VESSELS

New working life for boat destined for landfill

2 years ago

Ecomar Propulsion is working on a three-year project with Shoreham Port to re-fit an old workboat with electric propulsion.

The 30-year-old boat, made of Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP), was built by Vikoma on the Isle of Wight.

Her job was to lay absorbent booms to collect oil spills from North Sea rigs, but when she reached the end of her natural life she was sent to a scrap yard in Aberdeen and destined for landfill.

Until Ecomar stepped in.

“Like most boats made in the past 50 years, it was constructed using composite GRP, which cannot be recycled,” says Ecomar. “However, with some imagination it has now found a new lease of life and is expected to remain in service for at least another 10 years.”

A number of recyclable parts, including driveshaft, rudder and high-voltage energy system, were designed and installed by Ecomar, along with the high-power, axial flux design motor. Ecomar also designed and fabricated the aluminium wheelhouse, console and cooling systems.

“The drivetrain and battery include an in-line axial flux motor producing a peak power of 80kW and a 46.6kWh battery in a steel casing, producing 666v,” said Eugene Bari, CEO of Ecomar Propulsion.“The cooling system draws in raw sea water and removes excess heat via a heat exchanger. This system ’swaps’ waste heat via a closed loop, ensuring no pollution can escape. A final modification was to install an electric bow thruster running from traditional batteries.”

The Vikoma-built vessel will join the fleet at Shoreham Port, where it will patrol the 1.6-mile canal, harbour master and Marine Operations director Julian Seaman said.

“The three-year trial will provide crucial data and assess the addition of electric-powered vessels within our fleet,” he said.

“Plastic boats that have no remaining useful purpose are becoming a bigger and bigger issue,” said Bari. “We aim to prove that it is economically viable to recycle boats like this and to get them working to offset carbon. This boat is a great example of how industries can adapt apparently useless machines. This boat could easily have been wasted but now it has been given a new purpose that benefits everyone.”