MOL LAUNCHES MORE “AERODYNAMIC” CAR-CARRIER
MOL LAUNCHES MORE “AERODYNAMIC” CAR-CARRIER
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has launched an aerodynamic car-carrier that, it says burns about 10 percent less fuel than conventional ships.
The pure-car-truck-carrier “Courageous Ace,” launched at the Minaminippon Shipbuilding shipyard in Oita, Japan, is 198 meters long and 32.2 meters wide. It has a draft of 34.6 meters, a cargo capacity of 6,400 standard passenger cars, and displaces 57,000 gross tons.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines said that the vessel’s bow is “aerodynamically rounded and bevelled” along the bow line to help reduce pressure from head winds.
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 percent reduction in aerodynamic pressure at the bow in winds of 15 meters per second, resulting in a 4 percent improvement in fuel efficiency, the Japanese shipowner said. Furthermore, by reducing the “leeway” of the ship (the ship being pushed from the side by the wind), the design is expected to improve fuel efficiency by about 6 percent, it added.
The combined results will lead to a speed increase of up to 1 knot, depending on the direction of the wind.
MOL said that improved fuel efficiency contributes helps reduce vessel emissions of CO2, NOx, and SOx per unit load.
The vessel is also equipped with “propeller boss cap fins,” a device to enhance propeller efficiency by 4-5 percent, MOL said.