93 Photos: Mia Elg, Deltamarin Reunamo agrees. “Increased Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) regulations with Safe Return to Port (SRtP) have mandated machinery redundancy requirements for passenger ships,” he says. “This has led to multiple engine rooms and a more complicated equipment arrangement.” For naval architects, the impact is significant. Modern engine rooms are crowded spaces, consequently they must be planned carefully. “Energy efficiency and alternative fuels typically require more equipment, piping and cabling,” says Reunamo. “We increasingly need to consider compartmentation and use space much more efficiently.” Even shipowners not ready to commit fully to a single alternative fuel are now asking designers to build engine rooms with more flexibility for the future. “Many operators have chosen to keep using residual fuels in their newbuilds, which has meant the engine room has to be designed for tri-fuel handling with heavy fuel oil, marine diesel oil and gas fuels like LNG or methanol,” says Goh. Managing multiple fuels can be risky if not handled correctly. That is why engine room layouts are increasingly designed to minimise high-risk areas and centralise systems. “For alternative fuels, the placement of tanks, fuel handling rooms and engines is optimised to reduce piping and potential hazards,” says Reunamo. As complexity grows, the key question for operators becomes how to maintain safe and efficient operations with systems that are less intuitive than legacy diesel arrangements. “Overall, ship machinery is becoming increasingly complex,” says Elg. “With new energy sources, ship operators encounter additional safety risks. Fire safety is a central focus, while fuel toxicity can also be an issue. Alternative fuels may need different fire extinguishing systems, for example.” Designers therefore have to perform a careful balancing act; they need to prioritise safety without overwhelming crews. “We aim to achieve maximum efficiency while keeping systems simple enough for crews to monitor and operate correctly,” says Elg. Some passenger ferries are moving towards battery-boosted machinery (above), which has necessarily changed the layout of the engine room (top)
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