A unique chance to make the industry cleaner and safer by a multidisciplinary approach

Considering the long lifetime of a vessel, fulfilling this strategy requires radical changes to vessels being delivered soon. A multidisciplinary view on sustainability and eye for return on investments can make a world of difference!

Return on Maritime investments in reducing carbon intensity

A multidisciplinary view helps to find out-of-the-box, cost-effective and sustainable solutions. “Reducing carbon intensity and making the maritime industry more sustainable takes more than just one part of the puzzle,” says Allan Nijholt, Managing Director at Global Electrical Solutions. “It means to cooperate on many levels and many specialities to achieve the challenging goals for the industry. It is a total concept where electrification of power supply, automation of processes and reliability in mechanics contribute to longer uptime KPI’s.”

Multidisciplinary view on the energy transition

Increasing sustainability of vessels urges for the increase of service life of mechanical parts to achieve higher returns. Siebe Sietzema, Managing Director of Sietzema Techniek, explains: “A few years ago we produced a new propulsion shaft liner for a maritime customer. The original liner was totally worn within one year. We rebuild the part and used a tungsten carbide coating to protect the spare part. This newbuild spare part is still in place and extended the service life with more than five years. As a result, losses due to machine downtime are kept to a minimum.”

Beside propulsion shaft liners, the techniques used by Sietzema Techniek are suitable for pumps, compressors, plungers, and seals. “In thermal spraying we use eGun technique to spray denser coatings with higher wear resistance and better corrosion resistance — cost-effective and sustainable.”

Take sustainability one step further

Rinke Wesseling, Sales Manager at Global Electrical Solutions, explains: “To assist our maritime customers to achieve compliance with the EEXI Legislation, we are investigating available and suitable decarbonization technologies and operation changes for vessels, ultimately providing the best solution in terms of reduction of EEXI & CII and return on investment (ROI).”

One solution is adapted for managing highly variable load peaks, without polluting emissions. “Peak shaving allows energy production to be scaled according to the ship's nominal operating needs. For example, extra power is needed when entering and leaving ports and when berthing and unberthing. With peak shaving you avoid peaks in energy consumption that are inefficient, unnecessary, and costly. Fluctuating energy demand is strenuous for energy assets like generators and grid connections. Our batteries clip these peaks, resulting in significant savings.  Peak shaving on the grid can save up to 30% on costs compared to the use of traditional diesel generators.”

Reducing costs and downtime by monitoring

Automation and monitoring contributes to better insight, safety, and higher returns. Allan Nijholt: “Recently we implemented a dashboard to control and monitor the electrotechnical status of the installations. This can also be done for the key mechanical parts. Insight reduces downtime and makes investments very specific. You can be sure you invest there where investments and replacements are needed.”

A unique chance to make maritime safer

Although the strategy set for the maritime industry is challenging, it offers a unique chance to make the industry cleaner, more sustainable, and safer. Increasing the uptime of crucial spare parts, peak shavings, and monitoring the electrical and mechanical performance are a few examples of investments that already proved to bring more than high returns. It can be steps towards a cleaner and safer industry.

SUSTAINABLE SPARE PARTS

With the investment in the eGun HVOF system, Sietzema Techniek is the first company in the Netherlands to offer this revolutionary technique. The eGun system has a higher flame speed and a higher particle velocity resulting in denser coatings, higher wear resistance and better corrosion resistance. In addition, the eGun uses ethanol instead of fossil fuels. Ethanol is 100% natural and less harmful to the environment than other fuels.