Re-designed in 2019 after around 60 examples had been produced over a 20-year period, Damen Shipyards’ Combi Freighter 3850 class of short-sea cargo vessel is attracting new business. The latest tranche of contracts emanates from Germany, and construction has been assigned to one of the Dutch group’s Chinese affiliates.
Notwithstanding Damen’s increasing output of higher added-value and one-off vessel types, the CF3850 applies and reaffirms its trademark policy of standardisation and speculative building in a number of fields, making for ‘off-the-shelf’ availability. Design tuning to serial production, coupled with ordering for stock so as to enable quick deliveries to clients, uphold global competitiveness in target markets.
“Solitas-H was delivered from stock last August by Damen Shipyards Yichang.” “/ /
Source: Damen
Solitas-H was delivered from stock last August by Damen Shipyards Yichang.
Having commissioned two of the 3,850dwt multipurpose carriers into its fleet at short notice last year, Blue Fin Shipping of Buxtehude has ordered an additional four newbuilds of the design. Two are scheduled to be handed over during the fourth quarter of 2022, with the next pair to follow in the 2023 third quarter.
Blue Fin’s Unitas-H and Solitas-H, completed by Damen Shipyards Yichang’s premises on the Yangtze River in January and August 2021, respectively, were the first of the revamped CF3850 design to enter service. Both are engaged in intra-European freight exchange, transporting a variety of cargoes such as steel, wood pulp, grain, and fertiliser in bulk or big bags, while offering the capability for other bulk commodities and also heavy, long and indivisible items of freight.
Having been obtainable from stock at Yichang, by virtue of the ‘on-spec’ build policy, Unitas-H was delivered within six weeks of order signing. Throughout the course of the positioning voyage to Europe, which included taking on a cargo in Malaysia for discharge at Rotterdam, the owner and Damen monitored fuel consumption, speed and weather conditions. Analysis of the data confirmed the new design iteration’s improved fuel efficiency relative to the older ships of the series, the results having been considered especially significant in the light of sustained speed keeping achieved in the face of head winds and seas while fully loaded.
This performance led to Blue Fin’s immediate contracting of the second ship, Solitas-H, and subsequently influenced the commitment to four more vessels, which will be named Baltic Fin, Bothnia Fin, Bering Fin and Biscay Fin. Blue Fin is a new joint venture of the established Buxtehude firm Reederei Hinsch and several entrepreneurs, aimed at gaining a competitive edge in coastal and short-sea shipping by focusing on economic and environmental standard. A feature of the new CF3850 generation is a power installation incorporating selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology, still uncommon as yet in the sector.
As a result of the optimisation of the aftship hull lines, and consequentially reduced resistance, the revised design has enabled use of a lower power propulsion installation, and one which runs on marine gas oil (MGO) as opposed to heavy fuel oil (HFO).
For the latest series from China, the main engine has been sourced in the Low Countries, testament to the enduring competitiveness of Ghent manufacturer ABC Engines in the medium-speed stakes. The nominated model is a six-cylinder example of the DZC design, giving a modest output of 1,104kW at a crankshaft speed of 800rpm, driving a 2.6m fixed-pitch propeller through a Reintjes reduction gear.
The power saving attained with the reworked CF3850 is apparent when compared with vessels of the type completed a decade ago, in which the main engine was an MaK 8M20C, rated for 1,520kW at 1,000rpm. The new arrangements meet the requirement to ensure a fully laden speed of 10 knots, as befits the transportation of the low-margin bulk commodities in intra-European trade.
Furthermore, the 6DZC is Tier III-compliant, by incorporating a proprietary SCR solution. The engine is well proven and adjudged as ‘value for money’, noted for reliability and comparative design simplicity. It offers a relatively high engine displacement, low brake mean effective pressure, mechanical fuel injection, and increasing torque curve at decreasing engine speed.
The single hold accounts for 62.5m of the hull’s 85m length between perpendiculars, and for 10.1m of the 12.5m beam, accessed through pontoon covers on high coamings. Some 186,000ft3 of electrically-ventilated, enclosed volume is provided for bulk goods, forestry and steel products and project cargoes.
Flexibility in cargo carrying arrangements is afforded by means of two portable grain bulkheads, offering multiple stow positions, and which can be adapted to form four tweendeck panels to create upper cargo compartments. The tweendeck is placed at approximately half-height in each end of the hold, and has a loading capacity of /m2, while the tank top can bear /m2. Container fittings and lashing eyes for weatherdeck-borne cargo add to the design’s versatility.
Damen Shipyards Yichang was founded in 1998 by Damen Shipyards Gorinchem, the fountainhead of the organisation’s cargo vessel portfolio, and Yichang Shipyard. The Chinese facility can undertake contracts relating to any design in the Combi Freighter family, the largest being a 14,000dwt type, plus a broad range of other assignments.
MAIN PARTICULARS -Combi Freighter 3850-type
Length, overall
89.0m
Length bp
85.0m
Breadth, moulded
12.5m
Depth, moulded
7.0m
Draught, design
5.5m
Gross tonnage
2,518t
Deadweight, total
3,850t
Deadweight, carrying capacity
3,700t
Hold capacity
c.186,000ft3
Main engine power
1,104kW
Speed, fully-laden
10kts
Speed, @3.2m draught
11.8kts
Bow thruster
280kW
