Silence is golden at Westminster Pier
M.V. Millennium of London is seen passing through the City of London.
City Cruises, one of London’s premier sightseeing river cruise companies, is situated at Westminster Pier on the River Thames by the Houses of Parliament and across the river from the iconic London Eye.
Quiet operation is of paramount importance for vessels operating in such an environment and City Cruises has again chosen Dorset UK based Darglow Engineering to reduce exhaust noise by designing and supplying a complete system for the 156 passenger vessel M.V. Millennium of London. The order followed Darglow’s successful silencing of another of City Cruises’ six large luxury vessels, the Mayflower Park.
Fitted with twin Cummins N14-M main engines producing 400hp at 1,800 rpm and two 70hp Perkins 4236 gensets, the crowded engine room gave Darglow MD Bob Doyle some problems. The original main engine exhaust consisted of a 152mm dry system with no silencers fitted, running to a watertight bulkhead then to a water injection point on the hull outlet, fully lagged. The gensets featured water injection at the engine then running to the watertight bulkhead and on to the transom in steel pipe with no silencers fitted.
An exhaust refit which took place at Thames Ship Repair Services at Gravesend in October saw some custom made Halyard GRP dual chamber silencers installed for the main engine, lift silencers and water separation for the gensets and a bit of bulkhead modification to give outstanding results.
In the new system the main engines have a 152mm flanged stainless steel injection head located in the engine room with exhaust hose running to the bulkhead, 152mm GRP pipe sealed using Nofimo sealant inside a 200mm steel pipe to maintain water and fire protection. Between the engine room bulkhead and the steering compartment bulkhead, a 152mm bottom inlet/200mm top outlet Lloyds approved dual chamber lift silencer is high fitted with a lost water exhaust alert sensor. From the steering compartment bulkhead to the transom, a combination of GRP tube and exhaust hose runs to a 200mmstainless steel transom outlet with a flapper. Similar care was taken for the gensets.
Noise readings taken before the new system was fitted registered in excess of 90 Dba on both the main engines and the gensets but the new system reduced this to 65 Dba.
The results prompted City Cruises director Pail Wilson to comment, ‘The new systems fitted to the Millennium of London have dramatically reduced engine noise levels. This has improved crew morale and ultimately our customer’s experience whilst aboard.’
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