World’s most powerful diesel-electric pushers

Claimed to be the most advanced diesel-electric push boats in the world, the vessels will operate on the Parana River in South America under a long term iron ore barge transportation contract with VALE. The first two push boats were shipped from the UZMAR Shipyard to Uruguay by semi-submersible heavy cargo vessel and will arrive in early March 2014.

Built to a Robert Allan Ltd (RAL) design and tested at the Vienna Model Basin, the optimised push boat has been specifically customised to meet Hidrovias do Brasil’s essential operational requirements. These include range, crash-stop distance, speed, and operation on heavy fuel oil.

A main objective has been to shorten the voyage transit times with sophisticated power management technology and reduce the fuel consumption on a per/mile-per/tonne basis. The higher installed horsepower and greater manoeuvrability with three azimuthing drives push the 16 barge train over a 2,500km range at higher average speeds.

Each 16 barge train, of approximately 48,000 dwt, is pushed by these newly designed vessels on an extremely winding route on the Parana River. A high degree of manoeuvrability and the ability to carry out a rapid crash stop are key factors in achieving the required average speed with a minimum draft of 2.10m.

Each vessel measures 45.6m in length overall, with a beam of 16.5m, and has a maximum draft of 2.5m fully loaded and powered by three Wärtsilä 9L20 diesel generators, each developing 1,800kW at 1,000 rpm running on Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO). This electrical power is fed to three AC direct controlled asynchronous electric motors powering three Schottel SRP 1215 FP fully azimuthing propulsion units, incorporating 2,150mm diameter fixed pitch propellers. The diesel electric propulsion system is supplied by Wärtsilä and ABB, and integrated by ELKON (a subsidy of IMTECH). This arrangement delivers a bollard pull of 69 tonnes ahead and 63 tonnes astern and a free running speed of 13.2 knots.

Thanks to UZMAR’s advanced engineering and building process, the lightweight target set by the design was achieved within 97% accuracy. This diesel electric push boat project will raise the standards of efficiency and safety in the river transport industry.