Feature 3 | FAST PASSENGER AND FREIGHT FERRIES


Tere are also a number of projects on


the table he says for high speed catamarans that are not built in accordance with the IMO High Speed Code because they are for use in the offshore sector to ferry specialist personnel involved in offshore maintenance. Tere are wave height restrictions for these vessels. High speeds are essential if the vessels are to exploit weather windows to transport specialists to the installation and take them back to shore. Consideration also has to be given to the fact that if wave heights are excessive, seasickness could prevent the technicians from working when they arrive at the installation.


In the case of larger high speed


catamarans, designs have changed little, he says, but for smaller craft, these have been customised to take into account the conditions in which they will be working. There is a good deal of discussion in Europe about approvals for vessels deployed in the offshore market not least because although they carry passengers,


they are not


passenger vessels per se. The Special Personnel Code, for example, excludes vessels used to transfer technicians. This means that vessels being used to transfer staff need to be assessed


as passenger vessels, where different requirements apply. Classification societies,


including


GL, are looking to flag states to provide a solution to the issue, and ensure that vessels are approved to a safe standard on an international basis. Most proposals on the table are based about 80% on the High Speed Craft Code requirements, Laubenstein says. However, there are problems as the High Speed Craſt Code was intended to cover the voyage of a ferry on a fixed itinerary, and offshore craſt could be going to a number of different installations on a rotation that is not fixed. NA


Viking Grace prepares for action


New LNG powered ferry will be operated in the Baltic by Viking Line and has been designed to meet new environmental regulations writes Sandra Speares


already fully under way. Te new vessel Viking Grace will be able to


P


use three alternative fuels: traditional heavy fuel oil, diesel or liquefied natural gas, which results in less emissions. When running on LNG, the vessel meets all the new emission rules now being devised by the European Union. The hull of the vessel will be hydrodynamically optimised to minimise


lanning work for the new Viking Line ferry that will go into service on the Turku–Stockholm route in 2013 is


its fuel consumption and cause the smallest possible swells, which is particularly important when passing through an archipelago. The vessel’s propulsion engines are


diesel/gas electric to minimise its energy requirement. To achieve


the highest


efficiency, the propellers will be of a new type for this kind of passenger vessel. Thanks to new soundproofing


technology, the noise level will be very low. In practice, the new flagship will be a very


quiet vessel, both when operating at sea and while in port. Te vessel, which is being built at the STX


Turku shipyard in Finland, will be equipped with engines, propellers and bow thrusters from Wärtsilä. Te 57,000gt Viking Grace will be 218m in


length, 31.8m across the beam with a speed of 22knots. It will run between Turku-Mariehamn/ Långnäs-Stockholm and is classed by Lloyd’s Register and flagged in Finland. It has a passenger capacity of 2,800. NA


110


The Naval Architect September 2012


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