Nominees Announced for Three Nor-Shipping 2015 Awards

Nor-Shipping announced today the nominees for the 2015 Nor-Shipping Awards. The awards recognize achievements in three areas – energy efficiency, innovative ship design and young entrepreneurship.

HM King Harald of Norway will present the awards when they are announced at the Opening Conference on June 2.

“The determination and hard work behind achievements in the maritime industry is not to be taken lightly. It is thus fitting that the new Nor-Shipping 2015 Awards trophy weighs in at a whopping six kilograms,” says Nor-Shipping Director Vidar Pederstad.

An independent jury has been set up for each award in order to bring in unique competence particular to that award’s criteria.  

Energy Efficiency Award

The Energy Efficiency Award pays tribute to the ship with the greatest contribution towards energy efficiency in relation to its function or operation. This award addresses more than emissions, focusing on the root of the problem rather than its consequence. Partnering with Nor-Shipping for this award is the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

The nominees are:

•Ampere

This fjord-crossing ro-pax has no direct emissions due to its battery power source, and its catamaran hull form can accommodate 120 cars. The innovative vessel was originally developed as a submission to a Norwegian Ministry of Transport competition in which the winner would get a 10-year license to operate the Lavik-Oppedal route beginning in 2015. The Ampere went on to win this competition and is currently operating this route. To reduce the energy consumption, the vessel has a lightweight aluminum construction. The low weight makes it possible to optimize hull shape and create a propeller system of high efficiency.

•Harvest Frost

Harvest Frost is a 95,000 dwt bulk carrier designed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, built by Oshima Shipbuilding and delivered to Archer Daniels Midland USA on October 29, 2014. MHI provided most of its innovative features, including the conceptual design, various green technologies and the Mitsubishi Air Lubrication System. The vessel also features a new bow shape designed to reduce wave-making resistance. For propulsion, it has adopted an innovative system that effectively converts the main engine power into propulsion power by positioning fins forward of the propellers and placing special grooves in the propeller boss cap.

•New Horizon class 8,500 CEU PCTC

The New Horizon design has been developed in close cooperation between Höegh Autoliners and Deltamarin. These vessels are being built by Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry in China. They have an overall length of 199.6 m and beam of 36.5 m, with special attention paid to optimization of the hull form to combine high cargo capacity and low fuel oil consumption. The design features an aerodynamically shaped bow section and an enhanced ventilation fan system for easy maintenance and reduced wind resistance. The vessels offer 15 percent higher cargo carrying capacity than other ships with similar dimensions.

•Pirgos

The 79 m Pirgos, with its RINA Green+ notation, is a general cargo vessel featuring a new bow shape that has low wave resistance and requires the lowest main engine power to achieve 13.5 kt, as compared with the similar sized cargo vessels in the world. The low power requirement translates into low fuel consumption. Daily consumption is approximately seven tons per day, including generators. The Istanbul Technical University recently stated that a CFD analysis and pool test it performed showed the design was the world’s most efficient, economic and environmental project.

Next Generation Ship Award

The Next Generation Ship Award honors the most promising design for ships that will be at sea in the coming decade, with the ship project demonstrating the greatest advances and innovation in design receiving the award. The design is assessed with respect to energy efficiency, innovation, suitability and flexibility, technology utilization, safety and security and environmental sustainability. All ship types are given equal consideration, regardless of size or segment. DNV GL returns as Nor-Shipping’s partner for this award, lending its industry expertise.

The nominees are:

•Vindskip

Developed by Lade AS, Vindskip is a hybrid eco-efficient vessel designed to use wind for propulsion in conjunction with an LNG-fuelled main engine for sustainable transport at sea. Inspired by the aerospace industry and the sailing environment, its unique aspect is the design of the hull, both above and under water. In appropriate wind conditions, the hull shape resembles a symmetrical airfoil as it generates an aerodynamic lift pulling the ship forward. Estimated fuel savings will be up to 60 percent according to computer testing, animation and logging of data on board an in-service reference ship.

•Coralius

This 5,800 m3 vessel will feature a dual-fuel engine, thrusters that facilitate enhanced close-quarters maneuvering and ice class notation (1A), which will allow it to trade in the Baltic region during winter. In combination with the hull design of low block coefficient, the emissions will be significantly lower than that of traditional vessels as the ship will run on LNG derived from the cargo. The building of Coralius is part of the EU project Pilot LNG, which aims to establish an LNG bunkering infrastructure. Coralius is scheduled for delivery by the Royal Bodewes shipyard at the end of 2017 and will be owned by Sirius Veder Gas AB, a joint venture between Sirius Rederi and Anthony Veder.

•DP 116 Short Sea Pioneer

This concept design includes a mother ship and several smaller daughter vessels. The mother ship sails between major ports, stopping outside smaller ports where the daughter ships dock inside the stern of the mother ship. This enables fast load transfer via a travelling gantry crane installed on the mother ship. The daughter ships can be operated by battery power and recharged from shore. The mother ship can be powered by a hybrid or LNG system. The concept was developed by a consortium that includes NCE Maritime CleanTech, Eker Sandvik Design, Cargo Freighters and North Sea Container Line (NCL).

•Ulstein X-stern as on SX175

Ulstein’s X-Stern is a design feature for DP-equipped vessels that increases operability through positive effects on station-keeping and wave response in harsh conditions. Developed for vessels dependent on the best possible motion characteristics, it has a sloping and higher stern, allowing for a sharp stern shape in which the transom plate is replaced by a pointed aft. With the X-Stern, a vessel can stay positioned with the stern facing towards the weather, even in harsh conditions.

Young Entrepreneur Award

The Young Entrepreneur Award is part of the joint Nor-Shipping/YoungShip effort to further develop Nor-Shipping as an arena for the next generation. Open to nominees from all segments of the industry, it honors an under 40-year-old professional who has founded a successful company that spearheads challenges or solutions in a new way. YoungShip, the fast-growing international organization for young maritime professionals, is Nor-Shipping’s partner and the administrator of the award.

The nominees are:

•David Kristensson – Northern Offshore Services (Sweden)

CEO and co-owner of Northern Offshore Services, David Kristensson has developed a business concept for the transportation of crew and light equipment in high-speed catamarans to and from offshore wind industry. Established in 2008, the company currently employs over 150 people and operates a total of 19 multipurpose, high-speed catamarans. NOS has offices in Gothenburg, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark.

•Morten Christophersen, Magnus Eikens, David Knutsen, Stian Magnusson, Miriam Wennberg – Connect LNG (Norway)

The founders of Connect LNG believe that clean energy should be cheap and accessible. They make this possible by commercializing simple solutions to enable LNG terminals. Their technology solves the bottleneck in the LNG value chain – the large costs associated with building an efficient infrastructure for LNG worldwide. Through an innovative yet simple loading and discharge system for transferring LNG/LEG/LPG between ships and onshore terminals, this is being made possible.

•Boyan Slat – The Ocean Clean-Up (Netherlands)

Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup, Boyan Slat combines technology and entrepreneurship to tackle global issues of sustainability. After diving in Greece in 2011 and coming across more plastic bags than fish, he wondered: why can’t we clean this up? He then devised a system with an array of floating barriers catching and concentrating the debris to enable a platform to efficiently extract the plastic afterwards. In 2013, he dropped out of his aerospace engineering studies to found The Ocean Cleanup. In 2014, the concept turned out to be a technically feasible and financially viable method to clean up half the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 10 years' time. Raising $2.2 million through crowdfunding, the organization was able to enter the pilot phase of the project.

•Thomas Aunvik and Kenneth Thunheim – Envirex (Norway)

Thomas Aunvik and Kenneth Thunheim founded Envirex based on their extensive experience in the fields of hydraulics, machining and mechanical engineering. Envirex offers highly skilled workers and competence to guarantee state-of-the-art solutions for the engineering, manufacture, design and service of hydraulic tools and systems. The group specializes in hydraulics, engineering, electronics, programming and mechanical or electrical assembly and testing. Envirex boasts a large product portfolio of rental products through subsidiary Envirent.