The joint development project was signed on 15 March in Seoul by General Electric (GE), Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Lloyd’s Register’s (LR), and is the latest step in the development of gas turbine powered ship designs suitable for deep sea, commercial applications.
While gas turbines are a proven technology and have been used at sea in naval ships and high speed craft, as well as in passenger ships, the benefits of gas turbines have not yet been applied to mainstream cargo shipping. This project will develop a design to safely maximise the potential operational benefits of gas turbine systems.
COGES also opens the way for new thinking on maintenance and financing of ships. With gas turbines, for example, finance could be arranged on a ‘power-by-the-hour’ basis and maintenance could see the swapping in and out of an entire gas turbine within 24 hours. These options reduce down time and enable maintenance conditions without getting in the way of ship operations – ideal for the container trades.
Lloyd’s Register and GE have worked together on a number of joint development projects related to gas turbines. Notably on a design for a gas turbine powered LNG carrier introduced to the market in 2013 which, LR Approval in Principle (AiP) was issued in December 2015.