Wight, Chartwell Debut Hybrid Patrol Vessel
Wight Shipyard Co. (WSC) debuts a hybrid patrol vessel designed to reduce both fuel costs and engine maintenance.
“This ground-breaking project aims to set new standards in high speed, fuel economy and light weight vessels in the sector. Building greener vessels has been an integral focus for some time now so moving into hybrid options is the obvious next step forward,” said Peter Morton, CEO, WSC.
The WSC vessel has been designed by naval architect Chartwell Marine, and is the first in the new Chasewell range of pilot and patrol boats, first unveiled at Seawork 2018.
It has been designed and built in collaboration with Andy Page, naval architect and managing director of Chartwell Marine. The aim behind the design is to substantially improve air quality at major ports in the UK and further afield and help operators meet emissions reduction goals.
Page said the vessel has a unique hybrid system architecture and an innovative hull form that minimizes drag and resistance throughout the speed range. He said that the hull form results from extensive research undertaken by the team at Chartwell Marine into low speed resistance enabling efficient performance under both diesel and electrical propulsion.
“Ultimately this hull form, optimized through extensive computational flow dynamics (CFD) testing, allows the operator to maximize time spent on electrical power, with substantial advantages when it comes to reducing total emissions,” he said. “With one of the first hybrids in build, Chartwell Marine and Wight Shipyard Co. are leading in the development of alternative propulsion and putting a significant amount of R&D work into practice.”
Power Package
Marine and Industrial Transmissions Limited (MIT) and its manufacturing and technology partner Transfluid, are providing the hybrid system for the vessel. MIT’s tried and tested system was selected to form part of the Chasewell power train, plus an integrator that had the technical expertise to do the job.
The Transfluid HM560 marine hybrid unit used in the drive configuration delivers ratings of up to 164kW diesel power and 20kW electric power. Using rechargeable batteries and an integral battery management system, the unit actively manages power output and charge rate depending on the battery status and condition.
Meanwhile, the control system allows users to easily switch between operating modes. The intelligent software can integrate with other on-board systems for extended control and diagnostics.