The Japan Society of Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers (JASNAOE) selected the SHOFU MARU which uses wind power directly for propulsion for the Ship of the Year Award 2022 from the eight candidate ships this year, the 33rd year of this annual event. The Ship of the Year award is given to innovative ships built in the past year based on technical, artistic, and social considerations. The candidate announcement meeting and the selection meeting for the Ship of the Year Award 2022 were held on May 11.
The winners of individual sectors were the SUN FLOWER KURENAI (Large passenger ship sector), the NOGAMI (Small cargo ship sector), the KAIJIN MARU (Fishing ship/research ship sector), the KIN-EI MARU No. 58 (Work vessel/special service ship sector), and an unmanned undersea vessel (UUV) designed for long-term operations (Marine structures/marine service equipment).
The prize award ceremony, a joint event organized by the JASNAOE, the Japan Institute of Marine Engineering (JIME), and the Japan Institute of Navigation (JIN), the three academic societies in the maritime science sector, took place at the Kaiun Club on July 14.
The SHOFU MARU is equipped with a hard sail incorporating rotating, extending, and reefing functions at the bow. This device provides propulsion efficiency directly from wind forces, resulting in considerable reduction of GHG emissions. Appropriate operation of the hard sail ensures good visibility from the bridge in a port or congested waterway. The hard sail can be positioned to not interfere with cargo-handling equipment. Therefore, equivalent safety in operation is obtained as a conventional ship without a sail. Moreover, incidental equipment for sailing operations has been developed and tested at sea, which includes a controlling unit to maintain the sail under optimal conditions and a Weather Routing System to indicate the best navigation route.
The Oosaka - Beppu route has a long and proud history of over 100 years of operation, and the KURENAI MARU is the third generation of ships known as the "Queen of the Seto Inland Sea." The SUN FLOWER KURENAI was built to succeed its predecessor, the KURENAI MARU, on December 16, 2022, and is now plying the same route. Passengers of all generations can enjoy travelling on a "Casual Cruise." This passenger ship is operated with LNG fuel, expecting to reduce emissions by approximately 25% of CO2, 100% of SOx, and 85% of NOx.
The NOGAMI was built based on its predecessor, the NATORI that began service in 2015, but has adopted a vertical bow, a gate rudder system, a streamlined funnel, and an electronically-controlled engine. These improvements contribute to further improvement of energy consumption. There is a shortage of crews for coastal service, which has become a serious problem in recent years, so this ship is provided with 21 cabins including women-only quarters and a training room. Ten trainees can be carried at the same time for training by the owner company.
The KAIJIN MARU is a multi-functional ship that can perform various operations, including training crews, exploring and observing underwater as well as the seafloor with advanced observation equipment, and disaster relief. The advanced observation equipment, for instance, can observe up to water depths of 2,000m, with high-resolution at shallow depths of the seabed. These functions are at the world's highest level. Furthermore, the ship can provide helicopter-assisted relief supply in a disaster. The ship's appearance is very characteristic.
The gravel-gathering and transport ship, KIN-EI MARU No. 58, is now operating in the coastal area of Kyushu, Japan. The ship has been designed to achieve "Improved Ship Safety" and "Reduced Workload of Crews" as a part of the ship's digital transformation (DX) activity. The next-generation engine status monitoring system has been developed, which enables remote monitoring of the onboard engine from the shore base. A Status Recognition System (Groke Pro) is installed, and a backhoe-type cargo handling equipment is employed to cope with the shortage of operators. These improvements demonstrate DX activity using the latest technologies, so the ship is expected to revolutionize the working-style of the crew.
This unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) was experimentally manufactured for research use. Future UUVs will be required to perform complicated duties, so the hull, equipment composition, and software are all provided with modules to efficiently improve the capability for coping with multipurpose requirements. To improve long-range and long-term operation capacity, this vehicle has autonomous functions to anticipate the internal malfunction of devices or systems, as well as external conditions such as tidal currents.
JASNAOE
