Every day, every hour

Naila is a seismic survey vessel that tows 8 km long streamers to sweep huge areas of the seabed, supplying precious data to oil exploration customers amongst others. It’s a specialist job with a very high daily operating cost that still pays well given the potential oil and gas at stake. But that all depends on uptime and avoiding disastrous downtime through unplanned maintenance and drydocking. As far as the equipment is concerned, failure is not an option.

CONVENTIONAL WITH A TWIST

To solve problems they’d been having with traditional thrusters, and minimize the potential risks in the future, Polarcus looked to a new concept, Caterpillar Propulsion’s twin fin system, with a retrofit that would crucially take as few as 45 days. Suitable even in harsh environments, the tailor-made fins protect the propulsion system from ice and can be fitted with ice knives. Crucially, the fins also give access to all the propulsion mechani­cal parts within the hull profile. In this way, Polarcus would get the cargo space saving and maneuverability benefits of an outboard solution as well as critical reliability gains.

UPTIME, PLUS A WHOLE LOT MORE

But it hasn’t stopped there. With increased thrust – and lower input power – thanks to larger, slower-running, controllable-pitch propellers and minimal mechanical loss, Naila’s diesel-electric solution has also saved massively on fuel and emissions, while improving overall vessel performance. Indeed the surprising improvement in course stability and seakeeping behavior even has an effect on the quality of the seismic data, while the extra thrust means they are looking at carrying extra streamers for even wider and more effective surveys.

AWARD-WINNING INNOVATION

With competitors in their industry left scratching their heads at the uptime and performance gains, the heads of Polarcus, along with the captain and crew of Naila, have been overjoyed with the success of the new propulsion system. But what does the future hold for twin fin propulsion? Winning the recent Technical Innovation prize at the Seatrade Maritime Awards in Dubai confirmed the potential.
With any number and configuration of fins, the system can be applied to newbuilds, retrofits and conversions in any commercial marine application. Indeed, the latest candidates are a number of cruise ship operators who have been blown away by the reliability, fuel efficiency, silent operation and safety advances.For twin fin propulsion, which is now a new verified product within Caterpillar Marine, it seems that the sky, or rather the endless sea, is the limit.

"IT’S ALL ABOUT SHARING A PASSION FOR WHAT WE DO.”

When you start talking with Mattias Hansson, Senior Project/Sales Manager, Caterpillar Marine, it’s difficult to get him to stop. Not that you would want to – he has a passion for his job that is awe-inspiring. And a belief in a way of working that could change the way we look at designing, building, and equipping vessels.

I arranged a meeting with Mattias to talk to him about the projects he’s been working on and to follow up on the story of the Polarcus Naila one year after its twin fin propulsion retrofit (see the previous page). As I sat on the ferry and crossed the narrow strait that separates the Swedish mainland from the small island of Hönö where Caterpillar Propulsion has its headquarters, I contemplated the interview ahead. It would take an hour, hour and a half tops. I was looking for information, a few quotes for backup, maybe a small insight or two. Over the next four hours (including lunch), I got much more than that.

NEW PARTNERSHIPS

We sat in Mattias office that looks out over the Swedish west coast archipelago, the dark, leaden sky matching the gray sea and granite islands. But inside the atmosphere was warm and bright. I asked about the Naila project, with Mattias responding enthusiastically. Throughout it seemed that we kept coming back to the same theme: the collaboration and commitment shared between Mattias and his colleagues at Caterpillar Propulsion, the customer Peter Zickerman at Polarcus, the architects Bjørn Moving (Odense Maritime Technology) and Bjørnar Helgesen (Scandinavian Marine Group), not to mention the Damen shipyard in Amsterdam and a long list of suppliers who needed to be on board and, most importantly, on time. As an engineer and marine architect, Mattias is proud of the technology side but I got the feeling he was even more proud of the new partnership and way of working that let them overcome a brand new challenge with unexpected success.

NEW WAYS OF WORKING

It needed to start with a chance meeting, outside of the traditional channels. "I bumped into Bjørnar at a trade show a couple of years ago,” explains Mattias. “We got talking and it turned out we might have a solution for a problem he had with a new vessel design of his. That conversation led to more conversations with Bjørn at OMT about new build designs Then to Polarcus and discussions about a retrofit for one of their seismic vessels. It all happened quickly and unexpectedly”. It was the opposite of the traditional path where operators look at their needs with architects and specify the power and then the propulsion solution as a result. This time, the solution was the starting point and an operator responded when the value became clear.

“WE COULDN’T FAIL”

As Mattias talks you get the sense of how hard it was to work in a new way and for a completely new, untested solution. “From the concept and product itself to the deadlines and Naila getting out to sea and proving the technology, we just couldn’t afford to fail. But we designed it with the statistically most reliable equipment so we were still confident.” With everyone in the group experts in their own field, the ultimate key to success was the personal relationships, knowledge and passion they shared, and the support of the colleagues behind them.

LASTING IMPACT

These relationships have lasted too, “I can pick up the phone and call the customer at any time, night or day. He can do the same to me. And we’ll pick up because we know and trust each other that it’s important.” If he wasn’t before, Mattias is now a firm believer in the value of working differently and in close cooperation to make sure new knowledge and unexpected insights can be shared. He’s also a very nice guy who I owe a lunch.

Get all the details about the TwinFin at
catpropulsion.com