Stretched Dutch Design Targets Extra-Long Freight

Symphony Atlantic is the first of a brace of newbuilds ordered from Ferus Smit and assigned to the Dutch shipbuilder’s yard across the border at Leer, on the River Ems in Germany. Compared to the original, 122.5m Ecobox design, the stalwart of the Symphony Shipping fleet, the XL variant is more than 21m longer and also one metre wider in beam at 18m.

The enlarged form extends the single, box-like hold to just over 100m on the tank top and to 112m at the movable tweendeck level, realising an increase of some 2,000t in deadweight to 12,500t.

The design retains the cargo carrying versatility of its forebears while enhancing the scope for extra-long and indivisible items of freight, not least the growing traffic in wind turbine components. The forward location of the superstructure maximises the revenue-earning possibilities offered by the hull envelope and affords greater protection to weatherdeck-borne cargo or to shipments stowed in the hold when sailing in open-top mode.

As with the preceding Ecobox traders, the newbuilds are strengthened to 1A ice class and are equipped with two 85t-capacity cranes mounted on the portside bulwark, rendering self-sufficiency in cargo working. This is a particular attribute for business in the industrial or project sphere.

Hydrodynamic performance is enhanced by the bulb-less, Canoe-type bow form developed by the shipbuilder, shown to effect in previous vessels in better sustaining speed and seakeeping behaviour in adverse weather and sea state conditions.

The M32E engine, added to the MaK medium-speed portfolio before Caterpillar’s mid 2021 announcement to end production of the marque, was written into the specification for Symphony’s XL newbuild programme. The M32E is a faster-running derivative of the ubiquitous MaK M32 type, and meets Tier III NOx emission criteria using selective catalytic reduction(SCR). Furthermore, the installation allows for future use of bio-blend fuels.

The 3,300kW main machinery acts on a drive train culminating in a nozzled, controllable pitch propeller running in fully automatic combinator mode. The ORC waste heat generator saves fuel and contributes to what is described as an “ultra low” EEDI.

Symphony Atlantic is expected to be ready for service in January 2023, to be followed a couple of months later by sistership Symphony Arctic.

Based at Breda, the Dutch owner deploys six Ecobox multipurpose vessels, the Symphony Sky-class, completed by Ferus Smit between 2015 and 2018 and powered in each case by a six-cylinder M32C engine rated at 2,999kW output. The initial sextet was joined during 2017 by two slightly longer ships of the more powerful Ecobox DP type, with its DP2 standard of station-keeping.