The shipbuilding company VARD Group AS in Norway has announced a contract for a shrimp stern trawler to be designed and equipped by Rolls-Royce. The fishing vessel has been ordered by a Canadian company. The contract is worth in excess of £6 million to Rolls-Royce.
The vessel is of Rolls-Royce NVC 374 design and will be around 79 metres long featuring an ICE 1A* ice class hull. It will be equipped with a wide range of Rolls-Royce equipment, including a B33:45 main engine, Promas propulsion, and a power electric system with hybrid shaft generator (HSG). The Rolls-Royce package also includes a tunnel thruster, automation, and winches.
The new vessel will be equipped with fishing winches driven by permanent magnet (PM) engines. The contract represents the first commercial sale of this innovative technology developed by Rolls-Royce. PM technology was first launched by Rolls-Royce to drive thrusters more efficiently, silently and with less vibration. The PM winch engine is particularly suited to applications that operate in harsh conditions and combine a need for sensitive control and rapid changes in pull and speed.
Operational efficiency in ice, low emissions, crew comfort, safety and excellent seakeeping capabilities have been the main considerations in the development of the ship design and complete equipment package.
The vessel’s main engine is the medium-speed Bergen B33:45 from Rolls-Royce. This engine offers a 20% increase in power per cylinder compared to existing engines in the Bergen range. The engines are economical with a specific fuel consumption of 177g /kWh at full load and comply with IMO Tier II and III rules. The Bergen B33:45 is designed to run for 25,000 hours between major maintenance when operating at average loads. Since its market introduction last September the B33:45 has been selected to power five fishing vessels.
The Rolls-Royce Hybrid Shaft Generator (HSG) is an advanced electric power control system for conditioning the electrical power coming from a shaft generator. It allows shaft speed to be reduced whilst maintaining a constant frequency for the electrical supply throughout the ship. This permits a much more flexible use of engine and propeller speed variations to maximise both propeller and engine efficiencies by running them at their design points. This has the benefit of improving fuel efficiency, reducing emissions and also significantly reduces operating costs.
The vessel encompasses an onboard factory for the production of a variety of shrimps, and has a storage capacity of 2,100m3 on specialized decks for palletized cargo. There are also two packaging holds on two decks.
The vessel is to be delivered from VARD’s Aukra yard in Norway in December 2016.