Editor's choice 2022: fast-evolving fuels landscape brings tug training and salvage challenges - Riviera Maritime Media

1 year ago 50

First methanol-fuelled tug takes shape

If hydrogen, compressed oregon liquidised for storage, is deemed excessively complicated, costly and hard to handle, wherefore not effort methanol?

The Port of Antwerp-Bruges is again the person successful processing methanol arsenic a substance for tugs, possibly due to the fact that it sees itself arsenic a bunkering hub for alternate fuels. With this successful mind, it is moving with Anglo Belgian Corp, engineering companies Multi and Heinzmann and Swedish shipbuilder Scandinaos to person an existing harbour tug into Methatug to proceedings methanol successful dual-fuel engines. Methanol has amended retention characteristics than hydrogen and is apt to go a much viable alternate to diesel successful the medium-term decarbonisation drive.

The task is portion of the European Fastwater task and is funded by the EU’s probe and innovation programme Horizon 2020. As with Hydrotug 1, its occurrence oregon nonaccomplishment volition power aboriginal concern successful aboriginal fuels.

All-electric Sparky wins ITS Tug of the Year 2022

Alternative fuels person their benefits successful presumption of power, scope and reduced aerial pollution, but for zero-emissions harbour operations, batteries are the mode to go. Tug owners and larboard authorities are starting to spot the imaginable for battery-powered tugs, and shipyards are opening to physique and present them to archetypal movers and innovators. Gisas Power was the first, erstwhile delivered successful 2020. The 2nd was Sparky, designed and built by Damen Shipyards for Ports of Auckland and delivered Q3 2022. It was a worthy victor of the ITS Tug of the Year Award 2022 and the pb communicative successful ITS TugWorld Annual Review 2022.

Virtual world applied to tug training

With each the concern heading into tug plan and propulsion systems for alternate fuels and electrical power, the request for grooming is often overlooked. Tug crews volition request to upskill to safely grip strategy advancements and method changes connected board.

I was invited to Portsmouth, connected the English southbound seashore to trial grooming technologies including simulators and virtual world astatine a caller centre called the Maritime Skills Academy.

Using VR goggles and tug controls, I was capable to manoeuvre a tug avatar successful virtual world astir the harbour including completing a multi-point turn. My experiences astatine the academy and accusation connected the aboriginal improvement of simulation grooming for seafarers were covered successful a diagnostic successful the ITS May/June 2022 issue.

Challenges of salvaging ships powered by caller fuels

With an expanding percent of the planetary fleet of merchant ships moving connected alternatives to dense substance lipid and diesel fuels, salvors are disquieted astir the imaginable caller challenges erstwhile responding to vessel collisions, groundings and sinkings of ships utilizing these fuels.

Some of the much superior imaginable issues for salvors see the explosive characteristics and debased flash points of immoderate alternatives to oil-based fuel. These challenges were discussed successful extent during a league astatine ITS 2022 and reported successful the November/December contented of ITS. Notable successful the treatment is the archetypal alternate fuel, LNG, which offers small successful the mode of examples oregon learnings for salvors, chiefly owed to the exemplary information grounds of the LNG shipping and terminals sector.

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