"State-of-the-art" container feeder design

The company said the new design was based on extensive research and development to establish the best-in-class design in terms of cargo capacity, flexibility and fuel economy. It provides a flexible platform for a whole series of designs that can be adapted to various customers’ requirements as a result of several optional feature studies, according to Deltamarin.
The development work has been supported by AVIC Weihai Shipyard and reviewed by the classification society DNV GL regarding application of the latest rules and industry practices. Deltamarin and AVIC Weihai Shipyard are both part of China's AVIC Group, Deltamarin being the ship-design arm of AVIC International Maritime Holdings Ltd.
“The overall efficiency and flexibility of this container vessel design provides the owners and operators with a solution for future transportation needs,” remarked Vesa Hamarila, sales director of Deltamarin.
The A.Delta2300 has a container capacity of 2,322 TEU in five cargo holds and on deck. The increased cargo hold breadth improves stability in a fully laden condition. Together with the ballast-free approach, Deltamarin said, this results in an increased utilisation rate of about 73% (1,700 TEU) of nominal container intake in the homogeneous loading condition at scantling draught carrying a 14-tonne TEU container. Furthermore, intake can be optimised to a specific cargo profile and even further improved by considering route-specific loading.
The high flexibility of the A.Delta2300 allows pallet-wide container stowage as well as three tiers of high cube containers in the cargo hold without losing container slots. Additionally, a high number of reefer plugs allows smart stowage and the reduction of unnecessary container movements. These features provide efficient and fluent stowage, which reduces time and costs.
Deltamarin said extensive effort had been focused on the A.Delta2300 hull form development to ensure low resistance combined with high propulsion efficiency. This included dozens of CFD calculations and three series of model tests at the Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA). As a result, the vessel requires only low power at the design speed compared with present reference designs.
The daily main engine fuel oil consumption is decreased to 42 tonnes per day at a 19-knot service speed, resulting in superior fuel efficiency of 0.033 tonnes/TEU/day, according to Deltamarin.  A strikingly low deadweight-per-TEU ratio of less than 16dwt/14 tonnes/TEU is thus achieved, which is commonly gained only in larger container ships. This efficiency decreases the EEDI (energy efficiency design index) value to approximately 37% below the IMO reference line, complying with Phase 3, which enters into force in 2025.
Optional features of the A.Delta2300 container feeder include LNG-readiness, a flexible number of reefer plugs, shaft generator PTO/PTI, scrubber/SCR implementation and gearless design as well as several ice classes. Furthermore, stretched derivative designs are available: the A.Delta2500 and A.Delta2600.