A new, highly efficient, Aframax tanker design offering practical and viable solutions that meet current and forthcoming emissions legislation is today launched by Wärtsilä at the Posidonia 2014 exhibition in Athens, Greece. Wärtsilä will also be featuring its range of merchant ship designs to provide owners with tailored designs based specifically on their intended operating profiles. Wärtsilä Ship Design also offers shipyards a solution based approach with integration packages and full support throughout the planning and execution phases.
The new Aframax design emphasises energy efficiency to provide lower operating costs and enhanced environmental performance. It features an optimised hull form to minimize resistance, and an optimised propulsion train with energy saving devices (ESDs) for greater efficiency. Fuel savings have been the primary focus during the development of this design, and significant testing of the hull lines by both CFD and tank testing have successfully produced a highly competitive design. Wärtsilä offers the Aframax design in three, fit-for-purpose versions; the Basic configuration using conventional HFO fuel, Environmental with the exhaust emissions cleaned using a scrubber and selective catalyst reduction (SCR), and the Green version based on dual-fuel engines using LNG. The design can also be adapted for Ice Class notation.
"Wärtsilä is an experienced and innovative global supplier of efficient, reliable and environmentally sustainable ship designs that fully meet the needs of the rapidly changing marine sector. Our focus is always on lowering operating costs and increasing fuel efficiency, and these elements are clearly evident in the new Aframax design. In particular, our technology leadership in dual-fuel engines and LNG fuel systems gives us obvious advantages in developing ship designs for gas fuel propulsion. We are leading the way in taking merchant shipping into the gas fuel age," says Riku-Pekka Hägg, Vice President Wärtsilä Ship Design.
The Posidonia 2014 exhibition will have future trends in vessel design as one of its spotlight themes, and Wärtsilä will be highlighting its modern merchant vessel designs. The ship owners' business models are the focal point upon which Wärtsilä's ship designs are based.