MacGregor Auxiliary and Machinery Systems has demonstrated its ability to deliver solutions for extreme temperatures, picking up a contract to[ds_preview] supply a Hatlapa deck machinery package for 15 (ten plus five) highly specialised LNG carriers. This package will include ship sets of electrically-driven windlass and mooring winches. MacGregor believes that demand for shipboard equipment capable of working in extremely low temperatures will increase, and that its combination of new materials, variable frequency drive equipment and remote control capability represents a major step forward for the industry. Located in the Russian Arctic at the estuary of the Ob River in ice bound conditions for nine months of the year, Yamal LNG will use a fleet of highly specialised LNG carriers to move its production to Asia and Europe. The dedicated ships, which will each have a cargo capacity of 172,600 m3 and a very high Arctic ice class Arc 7 rating, are under construction at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) yard in South Korea. They will be delivered in 2017 and 2018.
In fact, the project has prompted the development of a completely new technology, which is suitable for use in ambient temperatures as low as -52° C. The solution has demanded the use of special steel plates and shafts able to operate in very low temperatures, but also the development of new sealing materials, as well as grease and gearbox oils, suitable for the extremes of nature in this region.
