The world fleet is quite diverse. It includes fishing vessels of at least 100 gross register tons, the minimum size requirement for various ships listed and additional vessels such as hydrofoils. These vessels are recorded and described as follows: #1 name, #2 flag, #3 tonnage, #4 classification, #5 hull, #6 ship type/cargo facilities and #7 machinery (see attached example of a page from Lloyd’s Register, Journal of the Merchant Marine of Listing p-33-G). The specification that we are interested in for the VSI Generator is number 7, machinery. The following is the estimate for an initial retrofit for the world fleet by ship type:
Oil tankers = 6,912 LNG carriers = 493 Carriers of chemical products = 492 Other tankers = 106 Oil tankers equipped for bulk transport = 426 Ore haulers and bulk carriers = 3,887 Carriers of miscellaneous merchandise (single-bridge) =10,671 (multibridge) =11,010 Multipurpose ships with passenger facilities = 380 Container ships (entirely cellular) = 507 Barge carriers = 27 Vehicle carriers = 114 Livestock carriers = 65 Factory ships and fish transport = 762 Fishing ships (including trawler/fisheries = 9,178 Car ferries and other passenger ships = 2,903 Supply ships = 1,057 Tugs = 5,816 Dredgers = 616 Icebreakers = 88 Research ships = 429 Miscellaneous = 3,333 Total number of vessels to be retrofitted initially = 71,278 The average vessel is equipped with an auxiliary electrical generating plant consisting of one to four generators, ranging in size from 50kW to 354kW. The VSI Generator will replace systems that are presently being employed such as the variable ratio transmission.
Please note the above list is a moderate estimate for the maritime industry and does not include all of the various type and size vessels that can utilize the VSI Generator technology. |