Bakker Sliedrecht First Major China Delivery
This month Bakker Sliedrecht’s Chinese production facility delivers the first of four water-cooled frequency drives for use on board cable layers in the SMIT/Boskalis offshore fleet. The delivery from the Bakker Marine Electric Zhangzhou plant in Xiamen marks a milestone in Bakker Sliedrecht’s entrance to the Chinese maritime market.
Bakker Sliedrecht is supplying an extensive e-package including engineering, project supervision and commissioning for the vessels, currently being built by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., Ltd (ZPMC). The vessels are equipped with a sophisticated diesel-electric propulsion system with DP2 notation. The frequency drives for this system are of the DC-bus type. There are two propulsion thrusters delivering 1250 kW and two retractable 1000 kW thrusters. Each propulsion thruster of 1250 kW is combined with four mooring winches with an output of 75 kW each, and each 1000 kW retractable thruster is combined with two mooring winches, also with an output of 75 kW each. Furthermore one of the 1000 kW retractable thruster drives is combined with a tunnelthruster of 590 kW. The main supply voltage is 3 x 690 V/50 Hz.
For Bakker Sliedrecht, this delivery is the crown on their investment in China to date. The Bakker Marine Electric Zhangzhou plant in Xiamen only recently started its production in China of direct water-cooled drives, and the plant itself is the result of Bakker Sliedrecht’s long-term vision. According the company’s statement: “To secure the company’s competitive position in a booming market like China, the decision was taken some years ago to actually produce in China itself. After all, in China, too, the power systems on board of offshore- and dredging vessels are becoming ever larger and as a consequence are requiring ever better management. Power management for ships of this size requires intelligent electronics, for example in the form of frequency drives.”
The second reason for Bakker Sliedrecht to initiate production in China is the company’s preference for in-house production of this kind of high-tech installations. Together with the appointment of Chinese senior staff, a start was made on training Chinese service employees. The training programme has now been completed, and Bakker Marine Electric Zhangzhou is able to provide full service, on the spot, on first demand.
Image: Men at work in the factory of Bakker Sliedrecht in Xiamen, China (Courtesy of Bakker Sliedrecht)