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Cruise Technology’s Quantum Leap Remember when people went on a cruise to “get away from it all” and disconnect from the world? It’s hard to believe that there was no connectivity on cruise ships until 1999. That was the year Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sky set sail with the first dedicated Internet Cafe. Norwegian was also the first to provide fleet-wide WiFi access (2002) and cell phone service (2006). Ubiquitous Wi-Fi access and crystal clear cell phone reception at sea are now expected – especially from corporate meeting and incentive planners and participants. Norwegian is not the only cruise line implementing leading-edge technology. Royal Caribbean International has announced that Wi-Fi bandwidth will be enhanced on all ships during a massive revitalization program. Other big industry players including Celebrity Cruises , Carnival Cruise Lines , and relative newcomer Disney Cruise Line are also creating waves with new technology. And it’s not just the big guys. Luxury and ultra-premium cruise lines including Silversea , Regent Seven Seas Cruses , and Crystal Cruises offer pervasive, high-quality wireless access throughout their small and mid-sized ships.

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Cruise Technology’s Quantum Leap

Remember when people went on a cruise to “get away from it all” and disconnect from the world? It’s hard to believe that there was no connectivity on cruise ships until 1999. That was the year Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sky set sail with the first dedicated Internet Cafe. Norwegian was also the first to provide  fleet-wide WiFi access (2002) and cell phone service (2006).

Ubiquitous Wi-Fi access and crystal clear cell phone reception at sea are now expected – especially from corporate meeting and incentive planners and participants.

Norwegian is not the only cruise line implementing leading-edge technology. Royal Caribbean International has announced that Wi-Fi bandwidth will be enhanced on all ships during a massive revitalization program. Other big industry players including Celebrity Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, and relative newcomer Disney Cruise Line are also creating waves with new technology.

And it’s not just the big guys. Luxury and ultra-premium cruise lines including Silversea, Regent Seven Seas Cruses, and Crystal Cruises offer pervasive, high-quality wireless access throughout their small and mid-sized ships.

1 2+ Coolest Tech Trends at Sea

Today’s cruise ships are outfitted with the latest high-tech products and services – in passenger areas, as well as behind the scenes. Here’s a look at some of the coolest technology innovations designed to make your cruise experience smoother, greener, and even more amazing.

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An In-Depth Look at Today's Cruise Ship Safety Standards

Even with their leviathan proportions, today’s cruise ships are arguably the safest that ever sailed, thanks largely to the technological advances incorporated into their design, navigation, and emergency-response systems. ALEXANDER GEORGE reports

1 Before any steel has been hammered, architects map the ship and run sophisticated software to simulate crowd movements during an accident so they can address any possible bottlenecks or other problems.

2 Fire shutters, some as high as two decks, can be electronically lowered to contain a blaze and block off damaged areas.

3 In addition to GPS navigation, a ship’s communication with satellites yields sophisticated information on ocean conditions, with details that buoys can miss. Infrared camera readings from space provide data that ensure precise tracking of weather patterns.

4 On some of the newest cruise ships, a dedicated safety center on the bridge (a few yards behind the captain’s chair) controls 17 different systems that allow the captain and safety officers to open and close fire doors and shutters and to control ventilation systems and sprinklers across the vessel. A separate panel displays the status of the ship’s watertight doors, which can be opened and closed remotely with the flick of a switch.

5 Lightweight materials give a modern cruise ship more strength than the icebreakers of yore. Bulkheads (the dividing walls between sections of the ship) are generally made of aluminum, but the integration of composites like carbon fiber enhances structural integrity with less weight and increased energy efficiency. When used in passenger areas, these materials make the ship more stable by keeping it light on the top and heavy on the bottom.

6 Shrinking hardware has been a boon to maritime meteorology. Buoys can provide real-time weather readings that enable highly accurate predictions of a storm system’s movements.

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7 Some ships have taken a page from airplanes and integrated quick-inflating safety chutes into their evacuation procedures. After sliding down feet-first, evacuees land in a large raft that can function as a lifeboat.

8 The hull below the waterline is divided into discrete compartments, with watertight doors capable of sealing off any flooding should the thick steel sides of the vessel be breached. Compartments are all monitored with water sensors that relay signals to the bridge and include a complex web of piping that redistributes any floodwater into parallel compartments to maintain balance. (How water spread throughout the Concordia’s watertight compartments has emerged as a key question for investigators.)

9 A screen on the bridge juxtaposes the ship’s GPS location over color-coded charts, displaying in real time the land around, below, and ahead. Nearby, a radar screen shows obstacles above the surface, the contours of land, and any traffic in the area. Meanwhile, a suite of instrumentation provides constant readings on the depth of the water below the ship and the direction and force of wind and currents as well as real-time estimates of how those factors are affecting the ship’s speed and direction. If there is any danger of collision, alarms will sound early enough for the captain to close bulkheads, steer clear, or, at worst, call for passengers to assemble.

1. Royal Caribbean’s Wayfinder –– There’s a reason Royal Caribbean’s Wayfinder system has won multiple awards for technology excellence – it’s awesome! Onboard activities, real time updates, and customized directions and routing are at guests’ fingertips with plasma and LCD touch-screen signs throughout Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas. The interactive signage will be integrated on other Royal Caribbean ships during the ongoing “Royal Advantage” upgrade program.

2. Facial Recognition Technology – High-resolution passenger photos taken at embarkation are used for security and linked to cabins keys. And that’s not all – no more searching through rows

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of photos displayed in the ship’s photo gallery to find your portraits. Facial recognition software sorts through thousands of passenger photos taken by ship photographers, identifies (tags) you and uploads your photos to a personalized digital album.

3. Shape Recognition Cameras. Don’t worry about long lines at the buffet on the 5,412-passenger Allure of the Seas – your attendees will never have to wait to be seated at any of the 24 dining venues, thanks to biometrics. Shape recognition cameras count and analyze foot traffic, and this information is sent in real-time to 300 interactive boards around the ship.

4. Norwegian iConcierge App – With Norwegian’s revolutionary smart phone app, iPhone, iPad and Android users will soon be able to make dining and shore excursion reservations, review folios, and check scheduled activities during their Norwegian Epic cruise. Norwegian iConcierge will also be the industry’s first mobile app that lets guests find and communicate with other smart phone users via voice and text message. Currently, the free app is available exclusively for guests sailing on board Norwegian Epic, but will soon be rolled out across the fleet.

5. “Royal Connect” Smart Phones and Wristbands – Guests onboard the world’s largest cruise ships, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, can rent a Royal Connect mobile device to keep track of family or colleagues onboard. The Royal Connect system uses Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID)-enabled tags in wristbands and an iPhone that pinpoints tag locations on its map display. The smart phone user can also send alerts to those wearing the wristbands.

6. iPads Making Waves - Here are a few ways cruise lines are integrating tablets to enhance the guest experience:

iPad-based menus add to the unique culinary experiences in Celebrity’s Qsine Restaurant. Guests tap menu item icons for descriptions, videos, or to create their own cocktails. Qsine Restaurant is found on Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Silhouette, and “Solsticized” Celebrity Summit and Celebrity Infinity.

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Interactive wine menus on iPad tablets make choosing the right glass of wine easy at Vintages Tapas and Wine Bar on Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

iPads in Cabins – Royal Caribbean’s newly revitalized Splendour of the Seas is the first cruise ship to offer Apple iPads in every cabin for use throughout the ship. With a touch of the screen, your attendees can access daily events and activities, review personal itineraries, monitor their onboard accounts, view restaurant menus,  and access the internet. The iPads will be added to five more Royal Caribbean ships over the next two years. (Regent Seven Seas Cruise Line also provides iPads on Seven Seas Voyager – but only in top suites.)

iPad Courses – Celebrity’s iLounge offers 18 custom-created classes to help guests expand the tech skills on Apple products – including iPad. Crystal Cruises also offers multiple level iPad courses in their complimentaryComputerUniversity @ Sea enrichment program.

7. Royal Express Guest Kiosks on Allure of the Seas – Allure of the Seas‘ special kiosks in the Royal Promenade provide complimentary guest services. Your attendees can view, print or e-mail their personal folios and calendars, make specialty restaurant reservations, and what we really love – confirm flight reservations and print out airline boarding passes.

8. Video Postcard Booth on Allure of the Seas – Plan a group event on Allure of the Seas, and your attendees can star in their own video postcard !It’s fun and free – create a 60-second video or photo postcard and email or post to social network pages, right from the booth.

9. Carnival‘s 5D Theater – Royal Caribbean introduced 3D movies on Oasis of the Seas; now Carnival offers  a sensational new experience on Carnival Breeze – “Thrill 5D Theater”. Watch 3D-formatted films with special effects like squirting water and bubbles; while other gizmos tickle your legs, blow air on your neck, and poke you in your seat (I’m not making this up!). What’s the fifth dimensio n? The seats themselves – they vibrate and shift.

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10. Disney “virtual portholes” – Disney Dream’s inside staterooms feature a “Magical Porthole” that gives guests a real-time view outside the ship, provided by high-definition cameras placed on the exterior of the ship. Another magical surprise: every few minutes, an animated Disney character flies or swims by.

11. Disney “Enchanted Art” –Disney Dream also features  interactive art pieces throughout the ship. These paintings are actually animated pictures that come to life when passengers stand in front of them. Know what’s even more magical? Each enchanted art piece incorporates facial recognition technology to make sure it won’t play the same sequence twice.

12. Crystal Cruises Fast-track Embarkation: By utilizing a new barcode on each guest cruise ticket and a new ticket scanning system,Crystal’s “Fast-Track Check-In” eliminates 100% of ship check-in procedures in port terminal waiting areas, transitioning guests from dock security to the elegant comfort of Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity lounges.

Environmental Breakthroughs

Energy-saving technology also making waves in the industry include:

LED and compact fluorescent lighting – Several cruise lines are making the switch, including Carnival Cruise Lines. Compact fluorescent and LED bulbs installed across the fleet will potentially save about $100,000 annually in energy costs per ship.

Shore power installations – More ships are now plugging into shore-side electricity, which allows them to shut down diesel engines to reduce air pollution.

Solar panels – Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are installing solar panels on its newest ships for powering onboard components such as LED lights and elevators

Reverse Osmosis for fresh water – In May 2012, MSC Cruises’ Divina will introduce a revolutionary reverse osmosis system for fresh water production that consumes 40% less power.

And a glimpse into future cruise ship technology:

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Wireless-enabled capability for cell phones will provide experience-enhancing services – your cell phone will soon be able to open your cabin door or charge your wine with dinner. Geo-location notifications will alert you of deals and specials for shops and restaurants as you pass by.

Guest writer Ben Johnson (no, not Ben Johnson – Shakespeare’s contemporary), but UK based regular contributor Ben Johnson, takes a look at how Cruise lines have managed to not only meet the technology needs of their guests, but have taken the lead in technology adoption.

Quite often large companies don’t always embrace technological advances, happy with the status-quo these innovations are simply ignored or put on hold until several business case studies later. One industry bucking this trend is the cruise industry, due to the ultra-competitive nature of the industry cruise liners are constantly trying to “out do” one another.

While the destinations visited will continue to be the biggest draw, many cruise goers simply don’t want to leave behind their technology filled life’s behind, after all technology really does make life easier as the examples below demonstrate:

No longer do you have to worry about missing the latest 3D movie release, cruise ship operators including Royal Caribbean Cruises have updated their onboard cinemas to include the latest 3D experience.

The most technology filled gyms in the world can be found be found onboard cruise ships. Carnival Cruises makes working out a joy with its floor to ceiling windows facing the sea creating an atmosphere of tranquility.

Apple lovers and technology buffs in general will love Celebrity Cruises who now offer computer classes as well as the chance to buy the latest products from the onboard Apple store.

Royal Caribbean recently installed solar panels to its Allure of the Seas cruise ship, which will help create a whopping 111,108kWh annually for the ships shopping area.

Once again Royal Caribbean is leading the way in technology innovation this time in the shape of facial recognition. When you check in to the Oasis of the Seas, a crew member shoots a photo, which is sent to the ship and linked with passenger’s room key. That picture is not only used for security purposes but when the onboard photographer takes your photo this is then automatically assigned to you.

Onboard the Royal Caribbean you will never have to wait in a queue to get your food, shape recognition cameras are used to analyze foot traffic and this information is sent in real-time to the 300 interactive boards dotted around the ship.

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The world’s largest cruise ship is Royal Caribbean International’s, Allure of the Seas, a gigantic 1,187ft capable of carrying over 6,000 passengers. The size of the ship can be daunting for many especially for those with children, to put parents mind at ease Royal Caribbean have recently developed an application which can track kids as well as plan onboard activities.

The cruise industry is innovating at a phenomenal rate, what innovation would you like to see next within the tourism industry?

Biography:

Guest writer Ben Johnson is a freelance travel writer and cruise enthusiast. While specializing in luxury cruises and maritime law, Ben’s knowledge covers a wider spectrum of consumer tourism.

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Trends in Ship Technology

Shipping and shipbuilding are an integral part of world trade. To keep up with the demands of the world’s markets, ship technology is increasing all the time.  Every aspect of water-based commerce---shipbuilding, shipyard equipment, painting material, welding, and steel—are being subjected to improvements by firms and government-backed initiatives around the world.

Ship Production: Integration is the Future

Building a huge container ship is no easy feat—and the thing is, they’re getting bigger all the time. To accommodate the increasing complexity of ships, they are moving more and more to greater technological integration. While the military has embraced this integration for years, it is

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just coming into vogue for container ships and other large cargo vessels. These various systems, like fresh water control, the fuel system, and the ship’s air conditioning can all be managed and controlled from one monitor—both on the ship and off.

This integration can increase both the efficiency of the ship’s systems, and its safety. You don’t need a separate crew member to man all the different control stations—one person can keep an eye on them from a comprehensive control panel. The increased integration also lets the ship’s master stay more aware of its vital signs, reducing the risk of fire or some other emergency.

Improving Safety, in More Ways Than One

Any problems with a container ship can cause extensive damage to people’s safety and the environment, not to mention the cost of rescuing tons of cargo from the ocean. Several initiatives are in the works to keep these enormous ships heading safely to port.

One project is focusing on analyzing the structural safety of a ship, and its risk of sinking or other problems. The program would take into account the ship’s own coating and cracks, as well as statistical information about this particular make of ship’s problems from a centralized database. This would increase awareness of potential problems with a ship, and let shippers deal with them before they manifest in a costly at-sea problem.

Other research is looking into decreasing the risk to ships with dangerous cargo, from a terrorist or pirate attack. The project focuses on increasing the ship’s own recognition systems, to sense that something is wrong and take the duties off of staff and crew members.

Leaning Towards Green

Like nearly every other industry, container shipbuilding industries are considering how to become more environmentally friendly. And, these initiatives can save money, as well as the earth. Advanced surface coatings decrease the friction of the boat’s hull in the water, and mean less fuel is needed for the same routes. Another technology focuses on making the ship’s fresh and seawater discharge cleaner and better for the environment.

Trends in Ship Technology

Shipping and shipbuilding are an integral part of world trade. To keep up with the demands of the world’s markets, ship technology is increasing all the time.  Every aspect of water-based commerce---shipbuilding, shipyard equipment, painting material, welding, and steel—are being subjected to improvements by firms and government-backed initiatives around the world.

Ship Production: Integration is the Future

Building a huge container ship is no easy feat—and the thing is, they’re getting bigger all the time. To accommodate the increasing complexity of ships, they are moving more and more to greater technological integration. While the military has embraced this integration for years, it is

Page 10: Cruise Technology

just coming into vogue for container ships and other large cargo vessels. These various systems, like fresh water control, the fuel system, and the ship’s air conditioning can all be managed and controlled from one monitor—both on the ship and off.

This integration can increase both the efficiency of the ship’s systems, and its safety. You don’t need a separate crew member to man all the different control stations—one person can keep an eye on them from a comprehensive control panel. The increased integration also lets the ship’s master stay more aware of its vital signs, reducing the risk of fire or some other emergency.

Improving Safety, in More Ways Than One

Any problems with a container ship can cause extensive damage to people’s safety and the environment, not to mention the cost of rescuing tons of cargo from the ocean. Several initiatives are in the works to keep these enormous ships heading safely to port.

One project is focusing on analyzing the structural safety of a ship, and its risk of sinking or other problems. The program would take into account the ship’s own coating and cracks, as well as statistical information about this particular make of ship’s problems from a centralized database. This would increase awareness of potential problems with a ship, and let shippers deal with them before they manifest in a costly at-sea problem.

Other research is looking into decreasing the risk to ships with dangerous cargo, from a terrorist or pirate attack. The project focuses on increasing the ship’s own recognition systems, to sense that something is wrong and take the duties off of staff and crew members.

Leaning Towards Green

Like nearly every other industry, container shipbuilding industries are considering how to become more environmentally friendly. And, these initiatives can save money, as well as the earth. Advanced surface coatings decrease the friction of the boat’s hull in the water, and mean less fuel is needed for the same routes. Another technology focuses on making the ship’s fresh and seawater discharge cleaner and better for the environment.

A stealth ship is a ship which employs stealth technology construction techniques in an effort to ensure that it is harder to detect by one or more of radar, visual, sonar, and infrared methods. These techniques borrow from stealth aircraft technology, although some aspects such as wake and acoustic signature reduction are unique to stealth ships' design.

Reduction of radar cross section (RCS), visibility and noise is not unique to stealth ships; visual masking has been employed for over two centuries and RCS reduction traces back to American and Soviet ships of the Cold War. One common feature is the inward-sloping tumblehome hull design that significantly reduces the RCS.

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Contents

1 Examples 2 Shaping 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Examples

Several surface vessels employ stealth technology, amongst them the Swedish Visby -class corvette, the Dutch Zeven Provinciën -class frigate , the Turkish MİLGEM corvette, the Norwegian Skjold -class patrol boat , the French La Fayette -class frigate , the Chinese Houbei - class missile boat and Type 054 frigate, the German MEKO ships Braunschweig -class corvettes and Sachsen -class frigates , the Indian Shivalik -class frigate , the Singaporean Formidable -class frigate, the British Type 45 destroyer, the U.S. Navy's Zumwalt -class destroyer , Finnish Hamina - class missile boats, Chilean Patrol Vessel PZM based on the German OPV80 and Indonesian 63m Stealth Fast Missile Patrol Vessel. Egypt has Ambassador MK III missile corvette

HMS Helsingborg , one of the Swedish Navy's Visby - class corvettes

French frigate Surcouf of the La Fayette class

Dutch destroyer Evertsen of the Zeven Provinciën class

Indian Stealth Frigate INS Shivalik, lead ship of her class

Visby is designed to elude visual detection, radar detection, acoustic detection, and infrared detection. Its surface is constructed from a carbon fibre reinforced plastic.[citation needed] Avoidance of right angles in the design results in a smaller radar signature, reducing the ship's detection range.

Britain's Type 45 anti-air warfare destroyer has similarities to the Visby class, but is much more conventional, employing traditional steel instead of carbon fibre. Like Visby, its design reduces the use of right angles.

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The currently developed U.S. Zumwalt -class destroyer — or DD(X) — is the US version of a stealth ship. Sea Shadow, which utilizes both tumblehome and SWATH features, was an early U.S. exploration of stealth ship technology. The Arleigh Burke -class destroyer also employs stealth technology without being a full stealth ship, similar to the German designs.

German Braunschweig -class corvette

Artist's conception of the USS Zumwalt, the lead ship of the planned Zumwalt class of destroyer for the U.S. Navy

Type 45 Royal Navy destroyer

We’ve already seen how future ships can be cloaked against sonar, and maybe someday even space and time. Now researchers say they can cloak the ships’ wakes, tricking water itself into acting as though nothing is there.

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Related Articles

Superheating the Hulls of Seagoing Ships Could Reduce Drag for Super-Efficient Sailing

Acoustic Invisibility Cloak Makes Objects Unhearable

Your Next Invisibility Cloak Might Be Made of Water

TagsTechnology, Rebecca Boyle, cloaking, fluid dynamics, hull designs, invisibility cloak, metamaterials, ships, waves

A new metamaterial cloaking system can trick water into standing still as an object moves through it, by eliminating the shear force and reducing water displacement, Duke University researchers say. This in turn reduces the amount of energy required to move an object — say, a ship — through the water, theoretically saving fuel.

Yaroslav Urzhumov, assistant research professor in electrical and computer engineering at Duke, envisions covering the hull of a ship with a three-dimensional lattice of porous metallic materials that would be embedded with tiny pumps. The pumps could force flowing water through at variable rates, Urzhumov says in a news release. “The goal is make it so the water passing through the porous material leaves the cloak at the same speed as the water surrounding by the vessel,” he says.

The water surrounding the hull would appear to be still, relative to the movement of the vessel, which would reduce the amount of energy the vessel needs to get through it. When moving through a fluid, a solid object displaces a greater volume of fluid than its own total volume — think of how much effort it requires to drag a thin fishing line through water. So if these shear forces could be eliminated or mitigated, a moving vessel would displace less fluid.

We’ve seen other examples of ship-efficiency water interference tech lately, including a proposal to harness the Leidenfrost effect, wherein a liquid produces an insulating vapor layer when it comes in contact with a solid object that is hotter than its boiling point. That vapor layer could reduce drag, researchers say. But superheating hulls would likely require lots of energy input, lessening any energy savings from the drag reduction.

A lattice-pump system would conceivably be better, because the micropumps wouldn’t need that much power, Urzhumov says — certainly not as much energy as you would need to push an un-cloaked ship through the seas. The research is reported in the online version of Physical Review Letters.

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Marine technology

A voyage of discovery

New technology can make ships more versatile, more efficient and cleaner, tooJul 14th 2012 | ALESUND |From the print edition

IN THE days when Norsemen pillaged their way around the monasteries and villages of Europe, Norwegian shipwrights were at the forefront of naval architecture. They still are. Norway is an important centre of marine innovation and several foreign companies have operations there, too. One such is the marine division of Rolls-Royce, a British firm, which is collaborating with Farstad, a shipping company based in Alesund, and STX OSV, a shipbuilder. The result of their efforts is Far Solitaire (pictured above), the first of a new class of vessels which bristle with novel technology that promises to make shipping safer, cleaner and cheaper.

Far Solitaire has been designed as a platform-supply ship for the North Sea’s oil and gas industry. This means she is not a large vessel. She is 91 metres long (one-third of the length of a typical container ship), has a deadweight of 5,700 tonnes and cost about $70m. But some of the innovations she uses should be applicable to vessels of all sizes.

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In this section

A voyage of discovery Tall, dark and stable Made to order Under the mistletoe Making tracks

ReprintsRelated topics

Rolls-Royce North Sea

At the moment she is being fitted out by STX OSV at its Langsten shipyard on Tomrefjord. In October she will be delivered to Farstad, who will use her to supply rigs in the region’s notoriously heavy seas. Crucially, she has to be able to hold her position while transferring cargoes that include various noxious materials which are employed in drilling or pumped into wells to improve the process of extraction. These have to be delivered to and removed from the platforms. Such transfers are potentially hazardous for the people involved and for the environment.

One of Far Solitaire’s most important innovations is her wave-piercing hull. Below the waterline her bow has the bulbous drag-reducing nose that has become a familiar feature of modern ships. Above it, however, things are all new. Where a standard ship’s bow would have a flat foredeck, Far Solitaire’s flows up and over the vessel. This means that instead of riding the waves, as most ships do, she can penetrate them.

That is a crucial change. When a ship rides the waves her engines slow down and then surge as her hull rises and falls. By piercing the swell, Far Solitaire will be able to maintain her engines at a constant speed. This will cut fuel consumption, reduce wear and tear, and make life for the crew safer and more comfortable.

Future shipshape

Far Solitaire is powered by a conventional diesel-electric system consisting of three engines connected to generators that run electric motors. The thrusters which those electric motors drive, however, are anything but conventional.

The main pair are stern-mounted Azipull propellers. These are similar to the azimuth thrusters already used on some vessels: propellers on pods that can be rotated to push the ship in different directions, making a rudder unnecessary. But the Rolls-Royce Azipull has the propeller at the front of the pod rather than the back. That means the propeller operates in a smoother flow of water, which improves efficiency and assists steering. This design has been made possible using computational fluid dynamics to perfect the shapes of the blades and pods.

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Further control is provided by two bow thrusters. These are propellers mounted in transverse tunnels in the hull, to help position the craft and hold her stable while alongside a rig. And there is also an azimuth thruster that can be swung down from the forward part of the hull if an extra push is required.

All of these propulsion systems are handled by moving one of the joysticks next to the captain’s chair in a bridge with a 360° view that looks more suitable for the starship Enterprise than what is, after all, a souped-up freighter. The consequences of moving the joystick can, fortunately, be practised on shore without risk to ship or platform, courtesy of a new 360° bridge simulator in Rolls-Royce’s marine-training centre in Alesund. The captain can also call on the assistance of an electronic positioning system that uses a combination of data from satellites, gyrocompasses, and wind and motion sensors to operate the thrusters automatically.

Solid freight is carried on a deck that has an area of 1,020 square metres. Liquids, meanwhile, are stored below deck in tanks, each of which is fitted with its own pumping system, in order to avoid the risk of mixing substances best kept separate.

Borge Nakken, who is in charge of technology and development at Farstad, expects Far Solitaire to use about 40% less fuel than a conventional vessel of the same size that is carrying out similar tasks. This is a remarkable saving, and although she is a small, specialist vessel, many of her features, particularly the new bow and the more efficient system of propellers, could help reduce fuel consumption and emission levels in larger ships as well.

Stricter regulations on ships’ emissions are on their way—including, in particular, new controls for vessels in the North Sea and the Baltic, and off the coast of North America. That means shipowners who wish to ply these waters will have to stop using bunker fuel (the cheap stuff left over once petrol, diesel and aviation fuel have been distilled from crude oil) to power their vessels because burning it produces too much sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and soot. That gives extra impetus for technology of the sort being tested in Far Solitaire. And this time no villages will have to be pillaged to pay for it.

From the print edition: Science and technology