Gerdes Green received a subsidy from the German Government for the investment in sustainable innovations for a Damen Combi Freighter (CF) 3850 currently under construction, as well as for a second vessel.
The subsidy was one of a number awarded to maritime companies as part of the German Government’s Namkü directive. Namkü aims at the modernisation of vessels in a bid to reduce emissions produced by the country’s coastal fleet.
As a result of the subsidy award, Gerdes Green will invest in a number of options that will serve to further increase the efficiency of its new CF 3850 vessels. This involves the inclusion of a battery driven propulsion system. With this, the vessels will be able to sail short-term fully electrically without local emissions, for instance when approaching ports and when passing through populated areas, thereby ensuring clean air.
The vessels will also feature wind assisted propulsion in the form of foldable ventofoils from Econowind. This innovative wing-shaped device harnesses the wind to provide additional propulsion force, lowering dependence on the engine, thereby reducing emissions.
The vessels will also be able to sail on B100 biodiesel, significantly reducing CO2 emissions. Furthermore, they will include a 130kW shore connection, eliminating emissions when the vessels are docked.
The Damen CF 3850 is an iconic vessel, renowned in the international cargo vessel sector. With its ambition to become the most sustainable maritime solutions provider, Damen has recently redeveloped the design applying the latest tools and using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and significantly lowering the vessel’s resistance in the water.
With this funding, we have achieved a significant milestone for our strategy to build a climate-neutral fleet. The ships will make a valuable contribution towards our journey of reducing the environmental impact of supply chains, leading the way for decarbonizing the short sea shipping trade in Europe.
…Gerdes Green Managing Partner Nicole Gerdes said.
Included amongst the technologies that the new CF 3850 draws on is the Damen Triton remote monitoring platform. This IoT solution is connected to systems throughout the vessel and provides feedback on their performance. In this way Damen can assess performance, gaining valuable data that enables it to continue to improve efficiency, ensuring further evolutions of efficiency in subsequent generations of vessels.
