Working together for the safety of the world

Turkey’s Feyz Group plans a future based on standardisation and sustainability.

“From my heart, I can say that Damen’s product is perfect,” says Feyz Group General Manager Engin Aynaci.

His Istanbul-based company is a specialist in the dry cargo market, offering a comprehensive range of brokering and ship management services to the sector. The company has chosen Damen for an order for five cargo vessels; four Combi Freighters (CF) 3850 and a CF 5000. These will be the first newly built Damen cargo vessels delivered to a Turkish owner.

A passion for Dutch shipbuilding

Previously, however, second-hand Damen vessels have operated in the region. This is something Mr Aynaci knows all about. He first encountered Dutch shipbuilding during his studies at the State University of New York Maritime College (SUNY) when researching his thesis on how to improve ship management in the European short sea market.

“My studies led me to the Netherlands where the designs and engineering were of a very high quality. I decided there and then that if ever I entered this market, it would be with a Dutch vessel.”

True to his word, when he began the Feyz Group in 2008, Mr Aynaci built up a fleet of seven vessels, amongst which is a Damen vessel.

“She’s 25 years old and her condition is still outstanding. We do our best to keep her in tiptop shape, but really, it’s Damen’s philosophy of standardised shipbuilding that has made her so durable.”

Inspired by standardisation

Series building, he explains, is a sure way to create a reliable platform that improves over successive generations. That’s not the only benefit to standardised shipbuilding Mr Aynaci states.

“The people working with a standard vessel become very familiar with it. That goes for people throughout the chain – the crew, port authorities, stevedores. Everybody recognises it and knows what they are doing with it. The crew don’t need additional training, they know where everything is and can work safer. That’s particularly beneficial when there is commonality across a fleet. Stevedores and port authorities also recognise the vessel and can unload it faster. Standardisation increases safety and efficiency. Ultimately this equates to increased profitability.”

The prime example of this is Damen’s CF 3850, he says. “Everyone in the industry knows this vessel. It’s been in the market for some time. I’ve chartered it myself. It’s a very impressive boat. I had no doubts at all when placing my orders for four of these.”

Mr Engin Aynaci - General Manager of the Feyz Group

Towards a new generation

He does point out, however, that the existing fleet of CF 3850 vessels is ageing and that, like all vessels of their lifetime, consume relatively high volumes of fuel. Damen’s answer to this has been to develop an all-new version of its successful design fit for the future. Optimised using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the vessel offers significantly reduced resistance in the water and a range of options to increase efficiency.

These are a hybrid PTO PTI, space for batteries fore and aft, improved shore connection, preparation to sail with wind assisted propulsion and preparation to sail on 100% biodiesel. Damen has assessed the effects of each of these features and is able to predict how much fuel can be saved on an operation as a result. For example, use of batteries can reduce fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions, by 23%, or 227 tons per year and NOX and SOX emissions by 21 and 23%, respectively.

Damen built Sky Marine: “She’s 25 years old and her condition is still outstanding.”

A foundation to build on

As a result of its increased efficiency, the new CF 3850 requires less power and produces significantly lower emissions. The new vessel is providing a foundation for Damen to build on. Working together with its partners in the industry, including clients like the Feyz Group, which will be the launching customer, Damen is developing the CF 5000.

“The CF 5000 incorporates a lot of features from the CF 3850 but is a bigger vessel. It pays the same attention to fuel efficiency and environmental stewardship. This is crucial for the future. There are new regulations and requirements coming, which the current fleet cannot meet. Damen has stepped forward and created a design that meets the demands of the market, offering substantially reduced fuel consumption and a lower environmental footprint.”

The client’s role in the development of the vessel involves providing Damen with in-depth input from the market.

“They listen to what we – and other stakeholders – have to say and based on that, go about developing a highly valuable vessel that meets all of these requirements with standardisation.”

Smart, connected, more sustainable

Going forwards, the group will continue to provide Damen with the input it needs to perfect the design. This will be done via Triton – Damen’s connected vessel platform. Triton collects and analyses data gathered from thousands of sensors located around the vessel relating to such things as engine performance indicators, fuel consumption, and maintenance requirements.

This makes Damen vessels smarter, providing not only a route to product evolution, but also offering a number of benefits to the operator. This includes a reduction in downtime through performing preventative maintenance, for example. If also enables the optimisation of operational efficiency, sailing the most efficient route and reducing emissions and fuel consumption yet further.

Installed onboard the Feyz Group’s CF 5000, Triton will provide data on the vessel’s operation, feeding it back to the company and to Damen. With this, Damen will be able to finetune the design, ensuring the increasingly sustainable performance of the design. Mr Aynaci says he is only too pleased to contribute to such a process.

“As ship owners we always say, ‘safety first’. With that in mind, what could be more important than the safety of the world? We need to make a plan to preserve the world for future generations. I’m very optimistic about this. If we all work together, we can do it.”

On the top image: The CF 5000-design for the Feyz Group