Launch at Hoogezand
Launch of yard no. 760 at Bodewes Shipyards
"UAL Africa" is the first of a series of vessels with a Groot Cross-Bow®.
The bow was designed by Groot Ship Design, a ship design and engineering company in Leek near Groningen, on behalf of Bodewes Shipyards.
The Groot Cross-Bow is an innovating bow shape with wave piercing abilities. In reference to more conventional bowshapes with bowflare a vessel with Groot Cross-Bow is said to have less slamming and will easier maintain it’s speed. This means energy will be saved and therefore less fuel oil will be burned. Tests in the icetank of HSVA in Hamburg proved the Groot Cross-Bow being suitable for sailing in ice, with optimized hull lines below the waterline it results in less installed main engine power in relation to vessels with conventional bow shapes. The Groot Cross-Bow is an answer on requests from shipowners for more economical designs and so reducing the cost of each cargo ton mile.
The challenge for yard no 760 was to integrate a Groot Cross-Bow in the design and maintain a sufficient length of the cargo holds and cargo volume, based on the knowledge the vessel was going to be equipped with pontoon hatches operated with a hatchcover crane.
