MAN Diesel & Turbo uses the ME-GI-E designation to identify those engines. The Hartmann vessels will each be fitted with a Tier-II 7G50ME-GI-E engine.


An example of the Master Pear Link that failed


fitted by design with handles that obstruct visual inspection and cause galvanic corrosion. This overall resulted in the crack originating, propagating without being noticed and caused final catastrophic failure.


Recommendation It is recommended that the above information is taken into consideration and the condition of master links be verified by a competent authority to ensure the structural integrity is not compromised.


A WASTE PRODUCT FROM SHALE GAS PRODUCTION OFFERS A NEW FUEL OPTION FOR GLOBAL SHIPPING


The first of three ethane- fuelled engines has been delivered for a trio of ships on order for Germany’s Hartmann Reederei on order at China’s Sinopacific Shipbuilding. They will be pioneers for ethane fuelling, believes René Sejer Laursen, promotion manager at MAN Diesel & Turbo.


The ships will each carry 35,000m3 of the gas so have an obvious source of fuel, but Mr Laursen has a bigger vision: “we see potential for all ships to use ethane gas in the future,” he said during a presentation about the


8 | The Report • March 2017 • Issue 79


company’s multi-fuel engines during the Danish Maritime Days in October.


Ethane is a by-product of shale gas production, he pointed out, with up to 20 per cent of shale gas being ethane. So in the US, ethane is relatively simple to obtain and he conceded in conversation with Marine Propulsion that availability elsewhere is not good. But shale gas extraction is being explored in other parts of the world and Mr Laursen expects it to become a significant fuel option elsewhere.


Engines must be specifically designed to burn ethane, which has different characteristics from other fuel gases and


Meanwhile, Dalian Shipyard holds orders for five 35,000m3 ethane carriers, which will each be fitted with a 6G60ME-C9.5-GI-E engine, coupled with an EGR system to bring it up to Tier III emission standards. These engines will also burn LNG so shipowners can choose whichever fuel is the most cost effective where they are operating, Mr Laursen said.


MAN Diesel & Turbo is also looking at cost-effective fuel gas supply systems and has developed a prototype pump and vaporiser unit. Other devices are available but “we have organised it in a simple manner and removed many sensors, valves and pipes and reduced the size of it,” Mr Laursen told Marine Propulsion. It is also designed for redundancy, he said. It has three piston pumps for pressurising the gas but only two are needed, so the third is ready to start if one of the others fails.


MAN Diesel & Turbo’s prototype gas fuel pump and vapouriser unit (credit: MAN Diesel & Turbo)


FIRST CHANGES TO MLC 2006 SINCE IT WAS ADOPTED COME INTO FORCE


The first amendments made to to the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006), which ensure better protection to seafarers has entered into force on 18 January 2017. The amendments were originally approved by the International Labour Conference in 2014 prior to implementation.


The 2014 amendments require that a financial security system be put in place to ensure that shipowners ensure compensation to seafarers and their families in the event of abandonment, death or long-term disability due to an occupational injury, illness or hazard. Mandatory certificates and other evidence will be required to be carried on board ships to establish that the financial security system is in place to protect the seafarers working on board.


Foreign ships entering the ports of States for which the MLC, 2006 is in force will be inspected for compliance by port State control authorities and action will be taken if the documentation is missing or incomplete.


It is expected that this new requirement of the MLC, 2006 will prevent the unfortunate situation of seafarers being stranded in port for long periods when shipowners abandon their crews without paying their wages or repatriating them to their home countries. In the past, abandoned seafarers would often be reluctant to leave their ship until it was sold in a judicial sale to pay outstanding


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