Ahlnäs believes that a low-emission alter-
Roy Reite, President of STX Eu-
er waves. In March, PlanetSolar unveiled
native will be a hot commodity in the mar-
rope’s Offshore & Specialised Vessels
a 100-foot-long catamaran at the HDW
ketplace. LNG-ships are also practical:
business area, comments that the order
Shipyard in Germany. The catamaran is
“LNG-powered ships do not need ex-
confirms the company’s strong position
crowned with about 5,300 square feet of
pensive additional equipment in order to
in design and building of environmental-
solar panels made up with some 38,000
stay within the emission limits,” Ahlnäs
ly friendly vessels.
sun power cells. Each of the cells offers
comments.
Gasum has been spearheading the
cause of LNG for a while now: in addi-
“LNG is a technology in which we
an efficiency of at least 22 percent, mak-
already have a strong track record,” Re-
ing them the highest-efficiency solar cells
ite says.
commercially available.
tion to the new LNG production plant, in-
In addition to LNG, the vessel will be
On a cloudy day, batteries below the
vestments have been made in LNG special
able to run on biofuel and ordinary ma-
deck get going – and they can push on for
transport.
rine diesel oil. STX Europe’s gas tank so-
several days without direct sunlight.
lution is also unique in the sense that the
Also Oasis of the Seas is flirting with
STX GOES LNG
LNG tank does not reduce the cargo ca-
the sun – there are 21,000 square feet of
Also shipyards are taking notice of LNG.
pacity on board. In fact, the new design
thin solar film onboard the world’s larg-
In June, STX Europe secured a contract
has a higher cargo capacity than other ves-
est cruise ship. The solar panels produce
with Solstad Rederi AS to build an inno-
sels of relative size.
enough power to light the ship’s Royal
Promenade and Central Park areas. ■
vative LNG-powered Platform Supply Vessel (PSV). The vessel is of STX Europe PSV
FUN IN THE SUN
12 LNG design and scheduled for delivery
Still, some innovators are looking even
in late 2011.
further to champion the cause of clean-
SAMI J. ANTEROINEN
seatec 2/2010
17