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GTT, CMA CGM (and its subsidiary CMA Ships) and DNV GL released a technical and feasibility study for a new mega container ship – the Piston Engine Room Free Efficient Containership or PERFECt.
The model vessel is fuelled by LNG, powered by a combined gas and steam turbine, and electrically driven. The partners identified and analyzed a propulsion concept that has the potential to offer a more efficient, flexible and greener box ship design than the current 20,000-TEU two-stroke diesel engine that drives ultra large container vessels, according to the joint release.
With the gas and steam turbines integrated at deck level within the same deckhouse as the LNG tanks, the space normally occupied by a conventional engine room can be used to increase cargo capacity by approximately 300 container slots compared to a
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heavy fuel oil-fuelled ship, according to an article in Maritime Executive. It says the two 10,960 m? LNG fuel tanks are located below the deckhouse, giving the vessel enough fuel capacity for an Asia/Europe round trip.
"This concept rethinks the ship’s design. The COGAS system with electrical propulsion gives us a great deal of freedom in the general arrangement and in tailoring the installed power to the actual operational requirements," said Jean-Baptiste Boutillier, technology and information director at CMA Ships. "The lower footprint of the machinery system and increased flexibility of the electric propulsion system means we can increase the capacity of the vessel, despite LNG tanks requiring more space than traditional fuel oil tanks, thereby generating greater revenues and reducing the payback time for the additional CAPEX required."
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