Recently, at the 20th Shanghai Marintec, Mr. Hans Laheij, Deputy CEO of the SCHOTTEL Group and President of the ship business, was interviewed by the International Ship Network and talked about SCHOTTEL’s recent developments in the ship intellectualization and intelligent equipment and prospects for the future.

Being committed to the development of intelligent ships and smart equipment

SCHOTTEL is one of main manufacturers of the marine propulsion equipment. SCHOTTEL’s various ship propulsion systems have always had the tradition of developing intelligent ships and smart equipment for a long time.

Mr. Hans Laheij, Deputy CEO of the SCHOTTEL Group and President of the ship business, when talking about ship smart propulsion, says that SCHOTTEL has a lot of development and investment in some new technologies and new product applications, especially in the field related to intelligent ships and smart equipment. We can see that SCHOTTEL has done a lot of work and has invested a lot in the past, and has made some achievements at present. SCHOTTEL hopes to expand the range of products through these efforts so as to provide customers with a wider range of services in the future market.

Laheij particularly notes that SCHOTTEL has recently cooperated with Norway’s Blue CTRL Company which has rich ship intelligentization experience, and that the successful cooperation of the two companies will make the intelligentized product and technology leap in a shorter time.

It is understood that Blue CTRL is a joint venture between SCHOTTEL and Norway’s ULSTEIN Group (ULSTEIN), each holding 50% of shares, and uses a unique X-CONNECT® platform to deliver products and services to the market. As a digital platform, X-CONNECT® can be used for intelligent control and monitoring of ships. All functions of the platform are predefined and configurable, support plug and play, and can be used for new shipbuilding projects and ship upgrade projects.

Meanwhile, Laheij also introduces that “SCHOTTEL is working with PSA in Singapore, the Port Authority of Singapore to configure relevant intelligent propulsion equipment for tugboatspilot of PSAships of the Port Authority of Singapore. One tugboat is being equipped with SCHOTTEL’s newly developed Fleet Management Portal and Vessel monitoring equipment. We also hope to see the actual use results of this ese pilot projectships in the near future, and we will introduce these technologies to China and other regions after success.”

Working with European companies to promote carbon emission reduction in the shipping industry

While intelligent ships are of great concern, intelligent equipment is also one of the hot topics in the shipping industry.

Shipping is the main source of global carbon emissions, and the greenhouse gas emissions from ships account for about 2% to 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In order to reduce the environmental footprint of the shipping industry, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) set last year a goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 50% by 2050.

Studies show that to achieve the IMO goal requires a combination of clean energies and the alternative fuels based on renewable energies. Laheij believes that battery-driven or diesel-electric hybrid ships will be more applied to the market, and SCHOTTEL has also cooperated deeply with many European countries or companies in recent years to provide propulsion equipment for battery-powered or diesel-electric hybrid ships.

It is understood that SCHOTTEL has established a long-term and friendly cooperative relationship with major Norwegian ferry operators. In recent years, Norwegian ferry operators have increasingly chosen diesel-electric hybrid or full-electric ships in environmentally sensitive fjords and coastal areas, and SCHOTTEL’s marine thruster Schottel Rudder EcoPeller (SRE) products are in the leading position in the Norwegian ferry market and have been selected and installed for use on 8 new ferries in two largest ferry companies of Norway.

In August of this year, SCHOTTEL also signed a contract with SembCorp in Singapore for the supply of EcoPellers. Sembcorp is building three ferries for Norled, a Norwegian ferry company,. SCHOTTEL  and providsed customized propulsion device solutions for Norled’s 3 battery/diesel-electric hybrid ropax ferries which are being built by Singapore SembCorp Marine Ltd, and further expanded its dominant position in the Norwegian ferry market.

These 3 ferries are customized for Norled’s Hella-Vangsnes-Dragsvik route in Norwegian Fjords, and will be operated with zero-emission battery power supply with the service speed of 10 knots, and also be operated in the battery-diesel hybrid backup mode. SCHOTTEL will provide new ships with SRE series propulsion system to optimally meet Norled’s requirements for high efficiency, clean energy and environmental protection.

Service improvement will bring more new technologies and new products to Chinese ship-owners.

In recent years, the global shipbuilding market continues to be in severe-winter conditions. But in Laheij’s view, while the market is full of challenges, the ship-owners are still willing to choose the products of SCHOTTEL. In other words, although the order quantity is lower than that in the past, the impact of SCHOTTEL’s market share is relatively small.

Laheij points out that: “In the case that orders in the marine market are cancelled or delayed and the merchant market does not trend to return in a short term, SCHOTTEL has, by virtue of its diversified product coverage, achieved relatively good results in other markets, such as in the government official ships, inland waterways, ferries, work ships and special ships. Of course, we will also improve our service abilities, service levels and improve our conditions as much as possible.”

Looking to the future, Laheij believes that it is difficult to predict how the market will change and develop in the future, but what can be seen is that uncertain factors, including trade disputes, market overcapacity, etc., have indeed affected the development of the follow-up market. However, after ship-owners are relatively stable and start to make profits, they still need to continue to invest in the transformation of old ships and order new ships, and SCHOTTEL is also looking for ways to provide better services for ship-owners.

SCHOTTEL attaches great importance to Chinese market and is very willing to have more investment in China. It is understood that about 50% of SCHOTTEL’s market shares come from the Asian-Pacific region, which is also SCHOTTEL’s largest sales market.

SCHOTTEL clearly sees the importance of the Chinese region. During the Maritime Affairs Exhibition, SCHOTTEL held a Seminar especially on intelligent ships and smart equipment on December 4, and introduced its marine solutions in these regions to customers. Laheij states that: “As one of the major manufacturers of marine main propulsion system, SCHOTTEL hopes to have more and closer cooperation with Chinese companies and support each other, and also hopes that SCHOTTEL’s new technologies and new ship systems can better promote the development of China’s shipbuilding industry.”