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Ship & Boat International: eNews May/June 2020

Greenland is anticipating the delivery next spring of a new oceangoing research vessel to oversee its main industries: fishing and fish processing. Exports of fish and fishery products represent more than 90% of the country’s merchandise trade. The primary purpose of the 61m newbuild, under construction at Spain’s Astilleros Balenciaga, will be to ensure a scientific basis for the sustainable exploitation of the fishery in Greenland’s western and eastern offshore waters. The newbuild will supersede the 1971-built, 58.6m Paamiut, which started life as a Royal Greenland Trade stern trawler until conversion nearly 30 years ago as a research vessel. 

Whereas Paamiut was restricted to bottom-trawl fishing, meaning pelagic surveys had to be conducted using chartered vessels, the newbuild will be capable of undertaking all tasks related to both pelagic and seafloor zones. Employing Skipsteknisk’s ST-336 design, the new vessel’s outfit for bottom and pelagic trawling will be complemented by labs for examining fish and shrimps, acoustic research and environmental research/sampling. Accommodation will be provided for 32 personnel and the ship will have training capacity and the scope to carry students on marine education programmes.

The power and propulsion installation is based on four-stroke machinery encompassed by a ‘package’ supply deal with MAN Energy Solutions. This includes selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology, noise abatement measures and the proprietary HyProp ECO solution, combining mechanical and electrical power in the drivetrain. The nominated main engine is an L27/38 eight-cylinder diesel model, delivering power in diesel-mechanical mode to a five-bladed, Alpha controllable-pitch propeller. The listed, nominal MCR of the propulsion plant is 2,920kW at 800rpm.

The HyProp ECO arrangement controls the power delivered by or to the power take-off/power take-in (PTO/PTI) shaft generator-cum-electric motor, and overcomes the constraint on constant speed machinery by utilising variable speed drive technology at the shaft alternator/motor. This means that the PTO/PTI operates with variable propeller speed and optimal utilisation of the diesel engine. It features multiple operational modes, including diesel-electric propulsion for low-acoustic research activities.

The auxiliary gensets will have double-resilient mountings so as to meet the requirements of DNV GL’s SILENT F notation. The F-designated version of the SILENT class for underwater noise emission is applicable to vessels engaged in fishing, and stipulates criteria for trawling, searching and monitoring operations.

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ST-336 fishery research vessel