Shipbuilder Overcomes Negative Impact of New Regulations with New Bulker Design

Babatunde Scott I

A shipbuilder, Japan Marine United (JMU) is rolling out its latest “JSeries” bulker design which uses technology to overcome the negative impact of meeting new regulations.

The J-Series design is initially for Kamsarmax bulkers and complies with the harmonized common structural rules, NOx Tier III regulations, and the 0.5% SOx global cap.

An official from JMU explained to the Japan Seminar at Posidonia 2018 that due to the increased equipment and steel required to meet new regulations, this decreased fuel consumption.

However, JMU was able to overcome the negative impact of more equipment on the vessel and increased steel in the hull using the latest technologies.

The vessel’s hull has been optimized and tested in the shipyard’s own model tank. JMU has also added energy saving devices including a new shape of propeller, a new rudder and a trademarked super stream duct.

Without the new technology added by JMU, the Kamsarmax bulker would have suffered a 1% reduction in deadweight, a 2% reduction in cargo carrying capacity, and 4% drop in fuel consumption. However, the new features of the J-Series bulker mean that the vessel has a 2% increase in deadweight rather than a loss, a 2% increase in the size of the cargo hold, and a 1% increase in fuel consumption,
compared to its previous series of Kamsarmax bulker.

“We overcame the negative impact of new regulations, and additionally improved the ship’s performance,” the official said.

The J Series design can also accommodate a SOX scrubber with minimal design changes.

JMU plans to expand the design to cover Capesize and Ultramax bulkers, and Suezmax and Aframax tankers.