First air lubrication installation on Vale newbuild VLOC

The 324,300 dwt Guaibamax Sea Victoria was constructed by Chinese shipyard New Times Shipbuilding, before the air lubrication system was installed at Yiu Lian Dockyards (Shekou) Ltd.

In late June, Rodrigo Bermelho told The Motorship that Vale planned to trial the technology, which creates a carpet of air bubbles under the ship reducing water friction against the hull.

Vale believes that its highly efficient ore carriers can achieve further efficiencies to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. “Conservative expectations of fuel savings are around 4 to 8% with a potential to reduce 4.4% of Vale’s Scope 3 emissions by 2030.”

The technology was chosen by Vale because the Silverstream System’s savings directly align with the organisation’s Ecoshipping program. Under its Ecoshipping program, Vale will aim to reduce its Scope 3 emissions – generated across its supply chain – by investing in leading clean technologies and future fuels to accelerate emissions reductions across its chartered fleet.

Noah Silberschmidt, Founder & CEO, Silverstream Technologies, commented: “The whole team at Silverstream is proud to once again announce an industry first: the first installation of an air lubrication technology on a very large ore carrier. This milestone is impactful for many reasons. Firstly, the Silverstream System will drive a step change in fuel and emissions efficiency on the Sea Victoria and prove what is possible on their dry bulk vessels. However, for the industry at large, we are also proving that there are actions that we can take today to mitigate the environmental impact of our operations.”

Silverstream noted that the installation of its technology was successfully completed despite the challenges caused by Covid-19. The company used its supply chain expertise to work with a number of different organisations during installation, including vessel owners Pan Ocean, naval architects Shanghai Ship Design Research Institute (SDARI), as well as New Times Shipbuilding and Yiu Lian Dockyards (Shekou) Ltd.