New crew change vessel on the way

Crew welfare and a focus on fuel consumption and environmental impact have been pivotal in choosing the new crew change vessel.

Over the new year period, three shipyards are working furiously on the price for building a new crew change vessel to take over from the ’Esvagt Alpha’.

The dream scenario is environmental impact savings in the form of reduced CO2 and NOX emissions, savings in oil consumption and increased comfort for crew and crew change passengers. This dream scenario can become a reality, believes Kristian Ole Jakobsen, Chief Operating Officer for ESVAGT:

”We have looked at alternative crew change vessels for several years to find the ideal solution for our requirements. The crew change vessel will be working in some of the heaviest seas in the world and that demands something quite special,” he explains.

Resembling wind turbine vessels

ESVAGT has considered many different types of vessels, including swaths, catamarans and trimarans but discounted them as they were unsuited to the harsh seas they would need to work in. Instead, ESVAGT has chosen to look at a single hull design from Havyard Ship Technology.

”The starting point has been our existing crew change vessel setup,” explains Kristian Ole Jakobsen:

”We wanted to upgrade on as many fronts as possible in relation to what we already have. The ’Esvagt Alpha’ is a rock solid workhorse that just keeps on going no matter what weather and winds it faces. The ’Esvagt Alpha’ uses approximately 450 litres of diesel per hour when sailing at around 13 knots,” says Kristian Ole Jakobsen.

When looking at what the shipping company could acquire in its stead, it looked for a vessel that was first rate with regard to consumption and welfare – and could beat the ’Esvagt Alpha’:

”The wind turbine vessels, the HST 118 and HST 119, that are currently on their way are similar in design to what we are looking for. They are both equipped with room for 60 people and we would like to have room for up to 75 men in single berth, en suite cabins. There also needs to be room for at least five ESVAGT Fast Rescue Boats (FRB) and a larger boat, like for example our daughter crafts from the X bow vessels,” says Kristian Ole Jakobsen.

The new crew change vessels will therefore need to be large vessels equipped with DP (Dynamic Positioning), stabilising systems and extra noise reduction.

Reducing emissions

Despite its large size, the vessel will be able to sail at about 15 knots with a similar fuel consumption to the ’Esvagt Alpha’. Improved energy efficiency and optimisation of the vessel’s diesel generator system will play their part:

”The introduction of a smaller, sixth diesel generator on our C-type vessels to supplement the five identical diesel generators has been a great success. Our duties as standby vessel mean that we have long periods with low consumption and that means that we have a relatively high rate of fuel consumption when the vessel’s diesel generator system has to work at low loads. This is why we have installed a sixth, much smaller, diesel generator,” says Kristian Ole Jakobsen:

“When the navigator uses the sixth diesel generator correctly, we can reduce fuel consumption by at least 15 percent and, in some situations, even more,” he says.

The vessel will also be equipped with SCR units, which work as a catalyst to wash NOx out of the exhaust fumes and considerably reduce NOx emissions:

”We have installed SCR units on the ’Esvagt Aurora’ and reduced the NOx emissions by nearly 95 percent,” says Kristian Ole Jakobsen.

Another environment improving contribution will be the equipping of the entire vessel with LED lighting, which should reduce power consumption for lighting by up to 60 percent. ESVAGT are also considering reducing emissions and consumption by installing a dual fuel system that will allow the vessel’s diesel engines to run on both diesel and LNG; liquid natural gas:

”Using LNG as a fuel means a considerable reduction in – in particular - NOx, SOx and PM compared to diesel, which is good for the environmental impact of the vessel. However, changing to a dual fuel system is not a simple task. This is partly because LNG accounts for around three times as much volume as diesel for the same calorific value and party because it requires a relatively large investment,” explains Kristian Ole Jakobsen.

Facts

Based on optimal contractual conditions, building the vessel is expected to take between 20 and 22 months.