With the widening of their container ships shipowner NSB from Buxtehude has caused quite a stir in the industry. HANSA has attended the strategy. Meanwhile first projects are completed. NSB explains some preliminary results
How many and which vessels have been completed as part of the »widening« concept so far?
Bettina Wiebe, Head[ds_preview] of Corporate Communications: There have been three ships which are managed by NSB: »MSC Geneva«, »MSC Lausanne« and »MSC Carouge«.
Has first hand experience led to adjustments of the technical details?
Božidar Petrovi , Senior Technical Advisor to the Chairman: There have been no fundamental changes, only the work processes in the shipyard have been optimized. As a result of these improvements, the conversion time has been significantly shortened.
How are the reactions of the still troubled market?
Markus Thewes, Vice President Global Sales: NSB Marine Solutions had, and still has a number of serious inquiries, also for widening larger units. So far, however, no concrete agreements have been taken. In general, the decision in favor of an expansion is rather curbed – among others owed to the currently low fuel prices and overcapacity in tonnage. Currently, the price of steel in Asia is on a very low level, which contributes to rendering the conversion more attractive. Here we expect movement.
What have been the biggest challenges so far?
Lutz Müller, Senior Technical Advisor: The biggest technical challenge was to comply with the latest regulations, since the conversion was treated as a »major conversion«. The biggest financial challenge was to convince the banks and shareholders to address the huge project. Another technical challenge was posed by the electrical work and the laying of 25km of cables which are cut repeatedly and lengthened – a process which had to be in compliance with all safety regulations. The cost-effective implementation was another challenge – this resulted in keeping as much of the old vessel as possible. Technically feasible is everything, but it must also be economically viable.
Where did you encounter problems and how could they be solved?
Petrovi : In a conversion project of these dimensions minor problems and new challenges occur naturally within a day, but during the conversions, no major difficulties have delayed the project or even questioned it. Our site office team was on location, and it is an experienced, efficient team in supervision, which finds a solution to every problem.
From a commercial perspective: Could the ships benefit from the rates you had hoped for?
Thewes: It was important to monitor the market prior to the start of the conversion work. By investing in the widening plus efficiency measures which included a higher number of reefer plugs, a new bulbous bow and propeller, a new charter could be secured at a significantly improved rate. Specifically, a significantly higher charter rate was achieved at the time of the decision for widening compared to the previous level. Since the market is extremely unable, it is hard to present a general assessment. One aspect that should not be ignored is the increase in value of the vessel and of course the environmental aspect.
From a technical perspective: What could be the result of an interim review?
Müller: The calculations and plans for »widening« prior to the actual retrofit aimed at a 30% capacity increase. In fact, after the rebuilding phase the vessel’s actual container capacity was increased at an even higher rate. Right now we are talking about 6.296TEU nominal intake in contrast to the 4.872TEU planned boxes. The number of reefer plugs was raised from 560 to 1,131, which significantly extends the operational area.
The new bulbous bow was optimized for a much smaller speed range, namely 15 knots. For the widened vessel technical measurement revealed the same fuel consumption at 15kn as for the original ship, but at a 25% capacity increase and 51% more intake (14t homogeneous).
By »widening« NSB pushed economically no longer profitable ship types back to competitive mode again. Particularly in the current phase where container ships are destined to be scrapped after 14 years of service, this is a tremendous achievement and defines one of the project’s core achievements. »Widening« also shows how far retrofitting can go with ships and how efficiently the ships can be operated after conversion. All planned and calculated efficiency and capacity improvements are confirmed during regular operation.
Are there any plans to widen further ships or implement other measures?
Thewes: »Widening« is feasible with even larger container ships, which is another strength of this patented development. Appropriate design plans can be found at NSB, as from 8,500 to 11,000TEU. The level of interest in this is very high. There are, however, no concrete implementation plans, yet.
Are there plans to offer the project as a service provider to other shipowners and have there been orders already?
Thewes: NSB also offers »widening« to third parties and provides the technology via NSB Marine Solutions. Prospect customers can choose between several stages of the project, which demonstrate the potential benefits – such packages vary to conversion under direct NSB Marine Solutions supervision.
The first step of the project is to create a first pocket plan of the potential remodeling project. Here, the customer receives a first indication for all relevant data to evaluate the future potential charter.
In a second step NSB engineers create an substantial initial design in cooperation with the external engineering office Technolog Services GmbH. This study includes information on the stability of the widened vessel based on the modified cargo holds of the original vessel.
The third step involves the design and implementation of all necessary static, hydrostatic or hydrodynamic calculations. In this process construction plans evolve which are submitted to the classification societies. These plans form the basis to find a shipyard for conversion and estimate conversion costs and technical capabilities. Finally, »widening« is completely carried out on behalf of customers in the fourth step, corresponding to the initial pocket plan until final delivery.
Michael Meyer
