation, however, is more than solely having the right technology. Good solutions by means of system integration are only possible when the preconditions are known. A process approach is therefore essential to combine individual components into a good working system. And not forgetting, good communication is everything!

The process approach is a responsibility of the companies and communication can be supported by trade associations like Holland Marine Equipment and professional magazines like The Motor Ship. Organisations like The Motor Ship can give an insight in the market developments and to play an integral role in matching individual companies. The Marine Propulsion Conference is an excellent example of this.

Holland Marine Equipment plays an active role in the Netherlands when it comes to matching supply and demand and to increase the knowledge within the marine industries. An example is the Platform All Electric Ship (AES) that is supported by my organisation. In this, shipyards, ship owners and equipment suppliers are working together on the optimisation of ships. The ?Celtic Explorer? is already a state-of-the-art example that comes close to an ideal vessel.

Innovation, environment and cooperation are all items that are supported by the European Community. On a political level discussions are dominated by the interests of shipyards, and the demand for structural support to this sector. We agree that there has to be a level playing field but it is also important to have positive news from the technology drivers. I think we can raise our profile by investing more in our European trade association EMEC, and by actively participating in the Brussels scientific programs. This will be a very time consuming process but will provide more money for our sector, and a better political understanding of our needs. So why don?t we join forces and create a European Propulsion Platform? This would be a great outcome and from my side I am prepared to do the same on a national level.”