Comment
Technology transfer
could yield economic
and operational
benefits
Warships are increasingly making use of commercial
technology, and commercial vessels of technology pioneered
for naval applications
T
echnology developed for the of electric ship technology in a €23 million electrical components and an increase
commercial shipping sector contin- (US$30.4 million) EU-funded project. The in efficiency (as also highlighted in this
ues to make its presence felt in ultimate aim of this study, which was due issue of Warship Technology, AMSC and
the market for warships, and technology to begin in January 2009, is broad, and Northrop Grumman in the USA recently
pioneered in the defence sector has potential could have significant economic impact successfully tested a 35MW supercon-
applications in the commercial sector. – it aims to provide a working guide on ducting HTS propulsion motor).
Elsewhere in this issue of Warship how to improve efficiency and reduce the On the other side of ‘the pond’ as
Technolog y, in our update on Canada’s environmental impact of the combined Americans and Brits like to call it, the
Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) European commercial shipping fleet. US Coast Guard (USCG) has reportedly
project, we highlight the fact that AOPS The Power Optimised Ship for Environ- welcomed the findings of the recently
could be the first warship with a double- ment with Electric Innovative Designs published Brown Report, The Challenge
acting icebreaking hullform, of the type ON board (Pose2idon) project will see of Contracting for Large Complex Projects.
pioneered by Aker Arctic (part of STX BMT Defence Services co-ordinate the The report noted that the federal govern-
Europe) in Finland. activity of the 30-company consortium ment in the USA is increasingly acquiring
Perhaps it should not come as a surprise that includes Converteam Technology products that have qualities that cannot be
that STX Marine in Canada, which is Limited, DCNS, DNV, SAM, Sirehna, easily and clearly defined in advance and
responsible for the design definition GICAN, EMEC and BALance. It is one of that are difficult to verify after the product
phase of AOPS, has baselined a design the first major EU research projects to be or service has been delivered.
with double-acting hullform and podded lead by maritime equipment companies. The report highlights the risk of
propulsors. It makes perfect sense for a The project will aim to enhance the becoming locked in to or stuck in a contract
vessel that needs to be able to break ice in electric ship concept so that it can be with a vendor for a complex product or
order to carry out is sovereignty mission applied to a wider range of vessels than is its components by examining the USCG’s
in the Arctic should also have a hullform currently the case. The principal barrier Deepwater programme (the USCG now
that is much more efficient than a conven- to adoption of the electric ship concept being six years into a projected 25-year
tional icebreaking hullform in open water, in smaller merchant ships is the size of acquisition and production process for
thus conferring more efficiency on the the generating equipment and propul- the Deepwater programme).
vessel when in transit. sion motor. Electric auxiliaries, wireless The USCG has learned several lessons
Likewise, it makes a lot of sense that technology and fail-safe power distribu- for future acquisitions of complex products.
the potential of electric ship technology tion will be studied. The effective acquisition of complex
of a type pioneered in the warship sector The Pose2idon consortium is focusing products requires:
is now being seriously examined in a on achieving size reduction through the
•
An expanded and more highly skilled
European project looking at its applica- development of new technologies across acquisition workforce
tion in the commercial market. all aspects of marine electrical engineering.
•
A better understanding of risk
Early this year, BMT Defence Services A key element of this will be the applica-
•
An investment in learning.
Limited, a subsidiary of BMT Group, tion of state of the art High Temperature
announced that it was heading a consor- Superconductivity (HTS) technology, The report can be found at:
tium of 30 companies that are investigat- provided by Converteam Technology, http://www.businessofgovernment.org/
ing the commercially effective application that will allow for smaller principal pdfs/BrownReport.pdf. WT
Warship Technology March 2009 5
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