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Podded Propulsion The heart of the Dolphin is a six- phase, brushless, synchronous motor incorporating double windings, and speed-controlled by converter. The con- cept has been engineered for operational reliability and system simplicity. The shaft is protected within its pod casing by a combination of face and lip seals. Dolphin's Dutch and German techni- cians have developed systems for appli- cations in the 3-MW to 19-MW power band. The diesel-electric Seven Seas Voyager, arranged for 700 passengers, will be similar to the Mermaid-fitted Seven Seas Mariner, completed this year by Chantiers de l'Atlantique. Options available to shipowners and designers have also been increased by the devel- opment of a new pod design by the French state-owned undertaking DCN. Although conceived for the naval sector, DCN's primary marine market, the sys- tem is also claimed to offer substantial potential in the mercantile vessel field. Using a permanent magnet motor-based solution and employing a pulling-pro- peller configuration, the French offering is understood to match the broadest power range currently available with existing podded drives. Meanwhile, a three-year research pro- gram drawing in European and U.S. par- ticipants, and dubbed Pods in Service, is expected to yield valuable data that will help quantify operational performance with podded systems and feed into future design work. The project is being coordinated by the Dutch Maritime Research Institute MARIN. $67M Containership Order Logged South Korea's Hyundai Merchant Marine placed a $67 million order for a containership with Heavy Industries. Hyundai Merchant said it had borrowed funds from foreign financial institutions at LIBOR plus one percent for the 5,700 TEU-sized order. The shipping and trad- ing company, a unit of Hyundai Group, said the containership would serve Asia- Europe routes from 2003. It said it would also place more ship orders in the second half of this year, including two 4,700 TEU container ships. Frontline Execs. Approve $321M Four-Tanker Purchase Frontline's board approved the firm taking a 33 percent stake of a partner- ship buying four tankers from Bergesen valued at $321 million. Bergesen made a preliminary agree- ment to sell four tankers to a consor- tium, Tankers International, led by Frontline. The remaining interest will be taken up by other partners in Tankers Interna- tional. The ships will be financed through the joint venture and it is antic- ipated that Frontline's equity investment in the four ships will be less than $35 million. The deal included two tankers and contracts to build two new tankers. The sales price of the two tankers was $164 million, while the new contracts had a total value of $157 million. The four tankers were part of a series of eight tanker projects that Bergesen acquired from the Hitachi yard in Japan in Janu- ary 2000. Frontline's board also agreed to buy the remaining 47.2 percent in a unit of Moseagle Invest K/S, which con- trols a VLCC tanker to be delivered from Samsung in November 2001. H+W Awarded Final Delivery Installment from Global Marine The Court of Appeal in London issued its judgment in relation to the outstand- ing delivery installment payable on the deepwater drillship Glomar Jack Ryan, completed by Harland and Wolff in July 2000. DOLPHIN - The new Star in the Field of Pod Drives STN ATLAS Marine Electronics delivers the propulsion system with DOLPHIN pods 2x7 MW for the cruise liner "Seven Seas Voyager" under construction at T. Marnotti, Italy for V.Ships Leisure/ Radisson Seven Seas Cruises The DOLPHIN project becomes reality. This success follows from the co-operation between the competent partners John Crane-Lips and STN ATLAS Marine Electronics. Covering a power range of 5...19 MW, the highly advanced propulsion system DOLPHIN offers an optimized solution for pod drives. Hydrodynamic advantages Higher efficiency Low pressure pulses resulting in low noise and low vibration levels Optimum steering accuracy Mechanical design Modular design concept Installation block facilitates easy integration on the ship Proven design components Design based on the John Crane-Lips steerable thruster technology with over 500 references Electrical advantages of an electric propulsion system using synchro- converter drives Far less components for power and control electronics with simpler and more robust system structure Protection of the converter thyristors in case of short circuit in the mains without additional electronic assemblies Lower level of harmonic interference providing better mains quality STN ATLAS Marine Electronics GmbH Member of the EuroMarine Group BehringstralJe 120 D-22763 Hamburg, Germany Phone: +49 - 40 - 88 25 - 0 Fax: +49 - 40 - 88 25 - 40 00 e-mail: info@sam-electronics.de http://www.sam-electronics.de John Crane-Lips Marine Propulsion Systems P. O. Box 6 5150 BB Drunen, The Netherlands Phone: +31 -416-3881 15 Fax: +31 -416-37 31 62 e-mail: info@johncrane-lips.com http://www.johncrane-lips.com I&3 John Crane-Lips Marine Propulsion Systems SAM Electronics July, 2001 Circle 275 on Reader Service Card www.maritimetoday.com www.maritimereporterinfo.com 49