Feature 2 | Green Ship TechnoloGy
Sail powered cargo ships go back to
the future
Where do you go when you want to design and build a carbon neutral cargo
ship? A power company of course. B9 Shipping is a subsidiary of the B9
alternative energy company based in Larne, Northern Ireland, and they are
all but ready to build their new ship.
M
eeting the needs of a new into the mast when they were not needed,”
environmental regime was explained Mr Surplus.
never going to be easy for The ship itself will be built using
shipping, but innovation along with the 1500tonnes of steel which will be
political will is the key to success. Shipping produced by B9’s partner Corus at its
is being offered innovation through an Halesowen plant, in Birmingham. The
unlikely source. steel plate will be cut into slot together
The B9 Energy group is more used to parts, much like a new wardrobe, and
designing wind farms and tidal energy B9 shipping ready to launch new green ship. flatpacked. It will then be dispatched to a
facilities than ships. Knowledge of this shipyard for construction; one yard in the
industry and its UK needs became the frame for this work is the Pallion yard on
driver for B9 Energy as the company generation carbon and as such is treated as Wearside. After putting the plates together
realised that the country’s power producers carbon neutral. the yard will use the MIG semi-automated
were developing woodchip power stations According to the design calculations welding system to secure the hull. In total
that would import 300,000tonnes of the some 60% of the vessel’s thrust will the company believes it can assemble the
fuel a year from Latvia. be derived from wind and a further hull within eight weeks.
Here was an opening for an 40% from the engines, on average Expertise in the UK remains significant
entrepreneurial company to find an on the vessel’s predicted northern in a region where shipbuilding has
environmentally friendly way of delivering European route, across the Baltic declined significantly over the last 60
woodchip fuel to the UK. B9 Shipping was and North Sea to the UK’s east coast years or so. In using local talent to design
established as a daughter company and the and back. and build the new vessel the company will
baby that it spawned is ready to be born. A crew of six, the same as the number be making a statement about the direction
David Surplus, chairman of B9 Energy of crew on similarly sized conventional that globalisation is taking industry.
said: “The B9 ship will operate with six “We are trying to keep all the work in
crew, the same as any conventional coaster, the UK because we don’t want to become
but its costs will be far lower.” “We would sell part of globalisation and the use of cheap
Designed by Rob Humphreys, based
in Lymington, in association with
the blueprints for
labour abroad, in any case the pound
has fallen considerably so the costs of
the Wolfson Unit of Southampton
building the vessels
building the vessel here are not much
University, Mr Humphreys is the same more than building it abroad,” explained
man that designed Ellen McArthur’s
abroad and local
Mr Surplus.
yacht Kingfisher for her round-the-world
operators would
Building costs must be kept low for
jaunt. B9’s vessel, however, is designed owners to profit from the building of
for much shorter journeys, but will carry
then build the
a vessel, but the fluctuating costs of
3000tonnes of cargo.
A commercial sailing vessel that will be
vessels locally to
operation can often be the critical element
between profit and loss for a vessel. In the
fitted with a Rolls-Royce designed spark
meet their own
case of the B9 ship the costs are largely
ignition engine that runs on biogas. The predictable, but one element remains
fuel will be produced through anaerobic
needs,” said Mr
uncertain.
digestion of food waste at a plant based in
Kent, south-eastern UK.
Surplus”
EU legislation in the form of the
Renewable Energy Directive (RED) will
Food waste as it is broken down by mean that governments will have to ensure
microbes produces methane that then coasters, would run the ship: “But there all modes of transport source 10% of their
powers the engine in a conventional would be no climbing up the rigging, energy from renewable sources by 2020.
way. The fuel is considered second electric motors would furl away the sails In the UK energy companies have an
52 The Naval Architect January 2010
NA Jan 10 - p52+53.indd 52 12/01/2010 10:03:58
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