Modern commercial vessels are constrained by the economics of delivery schedules. This page looks at interim and long term solutions to the Energy Crisis, solutions which will not constrain commercial activity. Until fuel cells become more effective, and even when, the way to go is multiple drive systems. Some of these will be unreachable by non-governmental organizations without serious subsidies, but there are many systems which are more than reachable. The modern Commercial Vessel will use a variety of alternative power sources to reduce the use of petroleum wherever possible, while maintaining current levels of activity, cargo will get there on the same schedules and fish will be caught, if we do this right, in even greater numbers.


A 75' Hybrid powered Coastal Push and Tug

Proposed Tunnel Tug drive train There is room for a fuel tank and generator in the forepeak. Down each side is a 240VDC battery pack for a combined 480VDC system capable of 900HP for one hour or 100HP for 20 hours. The central forward compartment will either have an off the shelf 3500 gal liquid hydrogen base station, or drawn, a 4500 gal liquid Hydrogen tank encapsulated in foam. There is a suicide plate (Suicide Keelson?) below the tank, minimum 1/2 inch, there is a lot of old sharp debris down there and I've run across some of it. Aft is the reduction room, where stacks of 6000PSI tanks absorb the boil off and also reduce the Liquid hydrogen (-423.17deg Fahrenheit) to gas and let it warm up before hitting the motor blocks. Now the main motor, a 900HP block running on Hydrogen putting out DC straight to the pair of 450HP DC motors. I've done this version back and forth with AC motors and Converters and Invertors, straight DC is initially more expensive, and seems far simpler to set up, and has a track record for lasting generations. Now, aft to the engine room proper, there is room for a third shaft, but this was designed to swap for a particular 900HP diesel tug. Here we also have three or four more generators and three tanks of a thousand gallons each holding one or several fuels. We might have a 75KW generator set for recharging the battery banks from hydrogen, a 150KW with a switch to either the motors or the battery banks, and a 250KW for driving loads in moderate conditions. Alternatively, and for a shorter range, we can swap the liquid Hydrogen Tank for a merely compressed Hydrogen tank, though the numbers start getting pathetic. I'll give it to you in waterfront terms; liquid Hydrogen is said to be four times less "potent" than gasoline, so that 4500 gallons of liquid Hydrogen is really only about 1100 gallons of diesel, and in compressed form lets call it 400 gallons but that might be optimistic. However, making things a bit better, we are running from at least four different fuel sources, and this particular boat is designed for a particular route, that is; New Bedford Harbor to Nantucket (or the Vineyard) with a 130' x 40' deck barge and 1200 tons of gravel. A day run in any case for a 900HP tug with an overnight and a return empty. this run is never made in foul weather, any pro would know why, contains one tricky dogleg through Wood's Hole which can hit nine knots, which any pro can avoid, and probably hardly strains Tug at all. The proposed boat can easily make those runs of a very approximate five or ten hours, returning from either under battery alone. In this system, generators are always running at their most efficient ratings, and any surge on the throttle is provided by the battery banks. If the vessel without tow is moving up the coast or across the harbor, batteries only, or a small generator auxiliary. Non frozen liquid fuels can be diesel, bio-diesel, ethanol, pond-scum distillate, or, if you are Prince Charles, Wine. The Battery Banks may be recharged from the grid, overnight, while the rates are low, and eventually that grid will be powered by Wind and Solar, hydro-electric and maybe more wine (wino-electric?). Back to the boat; This form of power train is easily expandable from here. A large Mississippi river boat pushing a string of barges has a foot print twice the length and twice the beam (the river version of this is ten feet shorter and even more square), One of the legacies of the industrial revolution in both Europe and the United States are a lot of formerly useless (and mostly scam-financed) canals, which have actually become suddenly useful. Rivers and coastal transportation are being promoted, and correctly, as a means of reducing fuel use and carbon footprint, there is no cheaper way of moving a cargo than in the hull of a ship. Rough Numbers; 240 2V batteries list $2000, wholesale under $250,000 for the pack. Two 450HP 480VDC low-speed motors about $120,000 for the pair, that might or might not include the controllers, which will not be cheap. In some ways I cut down on wiring expense by building one big bank, we run a bus bar through the fore-peak and that puts all the heavy wiring in the engine room, there is essentially only one wire with 480 connections running around the boat. An AC system by the way would require a about 580 volts in the bank for the loss in inversion, $40,000- $80,000 difference, or the price of one of the DC motors or the cost differential between DC or AC motors. We'll need a pair of reduction gears with a thrust bearing, $12,000 apiece very rough guess, or not really that much more than a pair of heavy transmissions and far more robust. Now you need to add in for the generators, DC output is going to cost, we might get away with some of the smaller ones running AC and big stock invertors. the biggest expense will be getting a controller hooked up to switch in the main generators when necessary, or the hiring of a few really good engineers for the black gang. I think a small tug like this could be run totally from the pilot house without a computer, the batteries give you a lot of leeway on instant power, you could just reach over and hit the ignition on whatever you have the most fuel for. Below are some slightly more finished drawings of the Mk III expansions, the Electric-36 and the Hybrid 46. The H-46 uses stock 6000PSI tanks and can power the auxiliary generator with propane, LNG, methane, or any other non-cryogenic gas.

Certain vessels, by nature of naturally larger or subsidized crew complements, can take excellent advantage of wind. Scallop boats with their large crews can run a larger and less mechanized sail train, and MSC Replenishment vessels, especially smaller ones which have no need to stay with a squadron or fleet. As a society, we should also look at ferries and all the state and federal subsidized or state entity ferry companies, where profit margin takes a back seat to civic need.

Diesel Electric drive trains give the most flexibility over time, and the diesel generator may be replaced or added to later on by some exotic or commonplace invention if that ever happens. By using electric drive motors, we can add battery packs, or several generators using today's exotic fuels such as used cooking grease and ethanol in it's varied formulations. Large battery packs are going to always be expensive, but there are so many smaller devices on boats that need power that we can always find something to scavenge on a budget.

By combining Sail, Diesel/Electric, Battery, Solar Panels, Windmills, and the latest in high efficiency LED navigation and interior lighting and appliances, a newly constructed vessel might cut petroleum use by significant amounts, more than enough to pay off the additional investment before replacement becomes necessary. As a commercial operator you can afford some of this now. Modern comfort and safety levels can be maintained and improved upon. Vessel schedules can be maintained.

95' x 28' x 11' Sail and Electric assisted Scallop Boat Standard Twin Diesel Mains

Sails would be hydraulic roller furling, self-tending, and that mizzen boom folds up out of the way when entering port. Down below, in one version, the hold runs aft from the hatch, engine room midships as is standard on a modern Western rig. Forward of that is the Battery room, 288VDC of 4Volt high capacity cells with an inverter producing 120 and 220-230VAC. We'll cover the house load and as much of the hydraulic load as we can.

Later boats will be diesel electric, but for this next decade or two of transition, the vessel operates normally using twin diesels of up to the usual 4-500hp. Wherever permitting, the operator deploys sails and may shut down one motor. That may get you a net fuel savings of a low ball 15% and an optimistic 30% over a year of averages. On top of that, we'll run one or two 1000 watt windmills and a rack of solar panels and we'll go to LED lighting (My Electrician can get working LED Nav Lights now) and high efficiency air conditioning and cabin equipment. We'll still have an AC generator and a Hydraulic pack, but we will add an electric hydraulic pack and see just how much we can scavenge that way. All of which may give us another 8% to 15%, or we may make it to an average 35% fuel savings. Tied up at the dock, a pair of windmills and a few panels would slice off the majority if not occasionally all of the electric bill. A very rough back of the envelope calculation says 5 years to pay back the investment at $4/gallon and a minimum 10 year warranty on all or most components with an observable lifetime of 15 to 20 years. But I might be off a year or two, so what, fuel prices will catch up.

I can easily envision a fully electric drive train on many commercial vessels with sail assist. We can get stock 500HP electric motors now. Multiple generator sets using a variety of fuels will provide power, and electric ferries will charge huge battery packs at night from a shore grid which might consist of millions of homes with windmills and solar panels connected in a huge national grid. Smaller vessels will operate under sail and carry tanks of liquid hydrogen to run power packs for maneuvering, certainly that will be the scenario in yachting. And I only need to point out that another Sail-assisted freighter has just now completed a maiden voyage with a box kite like affair said to skim 10% off the fuel load. Most of this has been theorized by smarter people than I, and some of it has already been built. Everything is available off-the-shelf right now. Oil is the wave of the past, and currently the anchor around our necks. One thing we have in abundance on the waterfront is Wind, and it is a tried and true resource.

This may be the not so distant future, although current technology just won't go to all electric. On the flip side, being all in favor of saving the small family fleet of coastal draggers and a way of life in New England is going to take some good old Yankee ingenuity, and any other kind as well. In the day dragger scenario, stored energy and a generator-set burning grease from the fish restaurant up the street is used to replace as much of the fossil fuel use of the vessel. That would be an electric utility truck to deliver fish and return with the grease in the battery shed (walls omitted), and the whole tied into the local grid, perhaps supplying power to the Town. I did this after scoping out a typical boat berth on Martha's Vineyard. In an integrated system you would minimize the batteries, because the national grid would be your battery, put in what you have and take out what you need.

450' MSC Replenishment Vessel Sketches

	A mix of low and high tech.



Updated Sketch for Modular Sectioned Coastal Container/Tanker Built up of 55' end sections and 50' cargo sections. This variation is 8 containers and 40,000 gallons cargo per module as well as 135 Amps of 480VAC (576VDC) for 20 hours/module. This fits the Intermodal Transportation Plan, removing 32 Tractor Trailers and 16 Tankers from the highway. Running up and down the coast during the day, loading/unloading and charging the batteries at night. The keels are 24" I-beam, void under the tank is the requisite 30", and inspect able. This is an early series of sketches for a completely modular series which will comprise Oil and Container Barge and Tug combination replacement. I haven't done the math yet beyond initial counts, however, with over 500 amps of 480VAC available for twenty hour runs, this is not a particularly slow ship. I have a version with 30,000gal and twice the batteries per module, . The Aft section contains two or three 400 or 500HP stock Electric motors, and a pair of 500KW Generators "in case". There could very well be, say, eight cabins for passengers. This drawing shows self-loading and unloading booms for the smaller ports and is 310' overall length. Sails are loose-footed hydraulic roller furling and sail-booms are most likely carbon fiber. The Bermuda rig has a low center of effort and is completely self tending. A ten foot windmill and solar panels attempts to cover house load.