A world’s first with a Dutch touch

On 17 December 2012, the first ever hybrid seagoing ferry was launched in Port Glasgow, Scotland, by the Scottish Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. The vessel is the first of two hybrid ferries for Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd. (CMAL) currently under construction at Ferguson Shipyard. To make this world’s first happen, CMAL turned to Rotterdam-based system integrator and service provider Imtech Marine.

According to Annet Boers, senior corporate communications manager, hybrid is a hot topic: “Green is not ‘nice to have’ anymore, but ‘need to have’. The overwhelming interest of 120 clients visiting our two customer events that we held about this project confirms this. During the events, the customers could witness a live demo of the unique full hybrid propulsion system in the large workshop of Imtech Marine in Rotterdam, before it would be shipped to the yard.” The hybrid ferries will be added to the fleet of ferries that sail between several Scottish islands and mainland Scotland. They are seen as a lifeline for the islands’ inhabitants. However, because of the Climate Change Delivery Plan by the Scottish government, the new ferries needed to cut down 20% of CO2 emissions by 2020 and CMAL came up with the idea of implementing hybrid propulsion. They contacted Imtech in 2010, because according to CMAL, they wanted to work with only one supplier, Imtech has a lot of experience with propulsion solutions and battery integration, and has a lot of expertise in-house. Maurice Seijkens, marketing & sales manager at Imtech Marine: “The project provided us with several challenges: the vessels are small, which means there is only limited space available for the electrical system, we had to keep the weight in mind and worked with a tight schedule. Also, we developed a new energy management system to keep the system simple and user orientated. The energy management system ensures that critical decisions concerning which power source to use during which condition are made fully automatically onboard, in order to achieve maximum energy reduction. The crew is also trained by us, to ensure that they fully understand the new system and to ensure smooth operations. We are very proud of the resulting innovative system.”

Alexander Breijs, electrical consultant at Imtech Marine, tells more about the new energy management system: “This system is new in the maritime industry, it is a true innovation and we consider CMAL as the launching customer. It determines how much energy is used provided by the batteries or the diesel engine by means of intelligent automation and continuously realises the optimal energy efficient, lowest emission and cost efficient sailing profile. This means the crew can solely focus on the sailing tasks, without worrying about the usage of the available energy sources and energy consumers.” The system is expected to achieve at least 20% fuel reduction and at least 20% CO2 reduction, both when fully loaded. If the ferry is not fully loaded, even more reduction can be achieved. The Lithium Ion batteries are charged via the public grid against cost price and when batteries are treated correctly – not completely emptying or overcharging them – they are guaranteed to last at least 3,000 cycles.

The cooperation between the owner, the shipyard and Imtech is intensive. When the project started, there were no specific regulations yet for battery-driven passenger vessels and Imtech guided the yard through the classification process, so Imtech was a frontrunner in getting the project certified. The ferries are 43.5 metres long and 12.2 metres wide, with a deadweight of 135 tonnes, and are equipped with two 375 kW Voith Schneider propellers. They can accommodate 150 passengers, 23 cars or two HGVs, and three crew members with a service speed of eight to nine knots. The first ferry, called Hallaig, will be delivered in May 2013 and should be operational in the summer of 2013.

Gail van den Hanenberg