2018-05-24

Elektra rules!

The P310 Elektra hybrid-propulsion ferry built by Crist Shipyard was voted the ship of the year in the Marine Propulsion Awards 2018 contest. The award for the Elektra was announced during the Sulphur Cap 2020 conference on 17 April 2018 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The vessel was nominated by a team of international experts and the final victory was brought by an official vote on the Sulphur Cap 2020 conference website. The Elektra defeated the Cardissie, a dual-fuel vessel from Shell, and the Christophe de Margerie, an LNG carrier from Sovcomfot.

The Elektra is a double-ended ferry shuttling between Nauvo and Parainen in Finland. It has the length of 96 m, beam of over 15 m, and a crew of 3. It carries 90 vehicles and 372 people.

The ship features a battery bank with about 7 years’ life. The batteries are charged  every time the ship calls a port and the charging takes only 5-6 minutes and 2 times
a day for a longer period. The battery bank, totalling 1,040 kWh, allows the use of the ferry (at normal conditions) only on batteries all year long. However, due to harsh Finnish winters (e.g. the ice in basins), in addition to batteries the ferry also has an auxiliary propulsion comprising three environmentally friendly compression-ignition engines in the diesel-electric configuration. On top of that, the vessel has banks of photovoltaic cells installed on the front and rear wall of the superstructure.

The complete electric part of the hybrid propulsion system was developed and supplied by Siemens who delivered the BlueDrive PlusC electric propulsion system. The system comprises, among other things, an energy storage system, electric propulsion with stepless propellers speed control and an integrated propulsion system automation (alarm and monitoring). The batteries were manufactured by PBS, and the charging system was supplied by Cavotec.

The Elektra was ordered by the Finnish shipowner Finferries. The ferry’s conceptual design was developed by Deltamarin Ltd. in Turku, Finland. On the other hand, StoGda Ship Design & Engineering Sp. z o. o. of Gdansk, Poland

One of the panels at the Maritime Economy Forum Gdynia 2018 will be dedicated to the shipbuilding industry 

  Article developed in cooperation with "Namiary na Morze i Handel" magazine.