In the JOULES project, Damen focusses on the Azimuthing Stern Drive (ASD) Tug 2810. As the name suggests the ship has a length of 28 meters and a width of 10 meters. It has a displacement of 565t with a maximum forward speed of 13.4 kts and a bollard pull of 60t. The DAMEN ASD Tug 2810 operates all over the world - from Genoa to St. Petersburg and from Panama to Namibia. The Damen Standard allows the vessel to operate comfortably in temperatures of +45 degrees down to -35 degrees Celsius. More than 170 of these compact and powerful tugs are working in ports worldwide Captains concur that the tugs are known for their quick acceleration and manoeuvrability.
ASD tugs traditionally have a fully mechanical propulsion installation consisting out of two propulsion diesel engines, which drive two azimuthing thrusters. This configuration is chosen as the baseline concept for the JOULES project.
2025 Ship Concept
The 2025 concept design that is selected for detailed analysis in the JOULES project is a further evolution of the recently commissioned ASD 2810 Hybrid. This design combines the beneficial performance of electric propulsion at low power requirements with the beneficial power density of high speed diesel engines at high requested powers. This has already led to considerable reduction in fuel consumption and emissions. Further improvements are expected by continuing development of the hybrid system within the JOULES project. Together with optimisation of other on-board systems this 2025 concept is expected to see its fuel consumption reduced by 20-30% depending on the exact operating profile.
2050 Ship Concept
The 2050 concept design goes a significant step further in terms of “hybridisation” due to the addition of a DC grid. This DC grid has the advantage that it can be fed by a wide variety of energy sources, including batteries and other energy storage devices, fuel-cells and some form of internal combustion engines. Based on very preliminary calculations it is estimated that a reduction around 40% of fossil fuel consumption is possible, although this highly depends on the operating profile.
