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14 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • JUNE 2014 8% Fuel Savings at Sea Trial MERS Equipped Ship Enters Service The push to outfi t commercial vessels with energy saving equipment contin- ues, and news out of Japan says that a Mitsubishi Energy Recovery System (MERS) supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Marine Machinery & Engine Co., Ltd. (MHI-MME) was installed on a VLOC (Very Large Ore Carrier) for the fi rst time. The system is designed to enhance power generation effi ciency by maximizing recovery and utilization of exhaust gas waste energy from marine diesel engines, and demonstrated sig- nifi cant fuel consumption improvement compared with existing ships during at-sea trial. MERS ability to reduce fuel consumption and environmental impact has already been confi rmed through in- stallation and testing in containerships that consume large amounts of electric- ity, and the latest installation broadens the vessel range. In the current instance, MERS was installed on an ore carrier of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL), which was built by Namura Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. MERS is the system that optimally controls ex- haust gas turbines and steam turbines, designed to enhance fuel effi ciency by recovering waste heat at a wide range of engine load. The latest MERS enables even greater waste energy recovery by incorporating shaft motors that delivers surplus power back to the main engine. As results, the new MERS was able to reduce fuel consumption by approxi- mately 8%. Going forward, MHI-MME will continue to propose various innova- tive energy-saving and environmental solutions to enhance seagoing energy effi ciency and environmental preserva- tion efforts. DELIVERIES NEWS T he Port of Houston Author- ity’s ? re? ghting team recently received the third and last in series of high-performance emer- gency response vessels, a ? eet of new vessels designed to keep one of the country’s busiest and strategically im- portant waterways safe: The Houston Ship Channel. The Port of Houston Fire Department operates three ? re sta- tions stationed along the 52-mile-long Channel, and emergency professionals respond to marine and land ? res and other emergencies along the upper ship channel. The three new vessels – the Firestorm 70 command center and high- speed response vessel built by Met- alCraft – is a central piece to completing its missions safely and ef? ciently. The new Firestorm 70 has quad diesel inboard engines to propel the boat to a top speed of 45 knots, versus the port authority’s current ? eet which clocks in at 14-16 knot range. When selecting the new boats, the improvement in speed was deemed important to providing ? re protection for the ship channel. But the vessels are not simply fast, as they are designed to be highly maneuverable, able to make quick stops and direction changes within three boat lengths. Part ? rehouse, part boat, the vessel enables the crew to stay on station for extended periods. The cabin includes a primary care berth with four secondary berths in the cuddy. Portable berths can be positioned in the aft equipment cabin to handle injuries during incident. Four ? re? ghting pumps can produce ? ow meter results of 13,600 gpm at 150 PSI and 17,000 GPM at 130 PSI and stream up to 450 ft. with a roof- mounted Stang monitor, which is a stark improvement to the Authority’s current ? eet and is three times the discharge rate of any of the Port Authority ? reboats be- ing retired. As a shore hydrant, the Fire- Storm 70 can pump 7,000 GPM at 70 PSI through 1,000 ft. of hose from a 5 in. Storz outlet before staging pumps are required. Each ? reboat is 70 ft., 10 in. long with a breadth of 22 ft., 10 in. and a draft of 34 inches. Funds for these vessels come mostly from federal grants to replace the three aging ? reboats commissioned in 1973 and 1983. MetalCraft Marine is a fully integrat- ed designer and manufacturer of custom high-performance ? re, rescue, patrol, research and other specialized work boats. The business was established in 1987 has emerged as a leader in the de- sign and manufacturing of aluminum water-jet propelled craft with more than 550 hulls built to date. History In 1924, a ? re in the hold of a steam- ship carrying cotton prompted the Houston Fire Commissioner to declare that the Port of Houston needed ad- equate ? re? ghting apparatus to attack ? res from water as well as land. A bond election to pay for the city’s ? rst ? reboat passed with a wide margin. This election occurred just one day after a ? re along the banks of the Houston Ship Channel spread to oil on the water and burned for more than two hours, with ? ames as high as 40 ft. As a result, the ? reboat Port Houston was built in 1925 and de- livered the following year to the delight of thousands of spectators watching its arrival. The following day, another 4,000 citizens turned out for a demon- stration of the ? reboat pumping water. In 1950, a new replacement ? reboat, the Captain Crotty, was purchased, chris- tened and put into service. The crew fought ? ve ship ? res and six re? nery ? res in the boat’s ? rst year of service. In fact, at a ?re at the General Ameri- can Tank Storage Terminal, the ? reboat spent 44 continuous hours at the scene, pumping for 36 hours nonstop. Houston Ship Channel industries be- gan to install manifolds on their docks in the 1950s to ensure that water would reach incidents at their facilities. The Channel Industries Mutual Aid group was also formed at this time. In 1971, the state legislature gave the Port Au- thority speci? c duties that included pro- viding “for the prevention, detection, control and ? ghting of ? res and explo- sions on and adjacent to the waterways, channels and turning basins within its jurisdiction.” With such increased responsibility, ? re-? ghting capability had to be im- proved. The ? reboat Captain W.L Farn- sworth was acquired in 1973. In 1981, the decision was made to retire the Cap- tain Crotty and purchase two newer ? re- boats, the J.S. Bracewell and the How- ard T. Tellepsen. Houston’s New FiFi Fleet METALCRAFT MARINE DELIVERS FOR THE PORT OF HOUSTON Photo: MetalCraft Marine MR #6 (10-17).indd 14 5/28/2014 11:46:57 AM
