Deltamarin, a designer of ships for marine and offshore industries, has developed a multipurpose inland vessel that uses Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as fuel. It is the company’s response to the call for increased use of inland waterways while addressing climate change and environmental protection. To deal with these issues the naval architects from Deltamarin’s office in Gdansk have developed the ‘DeltaBreaker’.
The DeltaBreaker design combines the features of tug, icebreaker and pusher with some added functionalities on top of that. The ship utilises liquid gas as fuel, thus reducing emissions. The hull shape has low resistance and the ability to break ice up to 0.6 m thick. This way, the inland navigation season can be extended in various parts of the world.
The current design allows operations on waterways of international (CEMT) class IV; however, smaller versions of this design can also be developed.
Inland Waterways and Coastal Waters Push Barge
One of the specific characteristics of the DeltaBreaker design is the implementation of the Articulated Tug-Barge (ATB) system connection. It allows the pushing of compatible barges on inland and coastal waters.
This opens up the possibility to further develop an efficient design for such barges that can be used for carrying bulk cargo, containers, oil/products, accommodation modules and as LNG transportation/bunkering facilities. A special place for two 20ft containers has been reserved on the aft deck. Additional functions like firefighting, oil-spill cleaning or environmental measurements may therefore be easily incorporated into the design.
Source: Deltamarin Ltd
