The project for shipping company Rederij Doeksen is now finished. After the earlier delivery of the Willem de Vlamingh, the sister ship Willem Barentsz is also fully operational with the new systems. In collaboration with Piet Brouwer Elektrotechniek, Marble Automation developed and installed a modern DC Power Management System on both vessels. The completion of this second refit is an important step in the fleet modernization.
The basis of this upgrade is the addition of a 900 kWh batte ry pack on each ship. This gives the ships the power flexibility needed to operate. For the propulsion, two Randax Permanent Magnet (PM) electric motors were placed to work together with the existing LNG engines. During the work at the shipyard, the ships were also equiped with six bow thrusters per vessel. This ensures better control during maneuvering in the port.
The DC Power Management System from Marble Automation is the central part of the installation. This system ensures that all different parts communicate correctly with each other. To make the operation as clear as possible for the crew, five HMI screens were placed on each ship. These screens are located on the bridge, on both sides of the ship, in the DC room, and in the control room. Because of this, there is a direct overview of how the systems perform at any time.
For the cooling system, Marble Automation used IO-Link sensors to monitor the temperature of critical components with high accuracy. This integration ensures that all users on board, like the engines and the AC grid, always have the right amount of energy. This directly helps with safety during sailing.
Both ships are now fully connected to the existing alarm and monitoring systems. This gives the technical department a constant view of the status of the power supply. By using PTI/PTO (Power Take In / Power Take Off) on the new PM motors, the use of gas has gone down a lot. The Willem de Vlamingh and the Willem Barentsz now sail much more economical than before. This makes the business operations more interesting for the shipping company.
The realization of this project was only possible because of the good cooperation between the partners. Werft Shipbuilding was responsible for the management of the whole refit. The expertise of Piet Brouwer and Marble Automation on installation technics and software was a good fit. The process with the second ship, the Willem Barentsz, went very smooth because of the experience from the first ship.
With the delivery of the Willem Barentsz, the hybrid upgrade of these two ships is now a fact. The fleet of Rederij Doeksen is ready for the future and meets the modern requirements for shipping. Marble Automation shows that innovative complex automation works in practice.
