Norway-based Kongsberg Maritime has secured a leading role in a project to convert the double-ended car ferry MF Hamlet to battery-powered operation. The conversion of the 111.2m ferry, which is operated by Öresundslinjen on the route between Helsingør, Denmark, and Helsingborg, Sweden, will include the installation of battery packs and new permanent magnet motors for the azimuth thrusters.
Kongsberg says: “The primary goals of the project include achieving zero emissions, enabling full electric operation with batteries and having mechanical propulsion redundancy. The ferry will utilise high-voltage charging in port, taking only eight to 12 minutes, with low-voltage charging via gensets as an alternative.”
Kongsberg will also rebuild the existing thrusters and convert them to electric operation, installing new permanent magnet motors for each of the four main azimuth thrusters, each rated 1,530kW. The company adds that it will “provide a comprehensive energy, automation and control package, which includes interface to the main switchboard, retrofitting the K-Chief 600 to the new K-Chief system with an energy management system, and implementing Mcon thruster control with control chairs on the two bridges”.
Energy storage systems will be supplied by Echandia directly to the owner, while the Oresund Drydocks shipyard will handle the mechanical aspects of the conversion. The installation company, SH Group, will produce and install new deck houses and handle the cabling and wiring work.
The conversion job is scheduled to start in November this year at Oresund Drydocks, but the vessel will visit the yard later this month for preparation work during a scheduled maintenance docking.
