Outcomes of the 1st OPTIWISE Workshop!
“Operational concerns on board wind-propelled commercial ships” | Blue Week
Description:
Wind propulsion has returned as a feasible alternative in complement or replacement of common engine propulsion on ships, in the ongoing effort to decarbonize the sector. There are several ongoing research and development projects looking into various aspects and angles of design, implementation, and operation of wind propulsion, such as the EU project OPTIWISE, rethinking the design and operation of wind-assisted and wind-propelled ships. As part of this project, a workshop was held to gather the industry’s perceptions and experiences of ship operation, particularly their concerns and perceived risks onboard vessels with wind propulsion and how to address them. At the workshop, an introduction of the project and some preliminary results were presented to the audience, followed by group discussions around a pre-set matrix of different voyage sections and operations onboard commercial ships (e.g., cargo handling, manoeuvring in constricted waters, equipment maintenance), from the perspective of a list of relevant actors (e.g., navigator, deck officer, other vessels in the vicinity, ship owner).
Figure 1. Matrix.
Focus:
The focus was on identifying stakeholders’ concerns or perceived operational risks of being onboard wind-propelled commercial ships.
Date:
The workshop was held on April 19, 2023.
Place:
This was a hybrid workshop within the BlueWeek event led by MARIN, i.e. there were participants on-site in Palma de Mallorca (https://blueforum.org/access-blueweek-2023/) and participants online.
Speakers/organizers/moderators:
Rogier Eggers (MARIN) co-organized the workshop, held the presentation, and co-moderated the group discussions. Nicole Costa (RISE), Vendela Santén (RISE), Sofia Werner (RISE), Sara Kilicaslan (RISE), Niklas van Duinen (MARIN), Anton Kisjes (MARIN), Martijn Schipper (MARIN), Maarten Flikkema (Flikkema) also helped to moderate and/or organize the group discussions.
Results:
The results were organized into six main risk categories that the participants most had input on:
Port operations, berthing, loading/discharging
Port/constricted water manoeuvres
Open sea
Adverse weather, safety
Maintenance
Other (e.g., business models, training, cargo capacity)
One of the main concerns was the interaction of wings/sails onboard with e.g. cargo cranes when the vessel is berthed at a container terminal. The terminals or cranes may need to be adjusted or the ship not be allowed at certain berths. Cranes can be lifted to allow the ship to berth but this may increase operation time and associated costs. Other concerns were the risk of dropping cargo on wings/sails and causing damage to both; the risk of reduced cargo capacity on ships that have wings/sails taking up some of the deck space; or the reduced visibility from the bridge during navigation and manoeuvring. Another uncertainty is if wind propulsion can cause a heel angle for longer time periods. These concerns will be taken into consideration by the OPTIWISE team.
Figure 2. Project team and some of the participating audience online and on-site.
