Posted:
September 1, 2009
Working with initiatives from the Maersk Line Limited corporate office, American Maritime Officers member Florin Marinescu, chief engineer onboard the M/V SSG Edward A. Carter, has helped establish a system to reduce his ship’s energy usage. These techniques, in place on the Carter and on sister ship M/V LTC John U.D. Page, are projected to save Military Sealift Command about $900,000 each year.
The new operating standards for the two vessels went into effect in October 2008. The largest change is the operation of a single generator for 10 to 11 hours at night. Previous operations ran two generators. This not only reduces fuel costs overnight but also extends the life of both generators and decreases the load during the day.
Additional steps include painting the cargo hatch covers white in order to reduce the amount of absorbed heat inside the cargo holds, eliminating unnecessary lighting inside the cargo holds, and installing CFL (low-energy) light bulbs. The senior officers on each ship are responsible for implementing these standards but the entire crew has been engaged to reduce ship energy consumption.
The Carter and the Page, both operated by Maersk Line Limited and manned in all licensed positions by American Maritime Officers, are part of Military Sealift Command’s prepositioning program at Diego Garcia.
M/V Carter, M/V Page employ system to save energy, reduce costs
Working with initiatives from the Maersk Line Limited corporate office, American Maritime Officers member Florin Marinescu, chief engineer onboard the M/V SSG Edward A. Carter, has helped establish a system to reduce his ship’s energy usage. These techniques, in place on the Carter and on sister ship M/V LTC John U.D. Page, are projected to save Military Sealift Command about $900,000 each year.
The new operating standards for the two vessels went into effect in October 2008. The largest change is the operation of a single generator for 10 to 11 hours at night. Previous operations ran two generators. This not only reduces fuel costs overnight but also extends the life of both generators and decreases the load during the day.
Additional steps include painting the cargo hatch covers white in order to reduce the amount of absorbed heat inside the cargo holds, eliminating unnecessary lighting inside the cargo holds, and installing CFL (low-energy) light bulbs. The senior officers on each ship are responsible for implementing these standards but the entire crew has been engaged to reduce ship energy consumption.
The Carter and the Page, both operated by Maersk Line Limited and manned in all licensed positions by American Maritime Officers, are part of Military Sealift Command’s prepositioning program at Diego Garcia.