The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Half a million for the hull of it
Trinav wins ACOA contest to design fuel-efficient fishing boats
St. John's company Tri Nav Marine Design will get to turn a prototype into a fullscale vessel after winning the $500,00 prize in ACOA'S Hull Design Efficiency Challenge.
The E-FINN hull design, tested in the National Research Council of Canada's wave tank in St. John's, was one of three shortlisted for the prize.
Rick Young said the design is focused on boats for the inshore industry, mostly lobster, crab, groundfish and seiners up to 15 metres long.
One of the main features of the design, he said, is a clean hull.
“We've reduced or eliminated all external hull attachments. That contributes tremendously to reducing frictional resistance.”
The boat can slip more smoothly through the water.
“Another key factor of our design was to modify the stern to reduce drag.”
Young said the designers also used high-efficiency propellers and rudders.
“One of the key components for an efficient vessels is the propulsion system used to move the vessel through the water.”
It's a hybrid, with highefficiency diesel generators providing power to battery banks, which will then drive the propellers.
“The power would only be provided on an ‘demand' basis,” said Young.
“So as the vessel requires more power for operation, the diesel generators would only be used as required. That would contribute tremendously to reduction of fuel consumption and greenhouse gases.”
If that technology sounds familiar, it is. Just a couple weeks ago, another St. John's company, Duxion, received funding through Canada's Ocean Supercluster to develop a prototype hybrid diesel-electric system to allow mariners to convert vessels to hybrid.
Young said Trinav will work with the company on some components for the vessel and would be interested in partnering with others.
The next step is to construct a full-scale model. The half-million dollars from ACOA will allow that.
“The objective is to build a mould for this vessel and from there we will begin producing hulls,” said Young.
This should happen within the next two years.
He said the cost of constructing a vessel with the hull design would likely be no more expensive than a traditional version. The hybrid propulsion system might have some additional costs, he acknowledged, but the vessel would not have a typical large diesel engine and shaft system, so there would be some savings.
Young said some elements of the design could be used in modification projects, as well as new builds.
“We would encourage existing vessel owners to consider that. Obviously, not all of the features of the design could be incorporated into an existing (vessel) but ... we're excited about building the interest in the area of energy efficiency and reduced fuel consumption.”
The contest was launched in 2019 by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, with technical assistance from the National Research Council. From the 19 submissions received from across Atlantic Canada, the field was narrowed to three finalists through a series of scored evaluations overseen by a selection jury chaired by Henry Demone.
Demone said the thing that stood out about the Trinav design was hull efficiency.
Other things came into play as well, he said, noting the hull had to be something fish harvesters were likely to use, as well as safe on the North Atlantic.
“Commercialization was an important part of the contest,” he said.