Competing Japanese Yards Partner for Efficiency and Improved Bulker Design

Two of Japan’s leading shipbuilders, Onomichi Dockyard and Tsuneishi Shipbuilding, have taken the unusual step of partnering to develop designs for a new dry bulk carrier. The project sought to leverage the experience and expertise of each yard to advance the design concepts for a vessel they are calling Bingo 42 (Beyond Innovation, Navigating Green Ocean).

The shipyards highlight that traditionally each yard undertakes all stages of design from basic design to production. They note it creates a substantial design workload which they expect will be further increased in the future as yards seek to develop and deliver alternative fuel vessels.

Both companies produce handy size bulkers. The Bingo 42 project sought to leverage shared experience, development ideas, and strategies based on each yard’s previous work. They focused on a 42,000 dwt dry bulk carrier. The goal was to enhance the productivity of the design process and to potentially increase market share through orders and construction under the same brand. The structural design, construction, and sales will be carried out independently by each company.

One of the key focuses of the project was to enhance each other’s conventional hull forms. Working together, the designers lengthened the conventional hull by 3 meters (nearly 10 feet). By optimizing the hull form they were able to improve cargo capacity and fuel efficiency with the design being incorporated into Onomichi and Tsuneishi’s standard dry bulk carrier designs.

The design also incorporates the MT-Fast energy-saving device first developed by MTI and NYK Group. It improves propulsion efficiency by up to four percent by regulating water flow through the installation of multiple fins in front of the propeller. It is designed to be a methanol0dual fueled vessel/

The companies report that Bingo 42 design has achieved a reduction of more than 35 percent from their reference line under the EEDI index established by the IMO.