Propulsion redundancy concepts

摘要

Redundant propulsion plants for hazardous cargo ships can be achieved by doubling the main engines, propellers and rudders (see MER, April 1999). But alternative systems and devices can also be adopted. Electric propulsion solutions based on multi-high or medium speed diesel gensets feeding the motors of twin screws or podded propulsors -now common for cruise ships - inject inherent redundancy. In the event of malfunction of one main engine, or even two in the case of a quadruple-genset installation, sufficient power remains available for the ship to operate safely under any circumstances.