Founded more than half a century ago, Horizon Lines, Inc. currently operates 21 US-flagged containerships, and with 16 of the vessels being Jones Act compliant, it is the largest operator in the U.S. domestic maritime trade. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that the Company is also in the forefront of ship owners using the latest technology to ensure it operates efficiently, and winning environmental awards for many of its vessels in the past year.
As a principle feature of its efficiency programme, Horizon has long adopted a policy of polishing its vessel's propellers every six months, and of dry-docking for cleaning and repairs twice every five years. In early 2007, the Company took an active interest in the CASPER® hull performance monitoring service offered by Propulsion Dynamics, Inc. (PDI) of Long Beach, California, and subsequently entered into a contract for monitoring and optimising the timescale for propeller polishing.
The vessel chosen for the first trial was the 23,500 horsepower steam driven Horizon Reliance, a 46,000-deadweight ton containership built in1979. The vessel plies its trade between Los Angeles and Hawaii, a return voyage of four days, and when fully loaded sails at a speed of 22 knots, burning fuel at the rate of 128 tons per 24-hour period.
CASPER® was initiated immediately after the vessel's propeller had been polished, and quickly began to build a profile of the hull/propeller performance. The first results indicated that polishing the propeller after four months, rather than the previous six-month period would improve its performance, Ed Washburn, Horizon's supervisor port engineer in Oakland, California, said, 'We are very pleased with CASPER®. By accepting its recommendation we are conserving around one ton of fuel every day, the equivalent of $530 at today's price , and, more importantly, reducing the greenhouse gases discharged into the atmosphere by 1.12 per cent.
In January this year, a CASPER® system was initiated on a second vessel, the Horizon Spirit, the same class as Reliance, and operating the same route. By adding a vessel of similar class, further optimisation of propeller polishing intervals can be validated and adjusted between vessels.
'The optimal intervals for propeller polishing seem to be based upon daily consumption, fuel prices in connection with propeller composition, and port water contamination level; therefore, it will vary between vessels,' according to PDI's Daniel Kane.
Looking to the near future, Washburn anticipates that Horizon would also trial CASPER® on one of its diesel driven vessels to optimise propeller efficiency. He also expects that the PDI service would be used to investigate factors relating to the hull. 'It would be of interest to us,' he said, 'to learn what results are obtained by different levels of shot-blasting – down to white metal, full surface blasting, or just spot-blasting.
As a principle feature of its efficiency programme, Horizon has long adopted a policy of polishing its vessel's propellers every six months, and of dry-docking for cleaning and repairs twice every five years. In early 2007, the Company took an active interest in the CASPER® hull performance monitoring service offered by Propulsion Dynamics, Inc. (PDI) of Long Beach, California, and subsequently entered into a contract for monitoring and optimising the timescale for propeller polishing.
The vessel chosen for the first trial was the 23,500 horsepower steam driven Horizon Reliance, a 46,000-deadweight ton containership built in1979. The vessel plies its trade between Los Angeles and Hawaii, a return voyage of four days, and when fully loaded sails at a speed of 22 knots, burning fuel at the rate of 128 tons per 24-hour period.
CASPER® was initiated immediately after the vessel's propeller had been polished, and quickly began to build a profile of the hull/propeller performance. The first results indicated that polishing the propeller after four months, rather than the previous six-month period would improve its performance, Ed Washburn, Horizon's supervisor port engineer in Oakland, California, said, 'We are very pleased with CASPER®. By accepting its recommendation we are conserving around one ton of fuel every day, the equivalent of $530 at today's price , and, more importantly, reducing the greenhouse gases discharged into the atmosphere by 1.12 per cent.
In January this year, a CASPER® system was initiated on a second vessel, the Horizon Spirit, the same class as Reliance, and operating the same route. By adding a vessel of similar class, further optimisation of propeller polishing intervals can be validated and adjusted between vessels.
'The optimal intervals for propeller polishing seem to be based upon daily consumption, fuel prices in connection with propeller composition, and port water contamination level; therefore, it will vary between vessels,' according to PDI's Daniel Kane.
Looking to the near future, Washburn anticipates that Horizon would also trial CASPER® on one of its diesel driven vessels to optimise propeller efficiency. He also expects that the PDI service would be used to investigate factors relating to the hull. 'It would be of interest to us,' he said, 'to learn what results are obtained by different levels of shot-blasting – down to white metal, full surface blasting, or just spot-blasting.