Our picks of the year

Here at The Motor Ship we above all take pleasure in writing about the ships which make the most innovative use of new designs and technologies. Over the course of a year there are dozens of noteworthy new ships taking to the seas, and it would be a shame if, after a delivery or launch report in this journal, they were known only to their owners, crews and customers. So this year we have chosen those ships, all delivered in 2002, which we feel stand out from the fleet and present them again here with some commentary on their

performance in service. Any such grouping is by necessity selective, but we believe the 16 ships featured represent a good cross-section of the highlights of 2002

When considering the ships of 2002, a few trends stand out. In the offshore support sector, increased sophistication and multi-purpose capabilities is a continuing trend as owners and operators strive to widen the market for their ships, well-represented here by Normand Flower.

For Britain?s Royal Navy HMS Echo is the first ship to be fitted with podded propulsors and, if operationally successful, might lead to pods being installed in other naval ships. In fact, one of the proposed CVF aircraft carrier designs (Thales) for the RN envisages using a podded propulsion system.

Ferries feature strongly in the selection and both La Superba and Finnmarken represent the continuing strong trend towards the “cruise ferry” concept.

Arguably, the most interesting newbuilding delivered in 2002 is the 43,524 gt cruise vessel The World, the first ever ocean-going luxury residential resort with a high priority placed on lowering noise and vibration levels.

Traditional Panamax cruise ships are represented by the Coral Princess and the Zuiderdam, both of which are included in this review because they are the first ships to feature combined diesel electric and gas turbine propulsion (CODLAG).

They say it always takes a disaster to prompt officialdom into action and the Prestige incident has certainly served to focus attention once again on single-hulled tankers and emphasised the merits of double-hulled oil carriers. Not surprising, the three tankers featured in the list, Hellespont Alhambra, Eagle Virginia and Tempera, are all double hulled and of an extremely high specification, and remarkable for size, control and ice-breaking functions respectively.

Staying with tankers, Stena Line introduced a pair of highly sophisticated chemical/oil products carriers with the added capability of carrying LPG cargoes. As short-sea vessels, the sister ships Stena Caribbean and Stena Calypso are designed to trade in the environmentally sensitive area of the Caribbean and are a taste of what is to come from Stena?s innovative Max series.

Also in tankers, we feature LNG Rivers, the largest MOSS type LNG vessel built at just over 137,000 cbm, as well as two examples of the resurgence of shipbuilding in Croatia, Tarantella and Maritea.

One ship type that does not often crop up among newbuildings is the livestock carrier since these tend to be conversions from other dry cargo vessel types, but a notable example was delivered in 2002 in the shape of Becrux. As one of the largest of its kind, it sets new standards in response to increased concerns over animal welfare.

The final ship in this review is the semi submersible heavy lift ship Tai An Kou which employs a wide array of the latest technology.

As ever, much of the information required to bring details of these ships to you was made available thanks to the co-operation of shipbuilders, engine builders, designers and owners. We thank them for their valuable time to provide data, drawings and

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