Re:Battery-Powered Ships Next Up in Battle to Tackle Emissions
by fooblitzky on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @06:59PM
(#20640086)
The lifetime of a modern ship is only 25-30 years. I think when the parent comment mentioned electrifying bulk cargo shipping,they were referring to building new electric ships, not converting existing ones.
Re:Battery-Powered Ships Next Up in Battle to Tackle Emissions
by adammunich on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @06:20PM
(#20639802)
It is absolutely still true, most ship engines are not removable without breaking the hull above the engine. If you're going to do that, it's often easier to start fresh.
Re:Battery-Powered Ships Next Up in Battle to Tackle Emissions
by stcredzero on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @06:33PM
(#20639909)
It is absolutely still true, most ship engines are not removable without breaking the hull above the engine.
Seems to me, especially with electric engine pods, ships can be designed to allow the replacement of the engine/generator.
Re:Battery-Powered Ships Next Up in Battle to Tackle Emissions
by vkou on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @07:36PM
(#20640363)
They can be, but the ones that are currently afloat haven't been.
Shipping companies have had decades of success fighting against legally-mandated retrofits - double-hulled tankers, trivial safety features for passenger ferries... I don't think your idea of replaceable engines is going to get any traction.
Re:Battery-Powered Ships Next Up in Battle to Tackle Emissions
by dsfyu404ed on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @06:33PM
(#20639912)
Totally depends on the industry niche. As always the low margin guys will repair/modify and the high margin guys will buy new hardware.
Re:Battery-Powered Ships Next Up in Battle to Tackle Emissions
by Shivetya on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @08:53PM
(#20640827)
Oh I don't know, Japan did it a few times with the Fuso and her sisters. Even the Italians did it with a line of battleships.
The debate back in the 30s was if diesel could take the place of steam turbines but they ended up weight prohibitive and some maintenance would be similar to the work required to just swap engine types
Re:Battery-Powered Ships Next Up in Battle to Tackle Emissions
by i_am_proteus on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @09:01PM
(#20640871)
The depends on what you mean by "engine." Big diesels are relatively new in the maritime world.
On a steam ship, which had a much less monolithic power plant, replacing an engine or a boiler was feasible. Replacing reduction gears usually was not.
Re:Battery-Powered Ships Next Up in Battle to Tackle Emissions
by WalterBright on Wednesday August 07, 2019 @08:00PM
(#20640503)
Re-engining a jetliner often means designing a whole new airplane, too.
Back in the heyday of the battleship, replacing the engine was one of the things it wasn't worth doing. It's so hard to do, you might as well just build a new ship. I have no idea if this is still true, or not. Construction techniques have come a long way. Today, there are cruise liners that have all of their propellers in multiple swiveling pods containing electric motors. (They generally have generators run by diesel or steam turbine.)