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December 2005 17 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News’ annual presentation of “Great Ships” has again set a new benchmark, with 25 ships receiving the honor as a result of the rigorous process to identify and present ship’s details. Nearly 40 percent (9 of 25) of the award winners this year are in the Container Vessel category, as technological innovation has mushroomed in this niche with the race to build the largest, fastest and most efficient containership. While size does matter in the case of MSC Pamela, currently the world’s largest capacity containership, able to carry an incredible 9,200 TEU, sporting the world’s largest marine diesel, an MAN B&W 12K98MC-C unit which generates 93,120 bhp, the small also prosper, as evidenced by the inclusion of the 812 TEU Geeststroom built by Damen. RoPax Ferry A new milestone in both high-speed ferry operations and in Australian lightweight shipbuilding technology was marked by the 2005 service debut of the 127-m tri- maran Benchijigua Express. Demonstrating designer and builder Austal Ships' ability to marry technical innovation with production competitiveness and close attention to the practical requirements of operators, the vessel signified an advance in size, payload and power in the company's Auto Express ro-pax offering. The new multihull ferry confers a capability to maintain speeds of 40-knots with a capacity for 1,350 passen- gers and 341 cars, or 400 freight lane-meters plus 123 cars. The project was shaped by the vital competitive importance to contractual owner Lineas Fred Olsen of ensuring all-weather scheduling dependability on high- speed operations in the waters around the Canary Islands, prone to rough sea conditions, while meeting passengers' growing expectations as to ride quality. This led to the adoption of a hull configuration which departs from the norm, resulting in what is claimed to be the world's largest trimaran. Using a trimaran hull shape, effectively a stabilized monohull, has enabled the designers to separate the regulatory stability requirements from the seakeeping, comfort and desired motion requirements. The shipowner also required increased engine power without embracing gas turbine technology and its perceived higher operating costs. Benchijigua Express has been allocated to the traffic from Los Cristianos, on Tenerife, to the islands of Gomera and La Palma. It was anticipated that the supe- rior seakeeping performance of the trimaran would improve passenger comfort by up to 40 percent com- pared to Fred Olsen's existing fast ferries, and that the vessel would yield higher levels of operability in adverse weather conditions. The new addition to the fleet hoisted overall efficiency in terms of passenger capacity, deadweight and freight lane meters by around 35 percent. The most potent model of diesel engine ever offered by power systems supplier MTU Friedrichshafen, the Series 8000, is at the heart of the groundbreaking trimaran. The nomination of four 20- cylinder, 8000 vee-type engines to power the ferry at laden service speeds of around 40-knots was a resounding endorsement of the German-developed, high-speed diesel in a target market. The installation provides an initial plant capacity of 32,800-kW, although the contractual agreement provides for rating increases in accordance with anticipated growth in transport volume on the intra-Canary Islands traffic. The MTU plant is distributed between two separate engine rooms in the vessel's central hull, and drives a a Tugs: The Guiding Force. The story of the development of the tugboat industry in one of the busiest seaports in the world is a remarkable one, and Matteson delivers it in rich and lively detail. . . . The photographs alone, with extensive captioning, make this book worth buying. —WORKBOAT “ ” A brave and jaunty disquisition, copiously illustrated. . . . Written with boundless enthusiasm and affection for its subject, and with more than a little longing for the days when ships of all kinds dominated the rhythm of life in and around the city’s endless waterways. —RIC BURNS “ ” $39.95 Cloth | 12” x 9” · 151 illus. NYU Press www.nyupress.org 1-800-996-6987 90 CHAMPION OF GREAT IDEAS SINCE 1916years Circle 228 on Reader Service Card Great Ships of 2005 Benchijigua Express • RoPax Austal MR DECEMBER2005 #3 (17-24).qxd 11/30/2005 11:19 AM Page 17
