Aries PSV Earns Praise
Cummins Vessel Reference #659
The quality and functionality of a working vessel is only proven over time. When one of Aries Marine’s green-design diesel-electric platform supply vessel returned to the US from an nine-month charter in Mexico I was privileged to have a walk through with Chief Engineer Darrell Bickham. Launched from Eastern Shipbuilding in April of 2011, the Betty Pfankuch is a sister to Aries’ Dwight S. Ramsay and one of a growing number of STX-designed Tiger-shark class vessels.
We started in the engine room located on the main deck just ahead of massive cargo deck. With four Cummins QSK60 DM generator engines each producing 2,547 HP (1,825 kW) direct coupled to four generators. To meet the dynamic positioning (DP2) requirements, the engine room is divided in two with separate switch-gear, control room and engine spaces. Both port and starboard engine rooms are capable of operating independently if required.
Justly proud of the immaculate engine spaces, Bickham had special praise for the Cummins Eliminator option on each engine. The Eliminator is a combination self-cleaning stacked disc filter and centrifuge housed in a single engine mounted assembly. “I clean it every 500 to 600 hours and the sludge build up is almost nothing,” he said.
The DP2 classification also required redundancy in the bow-thrusters that are two fixed pitch tunnel thrusters with variable-speed 1180 kW electric motors. Bickham pointed out that the tunnels are covered with insulation material to maintain the vessel’s low noise level.
A huge advantage of the diesel-electric system is the flexibility that allows the engines to be mounted on the main deck level making more of the hull available for cargo. Cargo in the hull includes 264,548 gallons of fuel, 667,773 gallons of drill water, 19,406 barrels of liquid mud, and 14,351 cubic feet of bulk mud in 7 round 2050 cu ft tanks.
Also in the long hull space are electric powered cargo and fire pumps. The two 500 kW fire pumps have capacities of 1,200 m3 per hour each. The ability to draw power from the main engines to multiple applications is a big asset as is their reliability. “Neither boat lost a charter day during the time we were in Mexico,” Bickham said.
After eleven months in service the thruster room is as clean as the day the ship was delivered.
In the thruster room a pair of Schottel SRP 2020 FP thrusters provide propulsion with electric motor power. These motors drive fixed pitch props in 19 a kort nozzles to give the PSV a top speed of 14 knots. Bickham explained that typically the boat cruises at ten knots with two of the four Cummins QSK60 engines running.
Schottel designates their drives as Rudderpropellers which is an apt name for a DP2 vessel and one that has to work in close quarters under oil rigs. From an aft control station the captain can position the after deck safely for the transfer of deck cargo.
The forward navigation console includes an impressive array of screens to show all of the engine and operational features of the vessel as well as providing extensive navigational aides. Capt. Philip Munsch spends a lot of hours in the captain’s chair. Additional vessel handling controls are located on covered bridge wings.
Looking forward from the stern, the PSV Betty Pfankuch has an impressive 196 by 56-foot cargo deck. Even on a 292 by 64-foot ship, this is a high percentage of cargo deck area. For additional specs on Aries PSVs see: Aries Marine.
For more information on Cummins diesel electric:
Elizabeth Lynch
Communications Manager
Cummins Inc.
Charleston, South Carolina
Phone: 843 308 6698
Fax: 843 745 1549
E-mail: elizabeth.lynch@cummins.com
Alan Haig-Brown
Over 30 years as an author for global commercial marine and fishing publications backed with hands-on experience on commercial fishing boats and coastal freighters makes Alan Haig-Brown uniquely qualified to provide vessel reference articles for Cummins Marine. You can find him in shipyards around the world, and on his own website, www.haig-brown.com.
