LeanShips Project to Prove Effectiveness of Green Technologies

Shipbuilding giant Damen Shipyards Group is preparing to launch a project titled The European Innovation Project LeanShips – Low Energy And Near To Zero Emissions Ships at the company’s headquarters in Gorinchem, the Netherlands on June 16 and 17.

The aim of the project is to demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of energy saving and emission reduction technologies at real scale. LeanShips is one of the first projects funded under the new European Research and Innovation Framework Program HORIZON 2020.

The project is coordinated by Damen, and jointly managed by the Netherlands Maritime Technology Foundation (NMT), the Center of Maritime Technologies (CMT) from Germany and Cetena, the Italian Ship Research Centre.

LeanShips officially started on May 1, 2015 with a grant of EUR 17 million. The project partnership consists of ship owners, shipyards, equipment suppliers and research institutes. In total, 46 partners (81% from industry) from 12 EU member states and one associated country are part of the project.

LeanShips aims to put innovations into practice by carrying out eight demonstrator show cases that combine technologies for efficient and less polluting vessels with end-users’ needs and requirements.

Dedicated teams of equipment manufacturers (technology providers), shipyards (technology integrators) and ship owners (technology users) as well as rule makers will make certain that the innovations developed in the project are matured to market uptake capability, Damen says.

The following eight demonstrators are part of the project:

• A CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) powered RSD (Reverse Stern Drive) Tug;
• 2. An LNG tug;
• Marine Diesel Oil (MDO) or Methanol Dual Ffuel for Offshore Service Vessel;
• Efficient LNG carrier;
• Retrofit of short sea cargo ship (SECA) with LNG;
• Inland cargo ship with large oscillating propulsor;
• Large propeller for general cargo vessel; and
• Energy efficient PAX /cruise ships.

The project target markets are the small to mid-sized ships for intra-European waterborne transport, vessels for offshore operations and the leisure and cruise markets.

First impact estimates for LeanShips show fuel saving of up to 25%, CO₂ reduction of at least 25% and an expected decrease of SOx/NOx/PM air pollutants by up to 100%.