The first Chinese-built hybrid emergency rescue vessel, the Shenhai 01, has been delivered by Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding to the Shenzhen Maritime Safety Administration (MSA).
The 78m vessel will be deployed to provide emergency responses at sea and carry out rescue operations. It can be run on batter power for up to three hours of operations, which, says the MSA, is invaluable for rescue operations conducted in areas affected by hazardous gas.
“We are very proud to contribute to this benchmark project,” said Alf Kåre Ådnanes, general manager of ABB Marine & Ports China, which supplied its Azipod propulsion system for the vessel, consisting of motors, ESS and control systems. “This project marks the first delivery of our energy storage system in China, and it has been an honor to work with such a forward-thinking shipowner and yard from the drawing board all the way to vessel delivery.”
According to ABB, in addition to its propulsion system, the vessel’s power setup will be controlled by its integrated Power and Energy Management System (PEMS), which will optimize the energy use on board. The system controls three sets of diesel generators and two sets of lithium batteries with total capacity of 1680kWh. It claims the system not only increases vessel power plant performance and diesel engine efficiency, but also supports zero-emission operations in the fully electric mode.
The vessel is powered by twin Azipod electric propulsion units with a combined power of 6MW megawatts. These units can rotate 360° to increase maneuverability and operating efficiency, and ABB says they can cut fuel consumption by up to 20% compared with traditional shaftline propulsion systems.
Shenhai 01’s operations will also be remotely monitored and supported from ABB’s global network of Ability Collaborative Operations Centers. The company claims that remote support and connectivity, together with advanced data analytics enabled by its Ability Remote Diagnostics System, will allow operations to be refined to improve efficiency, while also helping to promptly detect and correct any faults.