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The world is moving towards a future that is more and more connected and this is already apparent in the shipping industry. The opportunities offered through smart technology are fostering a new era of collaboration and knowledge sharing with customers, suppliers and partners

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä emphasizes to be fully engaged in developing »intelligent« vessels since such technologies are considered vital to[ds_preview] maintaining a profitable future for ship owners and operators. Wärtsilä’s »Smart Marine Ecosystem« vision foresees a future wherein smart vessels will be sailing between smart ports at optimal speeds over optimal routes and with minimal loss of delays through ship traffic congestion.

New technologies that were considered completely unachievable just a few years ago are rapidly being introduced, creating new levels of efficiency and cost savings that are influencing the future of shipping. Nowhere are these developments more apparent than on the »Folgefonn«, an 83m ferry owned by leading Norwegian operator Norled. The ferry was built in 1998 and fitted with conventional diesel power. In 2014, it was retrofitted into being a plug-in hybrid vessel combining diesel engines with batteries and charging from shore. By converting the energy system into a hybrid system, significant overall energy efficiency gains were achieved since the engines could be run at optimal load. Wärtsilä’s contribution to the project has been the concept development, including the inverter systems, the hybrid control, the battery package and systems, the power transfer and land-based energy storage system, as well as the integration of the onboard systems.

Wärtsilä, with support from Norled and part funding from Innovation Norway, a Norwegian funding institution, then in 2017 successfully tested its automatic wireless induction charging system on the »Folgefonn«. The ferry thus became the first commercial ferry in the world operating with high power wireless charging capability for its batteries.

Wireless charging eliminates the cable connection between the vessel and shore, thereby securing and facilitating safe connections and disconnections. It also reduces maintenance since the usual wear and tear to physical connection lines is eliminated. The integrated Wärtsilä system is based on inductive power transfer and is capable of transferring more than a MW of electrical energy.

The system is designed to maintain efficient power transfer at distances up to 50cm between the two charging plates built into the side of the vessel and the quay. No other wireless charging system is as powerful, or capable of maintaining the transfer of energy at such a distance.

In cooperation with engineering group Cavotec, Wärtsilä has combined its inductive charging technology with Cavotec’s vacuum mooring system to enable automatic mooring, and this too has been successfully tested on the »Folgefonn«. The mooring system allows the ferry to maintain a steady position, while the main propeller can be stopped during docking to reduce energy consumption.

The latest in this series of innovations introduced for this ferry is Wärtsilä’s autodocking technology – again a world first. The technology is said to deliver notable benefits since there is less likelihood of human error, less wear and tear because the thrusters are optimally utilised, and greater efficiency in docking which allows more time at berth.