Hellenic Technical Committee of GL Meets in Athens – New Tanker Design Presented

The annual Hellenic Technical Committee of Germanischer Lloyd (GL) focused on market trends, new technologies to save fuel, and innovative design approaches. Under the new Chairman of the Hellenic Technical Committee, Mr Dimitrios S. Korkodilos, 45 representatives of the Greek maritime community met to discuss a full spectrum of technical as well as operational topics concerning the maritime industry.

The following new members of the Committee were introduced:
– Mr. Eleftherios Albertis, Technical Manager of POLEMBROS
SHIPPING LTD
– Mr. Konstantinos Bletsas, Technical Manager of ALTOMARE SA
– Mr. Demetrios Koukoulas, General Manager of CARDIFF MARINE INC
– Mr. Lymperis Lymperopoulos, Technical Manager of A.M. NOMIKOS
TRANSWORLD MARITIME AGENCIES SA
– Mr. Panagiotis Soulis, Project Manager of TSAKOS SHIPPING &
TRADING SA
– Mr. Stefanos Tsonakis, Technical Manager of EASTERN
MEDITERRANEAN MARITIME LTD
– Mr. Dimitrios Vastarouchas, Technical Manager of DANAOS SHIPPING
CO

Optimisation of Oil Tanker Design for Efficiency and Safety

Innovative tanker designs offer ship designers greater flexibility and ship owners new economic opportunities. In a joint presentation, Dr Pierre Sames, Senior Vice President Strategic Research and Development of GL, and Prof Dr Apostolos Papanikolaou, Director Ship Design Laboratory of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), gave an overview on a study of a novel holistic tanker design procedure.

The main objective is to develop innovative tanker designs with optimised characteristics regarding cargo transport efficiency and environmental safety issues. The study focuses on optimising only the main cargo area of an Aframax class tanker to identify the best performing designs. A variety of promising Aframax designs which has been developed was presented.
Improving both environmental protection from accidental oil outflow and economical competitiveness are on focus specially. “The resultant Pareto-optimal designs are evaluated in terms of oil outflow consequences, structural weight and cargo capacity, design feasibility, ship maintainability and ballast water capacity”, Dr Pierre Sames explained.

“Other design features of optimised designs are the increased double bottom height and reduced size of tanks in the forward ship’s part, in direct response to damage statistics”, added Prof Apostolos Papanikolaou. “Therefore, both from the economy and safety point of view, the resulting designs appear attractive to the shipping industry.”

The research presented started within the EU-funded project SAFEDOR (Design, Operation and Regulation for Safety), and was later extended to include structural design issues through a bilateral project between GL and National Technical University of Athens (2008-2009). The maritime research project SAFEDOR on the significance of risk-based design and approval has been concluded in February this year after four years of intensive study.

More than Classification – GL offers Engineering Services Worldwide

A comprehensive overview of the engineering services provided by Germanischer Lloyd was given by Karsten Fach, Head of Engineering Services. GL provides engineering services throughout the entire ship life cycle. These services include analyses and solutions in the classic fields of hydrodynamics, strength assessment and fatigue analysis as well as vibration and acoustics, and also undertakes experimental examinations in certain situations to examine problems in depth.

With advice and a range of associated services, GL experts provide valuable support in all phases of the design, during construction and at the sea trials. “Even after the final inspection, problems may occur which exert a considerable influence on the economical operation of the ship. In such cases, the GL specialists assist to measure vibration, identify sources of noise and suggest possible solutions”, Karsten Fach explained. Thanks to long-term data acquisition, ship motion analyses can be carried out to further optimize everyday ship operations.

GL experts have also participated in sea trials and measure local vibrations and noise pressure levels. Additionally, finite element models for various ship types have been created. “Simulation-based design can effectively optimize the ship and speed the design process. Optimizing ship design regarding processes such as quality, economic efficiency and environmental protection is a top item on the agenda of Germanischer Lloyd”, said Karsten Fach. “Furthermore, the demand of analysis and rectification of vibration has increased in a way that additional staff is available for support on short notice.”

Ensuring higher safety: Hull Condition Monitoring during lifetime

Continuous control of a ship’s hull condition ensures its durability and technical safety for the entire life cycle. In respect to ship maintenance GL introduced a surveying tool which is able to identify necessary repairs. Presented by GL’s Chief Surveyor Norbert Kray the programme facilitates inspection planning which allows ship operators conducting their own inspections. The software tool Hull Lifecycle Programme (HLP) is geared to save a lot of time during docking times. Kray emphasised: “First, the Hull Lifecycle Programme generates a 3D-computer model of the ship’s hull to evaluate the longitudinal strength, fatigue and buckling”. These results will be used to monitor the ship’s condition throughout the lifetime and help to immediately react on variations in the measurement results.