Li Yaner

“Auto Aspire”, the last ship of three 3600CEU PCTCs built by CSSC Jiangnan Shipyard was officially delivered on October 20, and will leave the dock for Europe at the end of this month.

With the basic design and detailed design provided by Shanghai Shipbuilding Design and Research Institute (SDARI), classed with DNV,the series ships have an overall length of 169.10 m, a molded breadth of 28.00 m, 10 vehicle decks, including 8 fixed decks and 2 movable decks, 3580CEU;a 600 m3 Type C tank, propelled by diesel and natural gas, meeting the IMO TIER III emission standard. The ship will serve short-distance transport on European routes, and its natural gas capacity will meet the full-voyage demand.

This is the debut of Jiangnan Shipyard returning to the PCTC market after 30 years. The order was signed in March 2019, and the first ship "Auto Advance" and ship 2 "Auto Achieve"were delivered in November 2021 and June 2022, respectively. For Jiangnan Shipbuilding, tthe first show was amazing, "Auto Advance" was well received by the industry and listed in Significant Ships of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, listed as the top ship of Great Ships of 2021 by the US-based Maritime Report & Engineering News, and awarded as "Shippax Ro-Ro Technology & Environment Award 2022”.

According to the SHIPPAX evaluation, the ship has a highly economical service speed of 16 knots and "provides a lower carbon footprint than previous generations of PCTC",with significantly improved fuel economy thanks to the ship"s hybrid propulsion system.

The industrial acclaim of the series ships is related to its pioneering power scheme. The first ship, Auto Advance,is the world"s first LNG Powered Battery Hybrid Solution PCTC. The ship construction almost covers all the mainstream technologies of ro-ro ship:dual fuel system, battery hybrid, PTO,EMS (energy management system), modular unit cabin, adjustable pitch propeller, AMPS system,etc., ships can achieve ultra-low emissions in normal navigation, entering and leaving port and loading and unloading conditions. The main engine,generator and boiler of the ship are in dual-fuel form, compared with the traditional fuel power mode of PCTC, the ship can reduce 99% sulfur oxide, 80%～85% nitrogen oxide and 20%～25%carbon emissions when LNG is used as fuel;substantially reducing environmental pollution, can meet the world"s most stringent emission standards.

According to UECC, the dual-fuel engine technology of the series ships has been combined with the energy storage system (ESS) provided by WE Tech, Finland, which can be charged through a permanent magnet, direct-drive shaft generator or dual-fuel generator, and the ESS can reduce fuel consumption and emissions by regulating the peak value of the main engine and auxiliary equipment.

UECC is engaged in European short-haul ro-ro ship route, five of UECC"s nine PCTC ships have adopted LNG dual fuel since the ship was delivered, and UECC said its ships are able to adapt to new fuels when alternative low-emission fuels such as biofuels, bioLNG and synthetic LNG become available.

During the construction process of the series of ships, the construction team has made clear the idea of promoting integrated construction and rhythmic production: the first ship seeks breakthrough, the second ship keeps stable, and the third ship seeks boosting to ensure that one ship is built better than the other. After this battle, Jiangnan Shipyard has accumulated a lot of experience in the thin plate construction quality control,PCTC center of gravity control, using the module transport device for rolling on afloat and dock launching, creating dust-free, noiseless, rust-free engine room and cabins.

Especially in the extremely complex stern door construction,Jiangnan Shipyard team led by Hu Yang, shortened series ship stern door manufacturing cycle from 72 days, to 67 days, and then to 62 days, and the patent party TTS held that the common 150-day construction cycle in China can hardly be broken. According to Jiangnan Shipbuilding, the accuracy of the main hinge part of the stern door of the series ship is required to reach the 0.01mm level. The positioning accuracy of the transmission pulley block in 14 different positions is within plus or minus 1 mm. After closing, the side length of the square area closely connected with the "door frame" of the main hull is 18 meters long, and the plane error is 1.5 mm. Under the meticulous work of the test team led by Liu Hao and the lifting team led by Xu Zhe, the complicated stern door installation finally achieved a successful handover inspection.

Jiangnan Shipyard which returned to the PCTC market performed well in its first battle, and soon received an order from SAIC Anji Logistics Co.,Ltd. On January 17 this year, Anji Logistics and Jiangnan Shipbuilding signed the construction contract of two 7600CEU LNG dual-fuel ocean-going PCTC. The construction of this series of ships started in August this year and is expected to be delivered in 2024,which is the largest dual-fuel powered PCTC signed in the world at that time.

According to Anji Logistics"Notice of Invitation for Bids in May, it plans to build three more LNG dualfuel PCTCs, and the two companies are expected to join hands again. Jiangnan Shipyard said PCTC has become its third strategic product line. In the subsequent ship construction, Jiangnan Shipyard will continue to sum up its experience and make PCTC a beautiful name card in the global field.