(May 9 2008) Container shipping company APL, a member of the Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL), is undertaking a research project to evaluate the hull performance monitoring service offered by Propulsion Dynamics' CASPER (Computerized Analysis of Ship PERformance) system.
One containership operating out of Port of Oakland, California, and three vessels sailing from the Port of Singapore have been enrolled in the CASPER service over an extended period of voyages.
Throughout each voyage the ship's performance data is regularly transmitted to Propulsion Dynamics office where CASPER produces precise calculations for speed, fuel consumption, and hull resistance (in relation to the sea trial conditions), without the need for added software or equipment.
To gain acceptance for this, evidence will need to be presented to the flag state and the class society, so the reports from this trial should enable APL to gather real time evidence of the effects of longer drydock intervals.
On the APL Agate the system will be used to evaluate a new hull coating system.
The coating manufacturer states that peaks and troughs on the paint surface result in reduced frictional resistance between the hull and the seawater, and by monitoring changes in hull resistance APL will be able to confirm, or otherwise, the hull coating manufacturer's statement.
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