165
1
INTRODUCTION
The coastal express route between Bergen and
Kirkeneshasbeenanimportanttradeandpassenger
route since 1893 (https://snl.no/Hurtigruta, in
Norwegian). In the beginning, several regional
shipownerscollaboratedtobuilda regularservicefor
coastal inhabitants and cargo. In recent years, the
cargoparthasbecomelessimportantaslarger
cargo
volumeshavebeenshiftedtodedicatedcoastalcargo
vessels or transferred to the road. Transporting
passengersisnowthemajorsourceofincomeforthe
companies operating vessels on the coastal express
routeinadditiontogovernmentfunding.
The first part of the paper gives a description of
past
and present organisation of the coastal express
route, followed by a brief description of the Havila
Kystruten shipping company and their license to
operate the Bergen – Kirkenes coastal route from
January2021.HavilaKystrutenreceivedtheir10‐year
operationallicensein2019andneedednewvesselsto
fulfil the license
requirements. Design requirements
for their vessels were given to the ship designer
(HavyardDesignandSolutions,nowHAVDesign)as
a baseline for the design of a new generation of
passenger vessels for the Bergen‐Kirkenes route.
Someoftherequirementsarelistedinsections4and5
ofthepaper.
A Low Emission Coastal Cruise Vessel
–
MV Havila
Capella
T.E.Berg
1
,S.E.Moe
2
,D.Leinebø
2
&Ø.Rabliås
1
1
SINTEFOcean,Trondheim,Norwa y
2
HAVDesignAS,Fosnavaa g,Norway
ABSTRACT: SinceJanuary 2021, Havila Kystruten has been one of two companies sailing thecoastal route
betweenBergenandKirkenes.ThispapercontainsinformationonthenewshippingcompanyHavilaKystruten
andtheir2019bidfora10‐yearoperationallicensetosailthecoastalroute.The
governmentʹstenderdocuments
for the new license specified that the vessels operating the route had to be low‐emission vessels. This
requirementwasinlinewiththegovernmentʹswhitepaperonthereductionofemissionsforcommercialand
fishingvesselssailinginNorwegianwaters.Thus,companiesbiddingfor
thenewlicensehadtooffernewships
withlowemissioncharacteristicsorrebuildexistingvesselstoobtainthelowemissionrequirements.Basedon
theoffers,thegovernmentdecidedtosplittheoperationallicensebetweentwocompanies.Onepartwasgiven
to the company previously operating the route (Hurtigruten) and the
other to the new company Havila
Kystruten. While Hurtigruten would rebuild the engine systems on some of their existing vessels, Havila
Kystrutenwouldoperatetherouteusingnewvesselswithlowemissionsignature.Thedesignrequirementsfor
these vessels were given by Havila Kystruten to the ship designer, Havyard Design
and Solutions (now
HAVDesign).Someoftherequirementsarelistedinsection4below.Thelatterpartofthispaperinvestigates
the manoeuvring performance of the new Havila Kystruten vessels, containing a summary of a Research
CouncilofNorwayfundedinnovationprojectonharshweathershiphandlingduringportoperations.The
Port
ofTrondheimwasselectedasacasestudy.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 17
Number 1
March 2023
DOI:10.12716/1001.17.01.1
7
166
Thelastpartofthepaperdescribesacomparison
of full‐scale and simulation model outcomes for
standard IMO manoeuvring tests and discusses the
improvements and added functionality of SINTEF
Oceanʹs vessel simulation tool VeSim for the
investigation of port calls in adverse weather. The
PortofTrondheimhas
beenselectedasacasestudy.
This part, sections 6 – 9, also examines other
applicationsofthesimulationmodel.
2
THECOASTALEXPRESSHISTORY
The coastal express route was established in 1893.
Fromthestart,itwasbasedonacombinationoflocal
passenger traffic, cargo transport and
national/international tourists. Gradually, the tourist
trafficincreasedsignificantly.Theincomefromthisis
now many times larger than that gained from local
passenger
traffic.Initially,differentregionalshipping
companiesoperatedthecoastalexpressroute.In1947,
the Department of Transport introduced a licensing
schemeforfourcompanies.From1988,tworegional
shipping companies owned all vessels operating the
coastalexpress route. In2005,the companiesstarted
ʺHurtigrutenGroupʺ,whichin2007was
reorganised
into the present companyʺHurtigruten ASAʺ. This
company operated all vessels along the coastal
expressrouteuntiltheend of2020.
Following the Norwegian governments policy to
allow more commercial companies to compete for
governmental supported transportation contracts,
they invited shipping companies to bid for a time
limited
license to operate. The change in income
sources was to be built into the future license to
operatecontractsbetweentheNorwegiangovernment
andshippingcompanies.Aninvitationtobidfora10‐
year operational license (for the renamed coastal
route)waspublishedbytheMinistryofTransportin
2018.The
outcomeofthecallwasthattwocompanies
received operational licenses: Hurtigruten would
operatesevenvessels,whilethenewcompanyHavila
Kystrutenwouldoperatefour.Thenewlicensescame
intoactiononJanuary1st,2021.
ThecoastalroutefromBergentoKirkenesservices
34 ports along the western and northern
coast of
Norway, see Figure 1. In the summer season, some
additionalfamoustouristsitesarevisited.
3
HAVILAKYSTRUTENʹSLICENSETOOPERATE
THEBERGEN–KIRKENESCOASTALROUTE
(2021–2030)
In their offer, Havila Kystruten specified that their
ships would be newbuilt low‐emission ships
HAVDesign (then Havyard Design & Solutions)
designed the new vessels (a HAV 923 design).
Standardresistanceandpropulsiontestswererun
in
SINTEF Oceanʹs laboratories, and building contracts
weresignedwithtwoshipbuildingcompanies–Hijos
deJ.BarrerasinSpainandTersaninTurkey.
The Spanish contract was later cancelled due to
significant delays in the yardʹs time schedule for
buildingthehulls.
Figure1. The Coastal Route from Bergen to Kirkenes
(Courtesy:HavilaKystruten).
4 ABRIEFREVIEWOFTHEHAV923DESIGNFOR
HAVILAKYSTRUTEN
In 2019, the Norwegian Government published a
white paper on emission reduction in Norwegian
coastal and fishing vessels (NorwegianGovernment,
2019), stating a goal of a 50 % reduction of green‐
housegas(GHG)emissionsby2030.Thenewcall
for
operators on the coastal route, published in 2018,
included requirements for a significant reduction of
GHG emissions compared to the ships in operation.
To fulfil this requirement, the ship designer
HAVDesigndecidedtofocuson:
The development of an energy efficient hull
design;
The worldʹs largest energy pack (at the design
date);
A 4‐hour, zero‐emission sailing time using
batteries;
Portpowerloadingfromhydropowersources;
Obtaininga25%CO2emissionreduction;and
Obtaininga90%NOxreduction.
ThevesselʹsmaindimensionsareLxBxT=125x
22 x 5.5 m. It has a passenger capacity of 640. The
servicespeedis15knots.
5
MVHAVILACAPELLA–THEFIRSTHAVILA
KYSTRUTENVESSEL
MV Havila Capella was the first of four sister ships
built for the new coastal route operator Havila
167
Kystruten. The vessel was built at Tersan Shipyard
(Turkey). Planned delivery was set for the third
quarter of 2020, but due to COVID‐19 delivery was
delayed. The yardʹs delivery tests took place in the
MarmaraSea,northofYalova,Turkey,inSeptember
2021. Figure 2 shows the vessel
during the yardʹs
deliverytests.
In addition to the usual systems tests (engines,
control system, hotel systems), the programme
containedasetofmanoeuvringtests,whichincluded
standard IMO manoeuvring tests (IMO Resolution
MSC.137/76).Thesefull‐scaletrailtestswererecorded
and post‐processed by the Dutch research company
Marin. Test outcomes were used to develop the
vesselʹs Wheelhouse Poster, Pilot Card and
ManoeuvringBooklet.Later,theyard testdatawere
used in the validation of the SINTEF Ocean vessel
simulationtoolVeSim(VeSim,2020).
ThevessellefttheyardinNovember2021witha
fullshipcrewand
usedthetransittoNorwaypartly
for familiarisation training. After arriving in Bergen,
MV Havila Capella started on her first Bergen –
KirkenesroundtriponDecember12th,2021.
Figure2.MVHavilaCapellaperformingyarddeliverytests
forTersanShipyard.
6 INVESTIGATINGTHEMANOEUVRING
PERFORMANCEOFMVHAVILACAPELLA.
HAVDesign collaborated with the vessel owner
Havila Kystruten, Norwegian Electric System (NES),
Port of Trondheim and SINTEF Ocean to write a
successful application to the Research Council of
Norway (RCN) for an industry innovation type
project. The project started in April 2019 and
had a
stipulated duration of 36 months. The goal of the
project was to investigate operational challenges
relatedtoportcallsinadverseweather.Asacase,the
projectselectedthePortofTrondheimforthestudy.
This port was selected due to existing plans for the
developmentofan
advancedsensorsystemforvessel
motionsandmetoceanobservationsclosetotheport.
Thissystemwasdevelopedtobeanimportantpartof
the infrastructure for a test bed for autonomous
vessels. The area close to the Port of Trondheim
would also be a central part of the larger Oceanlab
infrastructure
(showninFigure3).Oceanlabincludes
sites dedicated to a variety of scientific studies for
marine and maritime stakeholders
(https://www.sintef.no/en/latest‐news/2021/norway‐
has‐been‐given‐a‐floating‐ocean‐laboratory/).
To study the manoeuvring performance of MV
Havila Capella (HAV 923design) at an early design
phase, it was decided to use
SINTEF Oceanʹs vessel
simulation tool VeSim, see Figure 4 (SINTEF, 2020).
This figure illustrates topics covered by VeSim in
studiesof vessel behaviour in a seaway.This tool is
used for combined seakeeping and manoeuvring
studiesinopendeepwater.Tofulfiltheprojectgoal,
VeSim had to be extended
with restricted water
hydrodynamics and position related external forces
taking care of the influence of port‐based
infrastructures.
Figure3. Locations included in the Oceanlab full‐scale test
bedformarineandmaritimeresearch.
In the first part of the project, SINTEF Ocean
performedmodeltestswitha1:16.7scalemodelofthe
azipulls (open water propulsion) and a naked hull
model (resistance, oblique towing and PMM) in the
Towing tank. The results were used to develop the
firstversionoftheVeSimdeepwater
model.Dueto
delaysinthebuildingprogramme,itwasnotpossible
tocomparemodeloutcomeswiththeyardʹsdelivery
testsuntillate2021.A comparisonof calculatedand
measured IMO standard manoeuvres showed fairly
goodresultsforzig‐zagtests.Theturningcircletests
showed significant differences, which
were assumed
to be a result of errors in the representation of the
non‐linear damping forces in the hull model and
interaction between hull and azipull units. Even
thoughthere wereuncertainties inthe yardtest, the
simulation results were compared to these tests to
assessthevalidityofthe
simulation model.Figure 5
shows a comparison of measured and calculated
courseandazipullanglesfora10°/10°zig‐zagtest.As
canbeseenfromthefigure,theturningspeedofthe
azipullsishigherinthesimulationthanonthevessel.
This could cause the smaller period predicted
by
VeSim. A comparison of the velocities for the same
manoeuvre is shown in Figure 6. The simulation
results and results from the yard tests are in
reasonableagreement.
Figure4. SINTEF Oceanʹs combined seakeeping and
manoeuvringsimulationtoolVeSim.
168
The second part of the project studied and
developed methods to includethe effects of shallow
and confined water influence on vessel
hydrodynamics. Belgian expertise (Ghent
University/Flanders Hydraulic Research) gave
guidelines on how to include these effects on
hydrodynamic coefficients in manoeuvring
simulationmodels.Duetobudgetlimitations,itwas
notpossibletoperformshallowwaterPMMtests(as
such tests had to be performed at a foreign model
tank). Instead, two numerical tools were used to
calculate hydrodynamic forces for different water
depths,SINTEFOceanʹsHullVisc(SINTEF;2018)and
VERES‐3D (Hoff, 2022). An example of water depth
influence on the sway added mass calculated by
VERES‐3D is shown in Figure 7. The influence
compareswellwithpublisheddataforshallowwater
influence (SIMMAN benchmark vessels,
https://simman2014.dk). For sailing areas with
varying water depths, a mean water depth over the
shipʹslengthwasusedastheparameter
forestimating
shallowwatercoefficients.Thiscalculationtakesplace
outsidetheVeSimandisgivenasinputparametersto
themotionsolverinVeSim.
Figure5. Comparison of sea trial results and VeSim
calculationfor the IMO 10°/10° zig‐zag test‐heading and
azipullangle.
Figure6. Comparison of sea trial results and VeSIM
calculationfortheIMO10/10zig‐zagtest‐velocities.
Figure7.Exampleofcalculatedshallowwaterswayadded
massfortheKVLCC2benchmarkvessel.Curveshowsnon‐
dimensional values (sway added mass divided by ship
mass)basedonVeres‐3Dcalculations.
Effectsoflateralrestrictionareimportantinsome
criticalpartsofthesailingroutesuchasTrollfjorden,
see Figure 8, as well as manoeuvring in ports. An
initial studyofthe effectof a long vertical wall was
made as a part of the manoeuvring model tests in
SINTEFOceanʹs
modeltank.
7
FINALPASSAGETOPORTOFTRONDHEIM
Under normal weather conditions, coastal route
vesselsberthatquay1and2atPir1,seeFigure9.For
strong westerly and north westerly winds, an
alternativeberthislocatedatquay51atIla(seeFigure
9).Normaltracksforthefinalpart
ofthepassageare
shown in Figure 10. In some situations, the master
will test out the actual weather conditions before
deciding to use the priority quays or the alternative
one.Inanormalcase,thevesselslowsdownoutside
ofPier1andbacksintothequay.Thismanoeuvre
has
itsdrawbacksinharshweather.
Figure8.Anarrowpassage–Trollfjorden–sailedbycoastal
routevesselMVHavilaCapella.Photo:MariusBeckDahle
169
Figure9.QuaylayoutinPortofTrondheim.Primaryquay
for coastal route vessels is at Pir 1, quay 2 (upper left).
AlternativequayisatIlaPir,quays28‐39(lowerright).
Figure10.Exampleoftracksforcoastalroutevesselscalling
PortofTrondheim.
8 EXTENDINGTHEVESIMTOOL
The project made a major improvement on the
standard way of adding external forces in VeSim.
Based on a 3D model of the Port of Trondheim, a
project specific CFD model was developed to
investigatethewindfieldbehindbuildingsalongthe
final approach to the normal
quay for the coastal
route vessels, illustrated in Figure 11. Using the
calculatedwindfieldonastriptheoryrepresentation
of the vessel (normally 21 sections), position‐based
windforces/momentsarecalculated.
Thesamemethodisusedwhenlocalcurrentsare
included in the VeSimmodel. The project started to
developahigh‐resolutiongridforcurrentdistribution
basedonametoceancurrentmodel.Thismodelwill
be validated using some of the sensors available
throughtheOceanlabinfrastructureshowninFigure
3.
BasedoninputfromHavilaKystruten’smasters,it
was decided to neglect further development of the
VeSimʹs
wave force model (based on open water
standard wave spectra) as wave forces are much
smaller than wind forces under harsh weather
conditions in the Port of Trondheim. The existing
wave force model includes first‐order excitation
forces, slowly varying wave drift forces and a
nonlinear modification of the restoring
and incident
waveforcesduetovesselgeometry.
Figure11.Windfieldforthefinalapproachphasetonormal
coastalroutequay.
Duetotheshortperiodofoperation,neitherofthe
twoHavilaKystrutenvessels(MVHavilaCapellaand
MV Havila Castor) met adverse weather conditions
during their visits to the Port of Trondheim. It has
thus not been possible to test the extended VeSim
modelforsuchconditions.
9
OPERATIONALEXPERIENCE
The first sistership, MV Havila Castor, joined MV
HavilaCapella onthecoastalrouteon10May2022.
The last two vessels (MV Havila Polaris and MV
HavilaPolluxareexpectedtostarttheirserviceinlate
2022andthefirstquarterof2023).
Most of the time, the
vessels sail close to the
coastline where engine blackouts or other control
system failures will be critical due to the short
distancetoreefsandislets.Asthemostcommonwind
direction during the winter season is westerly, the
vessels’ large wind area will result in forces driving
the vessel
towards the coastline, see Figure 12. A
situation like this happened with the cruise vessel
ʺMV Viking Skyʺ in March 2019 when passing the
exposed Hustadvika area under adverse weather
conditions. The vessel lost most of its propulsion
powerdue to a technical failureand starteddrifting
toward shoals and
the coastline. A maritime
emergency operation was declared, and rescue
helicopters scrambled to lift passengers from the
vessel(intotal456passengers wereflowntoashore‐
basedrescuecentre).Duringthisoperation,theshipʹs
anchors were dragging on the sea bottom and thus
reducingthedriftingmotionuntilthe
engineerswere
abletorestarttheenginesandturnthevesseltowards
deeperwaters.Thisincidentisstill(November2022)
under investigation by the Norwegian Safety
170
Investigation Authority
(https://havarikommisjonen.no/Sjofart/Pagaende‐
undersokelser).
Figure12.MVHavilaCapellasailingtheBergen–Kirkenes
coastalrouteoutsideFlø,Ulstein.Photo:PerEide
Based on feedback from the masters of these
vessels, it is concluded that they generally are very
pleasedwiththevesselʹsoperationalperformance.All
the masters had experience with similar vessels
having twin Azipull units and bow thrusters. The
manoeuvring performance in calm water was
excellent. They expressed a need
for tuning the
response time for the bow thrusters and more
information on the reduction of the thruster
performancewithforwardspeed.Thetuninghasbeen
performed and more information on bow thruster
performance at low speeds (forward and backward)
hasbeenprovided.
The masters expressed concerns about the
reliability
oftheonboardwindsensorsforsomewind
directions.Forlow‐andzero‐speedoperations,wind
sensor data is important for controlling azipull and
bowthrusterresponses,especiallyforbeamwinds.
A collection of senior officersʹ experiences of
operationalchallenges,alongwithananalysisofthese
andfeedbackontheoutcomes
oftheanalysis,willbe
an efficient way to build operational knowledge for
theofficerswhotakeleadingpositionsonthelasttwo
sistervessels.
10
CONCLUSIONSANDFUTUREAPPLICATION
OFTHEPROJECT’SRESULTS
TheHAV923designisahighlysuccessfuldesignfor
operation along the coastal route from Bergen to
Kirkenes.Comparedtothepreviousvesselsoperating
the route, the new vessel represents a 25% cut in
green‐house gas emissions. The fuel reduction goal
for the new Havila Kystrutenʹs vessels has been
fulfilled. Additional reduction in green‐house gas
emissionswill,inthefuture,beincreasedwhenshore‐
basedpowerloadingsystemsareinstalledinmoreof
theportscalled bythe vessels.Changingfrom fossil
fuel to biofuel is another way to
reduce the carbon
footprint. The vessels are prepared for this when
biofueliscommerciallyavailable.
The vesselʹs manoeuvring and steering
performanceundernormaloperationalconditionsare
evaluatedassatisfactorybymastersonthevessels.
Furtheruseofthevessel’sVeSimmodelcouldbe
accomplished via a transfer of the model
to a full
missiontrainingsimulator.Suchasimulatorwouldbe
very beneficial for new nautical officers without
previous experience on vessels with twin azipull
propulsionsystems.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors recognise the important input given by the
masters of the first two Havila Kystruten vessels. Their
inputonoperationalexperiencehasbeen(andwillcontinue
to be) of great value to designers, system developers and
researchers.
Theinnovationprojectdescribedinsection7wasfundedby
theResearchCouncil
ofNorway,projectno.296521
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Hoff,JanRoger:VERES‐3DTheorymanual.SINTEFOcean,
Trondheim2022
IMO:Standards for ship manoeuvrability. Resolution
MSC.137/76,London2002
Norwegiangovernment; The Governmentʹsactionplan for
greenshipping.Oslo2019.
SINTEFOcean:VeSimfactsheet,Trondheim,2020
SINTEFOcean:HullVisc–Userinformationnote–internal,
Trondheim,2018
SINTEF
Ocean,VERES‐3DTheorymanual,SINTEFOcean,
Trondheim2022
