Commissioned in June this year for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the hybrid electric aluminium catmaran hulled MPA Guardian is designed to fulfill routine patrol, search and rescue, fire fighting, oil spill response and drone operations. The aluminium hulled vessel is a collaboration between the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) of the Singapore Ministry of Defence, local builder Penguin Shipyard International, and UK-based naval architecture specialist BMT.

Built by Penguin Shipyard International, Singapore

Owned and operated by Maritime and Port Authority Singapore

LOA 34m

Propulsion twin screw fully electric, diesel electric or diesel mechanical

Speed 27 knots in diesel mechanical mode

Basic crew 24

360 deg camera surveillance

MPA Guardian has a duration of about 3 hours at a speed of 6 knots when in fully electric (silent running) mode. In diesel-electric mode, one main engine is used to recharge the batteries while the other supplies power to the propellers. As a further step in the commissioning of an ultra low environmental impact vessel, solar absorption paint was applied on exposed external surfaces to reflect heat.

In addition to her other capabilities, the vessel is equipped to be an emergency response command and control platform. The catamaran hull design gives additional stability and the wide beam / deck area to carry a 7m rigid inflatable and other supplies needed to manage an emergency.

Penguin International owns and operates a 30,000-square metre shipyard in Singapore and a 50,000-square metre shipyard in Batam, Indonesia (45 minutes ferry ride from Singapore).

VESSEL REVIEW | MPA Guardian – Hybrid patrol boat enters service with Singapore port authority - Baird Maritime

 

Featured Image Courtesy: BMT

In March this year, Japan’s NYK Line took delivery of Plumeria Leader, the company’s second Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) using LNG as the ship’s primary fuel.

Built by Shin Kurushima Dockyard, Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.

Owned and operated by NYK Line

Chartered by Toyota Motor Corporation

LOA 199m

Beam 38m

Capacity 7,000 units (standard vehicle equivalent)

Pioneering Spirit is a unique catamaran hull heavy lift crane vessel and the world’s largest vessel by gross tonnage. Since conversion in 2021, she is also the largest floating sheerleg in the world.

Owned and operated by Pacific Basin Shipping of Hong Kong, Oyster Bay is representative of a fleet of 120 Supramax bulk carriers both owned and operated by the company. The Supramax segment is generally accepted to be vessels in the range of 52-58,000 tonnes deadweight.

Currently the world’s largest container ship, Ever Ace is the first of 13 sister ships having a capacity of 23,992 TEU which in the opinion of many is as high as container ships can practically go (famous last words).

In February this year, the newbuild chemical tanker Tern Island performed what is believed to have been the first zero-emissions port operation by a tanker. The vessel relied exclusively on a combination of batteries and shore power provided by the Port of Gothenburg.

Recently completing her maiden voyage from Southampton to Barcelona was Celebrity Beyond, the third in a series of five new Edge Class cruise ships built for Celebrity Cruises, a division of the Royal Caribbean Group. She is now home ported in Barcelona for the 2022 summer season before repositioning to Fort Lauderdale for the winter.

Sweden’s Stena Line is well known for operating a large and diverse fleet of ferries and tankers. Innovation in design and state of the art facilities are a hallmark of the company’s approach to European market leadership.

Delivered in late 2020, Stena Embla is the third so called E-Flexer ferry to join the company’s Irish Sea fleet and operates on the highly competitive Liverpool – Belfast route. The investment represents a multi-year $536 million development program

Completed in China in 2021, the VLOC Sea Zhoushan is fitted with tilting Rotor Sails supplied by Finland based Norsepower. She is the largest vessel to date to be fitted with Rotor Sails and the first bulk carrier of any size. The five Rotor Sails are 24m high x 4m diameter.

Marshal Vasilevskiy is Russia’s only Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FRSU), a prime example of these complex vessels which have the attractive option of providing in port terminal LNG capacity or trading on the open market. She was originally built to serve Kalingrad.

 

Container vessel appearance is about to enter a new phase with the announcement by Maersk Line of the design for a series of eight carbon-neutral methanol-powered 16,000 TEU capacity container ships ordered with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). The first vessel in the series is scheduled for delivery in Q1 of 2024. A contractual option for four additional vessels was also exercised earlier this month.

Believed to be the world’s first dual fueled diesel/LNG Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), Yuan Rui Yang is setting a trend which others seem certain to follow as pressure mounts on ship owners to reduce GHG emissions.