Hoegh Autoliners has hoisted vehicle carrier capacity, flexibility and energy efficiency with its New Horizon class. ’Hoegh Target’ is the first embodiment of the versatile, post-Panamax design, writes David Tinsley.
Offering a cargo intake corresponding to 8,500 car-equivalent units(CEU) and providing 71,400m2 of standing area on 14 decks, the Chinese-built Hoegh Target has brought new scale efficiency to deepsea trade as the world’s largest vehicle carrier.
Representing a milestone in pure/car truck carrier (PCTC) design, by marrying a record payload volume with considerable cargo carrying versatility and elevated efficiency and environmental credentials, the post-Panamax vessel has given first form to Hoegh Autoliners’ New Horizon generation. The company is one of the foremost and longest-established names in the PCTC market, transporting more than 2m CEUs annually, and the latest class encapsulates its long-term strategic thinking and vision of the worldwide automotive trade’s evolving and future needs.
Hoegh Target leads a series of six ordered from Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry Co for operation with the Norwegian specialist, under a programme due to be completed by the end of 2016.
Such is the flexibility of the New Horizon breed that the vessel can handle all categories and payload permutations of wheeled and trailer-borne cargo, including cars, pick-up trucks, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), ‘people carriers’, light and heavy goods vehicles, rail traction and rolling stock, agricultural, construction, mining and other industrial equipment and machinery, wind turbines, and yachts.
The design incorporates especially significant provision for ’high and heavy’ freight, project consignments and outsized items. Company-owned roll trailers, varying in length from 20ft (6.1m) to 80ft (24.4m) and offering load ratings up to 120t, enable ro-ro handling of breakbulk goods and a very wide range of other cargo. Overall capacity is said to be 15% higher than other ships of similar dimensions.
Finnish technical consultancy Deltamarin developed the design in close cooperation with the owner. “We believe this will be the new industry benchmark in PCTC design,” said Steinar Lovdal, Hoegh Autoliners’ head of capacity management.
Key drivers of the design were operational performance, capacity maximisation within a length constraint, energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact. Extensive model testing was conducted to optimise the hull form, with particular focus having been placed on reducing resistance in all sea and wind conditions. A visually commanding feature is the extremely bluff bow, which takes the full line of the beam right forward and over the stem, thereby contributing to capacity optimisation. The edges are ‘chamfered’ in the interests of aerodynamic performance.
The raft of technical measures in combination with the advance in scale economies have resulted in a vessel which is claimed to emit about 50% less CO2 per transported unit relative to a standard car carrier.
With an attained EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) of about 39% below the IMO reference line, the New Horizon class PCTC is compliant with Phase 3 of the EEDI regulations. The environmental standard as a whole is acknowledged by the Clean class accreditation within the ship’s raft of DNV GL notations.
The designers were required to keep overall hull length to the 200m limit imposed by many Japanese loading berths. However, unlike ‘standard’ Panamax 199.9m x 32.3m PCTCs, the beam in the latest generation has been taken out to 36.5m, to take advantage of the newly enlarged Panama Canal access.
Whereas Panamax-breadth PCTCs embody up to 12 vehicle decks, the post-Panamax Hoegh Target series offers 13 continuous cargo decks, plus a garage on deck 14. The wider beam reduces the ballast requirement in comparison with the Panamax generation.
Five of the 14 cargo decks are of hoistable type. These can be deployed from the stowed position to three different load levels using mobile deck lifters. This has resulted in four suitably strengthened decks for ‘high and heavy’ freight. With the liftable decks stowed, the maximum clearances on three of the ‘high and heavy’ levels are 4m, 4.2m and 4.6m respectively, while the main (threshold) deck offers a maximum headroom of 6.5m. Hitherto, the greatest clear height available in the Hoegh Autoliners fleet has been 5.3m.
Hoegh Target accordingly has a higher door opening of 6.5m, in conjunction with a greater main ramp strength. The TTS-supplied quarter ramp provides a 12m driving width over its 45m length, and can accept cargo weighing up to 375mt. The arrangements reflect the company’s expectation of growing demand for trailer-borne project cargo shipments and large pieces of construction equipment, industrial and energy plant.
Extra cargo handling and operational flexibility is conferred by an axial ro-ro ramp on the ship’s starboard side, rated for 22mt. Affording a 6.5m driving width on a length of 25m, the side ramp is primarily intended for car loading and discharge.
Contributing to the maximisation of stowage area is the hoistable design of all inter-deck ramps. Lashing points are flush with the decks, enhancing cargo handling efficiency and safety, and the internal ramp layout has been devised in mind not only of ship turnaround efficacy but also so as to reduce the risks of damage incurred during cargo working.
The TTS Group of Norway provided the entire cargo access solution and outfit via its Swedish ro-ro equipment division. The contract with the Xiamen yard covered the design and delivery of the various elements, plus supervision of installation.
Hoegh Target is powered by an electronically-controlled, six-cylinder MAN main engine of the S60ME-C8.2 type, with on-line NOx emission and performance monitoring. While the nominal maximum continuous output of this model is 14,280kW at 105rpm, the installation was specified at a derated power of 11,735kW at 92rpm.
Given the considerable tightening of sulphur emission controls in certain areas where Hoegh Autoliners trades, the vessel has dedicated bunker tankage for ultra low sulphur diesel fuel. Space has also been allowed for retrofitting of a ‘scrubber’ installation if required at some stage.
Usual service speeds are in the range of 16-18 knots, and the adoption of a 950kW shaft generator obviates the need to run any of the auxiliaries while under way. The three main gensets are based on the MAN 21/31L medium-speed engine series, in the shape of two nine-cylinder versions and a five-cylinder unit. The auxiliaries were sourced from Chinese licensee CSSC Marine Power, and the emergency genset is a six-cylinder QSM11 model supplied by Cummins Marine
The MAN Alpha fixed pitch propeller features Kappel blades. By virtue of their distinctive, smoothly curved and extended tips, propellers with the Kappel blade configuration offer offer fuel savings of up to 6% compared to conventional designs. The Kappel type results in lower pressure impulses which can be utilised for larger and more efficient propellers due to the reduced clearance between hull and propeller tip.
Production of the propellers for the New Horizon fleet programme was entrusted to Dalian Marine Propeller Co, part of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) Group. The contract was the initial outcome of the 2013 agreement struck with MAN allowing Dalian to manufacture and sell Kappel design propellers in China. Manoeuvring the high-sided vessel is much assisted by a Nakashima bow thruster.
Technical husbandry of Hoegh Target is the responsibility of Hoegh Wallem Ship Management, the new Singapore joint venture of Hoegh Autoliners and Wallem. The process of transferring technical management of all the Norwegian company’s PCTCs from Hoegh Fleet Services to Hoegh Wallem was completed in 2015.
Following the July debut of Hoegh Target, second-of-class Hoegh Trigger made her maiden service voyage on an East Asia-Europe itinerary during December, to be followed by the return run from Europe to East Asia via Africa and Oceania. Among the multifarious elements of future westbound manifests for the New Horizon series will be train body shells from Japan for delivery via the Port of Tyne to Hitachi’s new Rail Vehicle Manufacturing Facility in County Durham.
Hoegh Autoliners views the development of the ‘hub and spoke’ network concept, with dedicated shortsea operations, as the vital accompaniment to the investment in larger and more flexible deep-sea vessels. In this context, it is incumbent on transhipment ports and terminals to ensure a level of handling capability and efficiency that can realise the full potential of the post-Panamax generation.
Post-Panamax contenders
In the post-Panamax PCTC stakes, the new-generation, Hero-class ro-ro/vehicle carriers being introduced by Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) are of the same length and similar breadth to the Hoegh Target, but with a slightly smaller car payload capacity of about 8,000CEU. However, the ro-ro designation is more apt than the PCTC categorisation for the Hero series, due to the design’s slant towards wheeled and trailer-borne cargo as a whole.
Ray Shipping’s post-Panamax series of ro-ro/vehicle carriers contracted from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, and exemplified by the 2015-built Hyperion Highway, offers an intake of around 7,700CEU.
Constituting the most extensive single programme currently under way, K Line has 10 post-Panamax vessels of 7,500CEU due for completion between 2015 and 2017. The orders have been equally divided between Shin Kurushima Dockyard and Japan Marine United, and entail a 200m-long design claimed to embody the widest beam ever employed in a ro-ro/vehicle carrier, at around 37-38m.
K Line is implementing its emissions-cutting ‘Drive Green Project’ on one of the new ships placed with Japan Marine United for handover in 2016. The array of ‘green’ technologies will include Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and emulsified fuel systems, and a Mitsubishi hybrid SOx ‘scrubber’, which will be trialled over the course of the vessel’s regular operation.
