Image model of a new ship with less wind pressure resistance
-- New Ship Reflects Commitment to “Bluer Oceans and Cleaner Environment” --
TOKYO – Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL, President Kunio Suzuki) today announced the launch of the pure car truck carrier (PCTC) Courageous Ace, featuring an energy-saving design that reflects MOL’s commitment to protecting the environment. The Courageous Ace is designed for improved aerodynamics to enhance fuel efficiency. It is the first of six newly designed PCTCs to be launched by January of next year.
MOL’s Corporate Principles emphasize “safe operation and environmental protection,” based on the company’s environmental management system (MOL EMS 21), which has acquired ISO 14001 certification.
The Courageous Ace was launched at Minaminippon Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. in Oita. It measures 198m long, 32.2m wide, has a draft of 34.6m, and displaces 57,000GT. The ship has a cargo capacity of 6,400 standard passenger cars.
The shape of conventional car carriers makes them very susceptible to wind resistance and a phenomenon called “leeway” in which the wind pushes the vessel from the side. The Courageous Ace’s design, developed jointly with Universal Shipbuilding Corp., reduces leeway and enhances fuel efficiency.
Improved fuel efficiency, in turn, contributes to energy conservation and helps reduce vessel emissions of CO2, NOx, and SOx per unit load. The new design also allows a higher service speed.
The vessel’s bow is aerodynamically rounded and beveled along the bow line to help reduce pressure from head winds.
The upper deck has cargo space (called the garage deck) to maximize load capacity. The vessel also has wind channels along the sides of the vessel at the top of the garage deck, which help the ship maintain a straight course.
Test results show an approximately 20% reduction in aerodynamic pressure at the bow in winds of 15m/s. This will result in about a 4% improvement in fuel efficiency. By reducing leeway, the design is expected to improve fuel efficiency by about 6%, averaging of all wind directions at 15m/s. The combined results will lead to an increase of up to 1 knot, depending on the direction of the wind
The vessel is also equipped with Propeller Boss Cap Fins (PBCF), a device developed by MOL to enhance propeller efficiency by 4-5 percent. Both technologies are expected to realize higher levels of fuel efficiency.
MOL already plans to launch six of these new-type PCTCs between March 2003 and January 2004. Three will be built at Minaminippon Shipbuilding and three at Shin Kurushima Dockyard Co., Ltd. in Ehime. The company will continue to adopt this new design (patent pending) on future PCTCs.
Image model of a new ship with less wind pressure resistance
For further information, please contact:
Yoshikazu Tanaka
Technical Division Group Leader
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.
Tel: 81-3-3587-7062
Fax: 81-3-3578-7722
E-mail: sdsmo@mail.mol.co.jp