(LONDON) — Rolls-Royce Marine has signed a deal to supply its innovative autocrossing system to 13 new environmentally friendly ferries for the Norwegian company Fjord1. The vessels are currently being built by three yards in Turkey and two yards in Norway. All contracts also include two Azipull propellers for each vessel with accompanying propeller control system from Rolls-Royce.
With this contract, Rolls-Royce has sold autocrossing to 18 new ferries to operate along the coast of Norway, of which 16 have been ordered by Fjord1 and two by another Norwegian ferry company, FosenNamsos Sjo.
The new generation of environmentally friendly ferries have strict yearly limits on energy consumption as part of the commercial agreement between the ferry operator and the government. The automatic crossing system provides safe, predictable and energy-efficient transit back and forth by automatically controlling the vessel’s acceleration, deceleration, speed and track. The two energy-efficient Rolls-Royce Azipull thrusters respond adaptively to environmental conditions to ensure optimal behavior and maximize efficiency.
The vessel’s captain will supervise the automatic system and intervene using traditional maneuvering systems if needed. If the captain is not, for some reason, able to take manual control, the system stops the vessel at a safe distance from the quayside and keeps it safely positioned automatically until further action can be taken.
The Automatic Crossing System can today be installed as an add-on to any standard Rolls-Royce azimuthing thruster. This means the system can be retrofitted to the existing fleet of ferries around the world.
For more information, visit www.rolls-royce.com.
