Anschütz upgrade to boost RoRo fuel economy
An upgraded Anschütz autopilot installed on board the RoRo ferry, Fionia Sea, is already reducing fuel burn and cutting emissions, the Kiel-based company has announced in a statement. Owned by Leomar RoRo and managed by AdMare Ship Management AB, the 187m-long ferry is deployed on a liner service between the Netherlands and UK.
The twin-propelled Fionia Sea is the third vessel to have the new Anschütz autopilot installation. Sister vessels Corona Sea and Hafnia Sea have already been upgraded.
The NautoPilot 5400 NX has a range of features designed to improve fuel economy. They include an ECO mode and a course control mode, both of which reduce the frequency and amplitude of rudder movements, the company said, thereby saving fuel. A graphical display of course and rudder plot in real time enables navigators to make adjustments or optimise settings at any time.
Optimisation of the two rudders’ angles offers particular scope for economy gains by reducing the drag caused by their wake fields. A computational fluid dynamics analysis, fuel tank tests and on-board investigations demonstrated fuel savings of up to 5% when the rudder angles were optimised.
Carl-Johan Eroksson, Safety and Sustainability manager at Admare Ship Management, commented: “We have an ambitious strategy to increase efficiency and reduce emissions on our vessels. The Anschütz autopilots are part of our solution and have already proven their efficient steering performance on our vessels.”
The upgrade was carried out in June during the ship’s five-year survey in Poland.