“We are delighted to take part in this project aimed towards zero emission sea journeys along the longer Norwegian coast. Brunvoll has wider competencies and experience to bring into the project, and we are also investigating new concepts together with Hurtigruten and the other industry partners,” says Kåre Øyvind Vassdal, CEO in Brunvoll.
Brunvoll is one of the industry partners chosen by Hurtigruten for the Sea Zero project. Sea Zero is a research project aimed towards zero emission sailing along the Norwegian coast, and has received support from both The Norwegian Research Council and Innovation Norway for 2023 through 2025. The project includes a wide range of industry partners, and Brunvoll is the main partner for propulsion and autonomy solutions.
Brunvoll contributes to two of the project’s work packages, on safe and hydrodynamically efficient Propulsion Solutions, and Autonomy. The teams are identifying and verifying potential new ideas in a structured research project, to define the coastal cruise vessel of the future.
In the Propulsion Solutions work package, the aim is to find the optimal energy solution, while also maintaining manoeuvring capacity in and out of harbour. One of the proposals include Brunvoll’s contra rotating propeller, which offer a particularly high propulsion efficiency.
The project has had several workshops both onshore, and onboard Hurtigruten's ships, including fruitful discussions and sharing of knowledge and competence. The events have given us useful information on both technical and business issues that are central for the solutions assessed in the project. The proposed concepts will be shortlisted for more detailed analysis during the next workshop in Ålesund in June 2024.
For Autonomy, Brunvoll’s BruCon solutions are being further developed, ensuring efficient and optimal operation of the vessel. Propulsion, speed, and manoeuvring are balanced using Brunvoll’s in-depth competence on hydrodynamics and control theory.
Safety, reliability, and service are core values in Brunvoll, and this is reflected in the proposed solutions. Among the improvements being made in the control system is a smooth transition between the BruCon AutoPilot and BruCon AutoDocking Systems delivered by Brunvoll.
All ship design renders are credited Vard, another of the project's valued industry partners.
