A number of new container ship designs have been presented over the past year, and one of the latest is for a 2,000TEU feeder vessel optimised for calling at the South East Asian port of Bangkok. The ship’s designer, Denmark’s Knud E. Hansen A/S, has teamed with joint venture partner ABB, a leading propulsion systems provider, to develop a highly fuel-efficient hull that would measure 172m by 30m.
At a Bangkok maximum draught of 8.2m, this would give a deadweight of approximately 18,300 tonnes and approximately 28,400 tonnes at the ship’s fully loaded draught of 10.5m. As in a number of new mega-container ships, the deckhouse has been placed in a midship position to provide better views from the bridge and improve crew comfort in bad weather, while allowing 15 per cent more containers to be carried on deck than on conventional deckhouse-aft designs.
For added manoeuvrability, the ship would utilise an electrically-driven counter-rotating ABB Azipod unit fitted behind the directly-driven main propeller, with a tunnel bow thruster mounted. The power balance between the main propeller and the Azipod unit would be approximately 65 per cent and 35 per cent and, in the event of a breakdown of the main engine, the Azipod, drawing power from three auxiliary gen-sets of 8,000kW, would give a speed of more than 13 knots.
