In 2015, the project Ecodelta was initiated by Van der Kamp, a Zwolle-based dredging company and Conoship International. Ecodelta is a trailing suction hopper dredger which consumes liquified natural gas (LNG). This one of a kind dredger has two main objectives: recover valuable material from the seabed and create a greater depth of water. The vessel has a length over all of 134.10m, the breadth moulded 21.40m, a dredging draught of 7,770m, a hopper volume of 5900m3, a dredging depth below baseline of 35m and a Gross tonnage of 7560 GT. The ship has been designed by Conoship International and has been built by the Frisian shipyard Barkmeijer. Today, January 11th, the vessel will be christened. Conoship International congratulates Van der Kamp with reaching this milestone and thanks them for the pleasant cooperation throughout the project. Conoship International is very proud of the result and wishes the Ecodelta and her crew many safe journeys.
Environmentally friendly
Van der Kamp has signed a contract with the Port of Rotterdam Authority, in order to perform maintenance of port of Rotterdam until 2023. The final goal is to become the most sustainable port by replacing the fuel oil with LNG for shipping. Another advantage of LNG is cost-efficiency. The LNG tank of approximately 300m3, can store an energy which can be used in a period of two weeks.
Ecodelta is already meeting the upcoming regulations for emission reduction that will come in force in 2020. The usage of LNG reduces the emissions of CO2 up to 20% and NOx up to 85%. In addition, SOx is reduced to zero.
Read more about this ship:
Ecodelta 5,500 m3 TSHD on LNG (portfolio page)
CONOSHIP International decreases significantly the ecological footprint of shipping
Conoship International B.V. is in continuous innovation since 1952. The passionate team of Conoship International delivers the next level in ship design by introducing equipment which support the positive human impact on Earth’s ecosystem.
Since 2017, Conoship has been developing the eConowind-unit which is used to reduce emissions and fuel consumption. The unit has two foldable VentiFoils which create a superior thrust. Two, four or six units can be fitted on a vessel. In the case of two eConowind-units on a vessel with 5000 ton cargo, it is expected that the average fuel savings and reduction of emissions will be between 10 to 20%. The first trials of testing at sea have been successful and the results are promising. Therefore, Conoship International makes a big step towards emission free shipping.
Conoship strives to add more value to the development of new as well as future equipment which will decrease the ecological footprint. In this manner, the organization advocates the philosophy of a global citizenship by initiating a forthcoming transition to the usage of more renewable energy systems. As a result, Conoship has launched and is involved in several research projects for alternative fuels. In the next years, Conoship will present designs for a fleet that will be able to fulfil any foreseeable future demands, up to zero-emission.
The potential of methanol as alternative marine fuel: 
As member of the LeanShips project Conoship International plays a great role in the research of the possibility to use methanol as a marine fuel.
With its simple molecule, methanol has great potential to become the future marine fuel as it is safe to handle, environmentally friendly and can be produced from a large number of available raw materials from natural gas to biomass.
Conoship International already has a wide experience with assessments for conversions on existing ships but we also developed several new ship designs where the use of methanol as main fuel has a central role. These designs are made for new builds that will be powered with methanol as main fuel from the build or are easy to convert from one type of fuel to another.
Beside the technical part Conoship International has also developed a great Economic Assessment Tool. With this program several combinations of ship types, voyages and used fuel can be analyzed to compare alternative fuel options and to get an optimal prediction of the cost and returns for these scenarios.
Why methanol,
No sulfur and low NOx > near to zero emission.
Still liquid under ambient circumstances so easy and safe to transport and store.
Dilutes in water so no environmental harm in case of spills.
Already adopted within the provisional rules and regulations of Lloyd’s Register.
Widely available all around the world.
Can be used as fuel for combustion engines and also with a DMFC (Direct Methanol fuel Cell)
Is it Green?
With methanol as a fuel you are in compliance with Tier III regulations without any further aftertreatment.
Methanol has a very small ecologic footprint as it can be produced from a variety of renewable sources.
Methanol readily dissolves in water and biodegrades rapidly.
Conoship International will keep on investing in new designs and knowledge and we are ready to help you with questions about new solutions for your future ship propulsion.
