The shipping company Gerdes Green will receive €1.1 million as a federal subsidy for the planned innovations for two combi freighters ordered from Damen.
The shipping company Gerdes Green has ordered two Combi Freighters CF 3850 from the Dutch Damen shipyard group. Together with the shipyard and the future charterer Cargill, a tailor-made ship has been developed to significantly reduce the coaster’s ecological footprint, Damen has now announced. A total of €1.1 million will be provided as a grant from Berlin. [ds_preview]
Gerdes runs on diesel-electric and wind power
The two newbuilds will be equipped with a diesel-electric propulsion system including a battery container. This means that the ships can be operated fully electrically at times. A wind assistance system from Econwind with foldable VentoFoils will also be installed.
Thanks to the funding, the shipping company will be able to invest in a range of options designed to increase the efficiency of its new CF 3850 vessels, according to Damen. The ships can also be operated with B100 biodiesel. In addition, they will have a 130 kW shore connection so that there are no emissions when the vessels are at the quay.
The CF 3850 vessels are based on an etbalized ship design. However, Damen has redesigned it using the latest tools and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to significantly reduce the ship’s hull resistance.
Cargill charters Gerdes newbuildings
This hybrid version was developed in collaboration with the agricultural group Cargill. Gerdes Green is a joint venture between the Gerdes shipping company and Over-C. The shipping company has been active in the coaster segment for 30 years and has been operating seven Damen CF 3850 vessels for several years.
Nicole Gerdes, Managing Partner, said after receiving the grant: “With this financing, we have reached an important milestone in our strategy to build a climate-neutral fleet.”
The technologies used in the new CF 3850 include the Damen Triton remote monitoring platform. This IoT solution is connected to the systems throughout the ship and provides feedback on their performance. This allows Damen to evaluate performance and gain valuable data that enables the company to further improve efficiency.
