Extending the life of a ship by extending her length: Technical and economic assessment of lengthening of inland vessels

Abstract

The objective of MoVe IT! (Modernisation of vessels for inland waterway freight transport) project is to investigate cost-effective options for modernisation of the European inland fleet. One of the project tasks was to examine the feasibility of lengthening of existing small vessels (LOA < 86m) from both the technical and the economic point of view. With respect to that, the gradual lengthening (in several predefined steps) of two typical inland vessels of CEMT class II and III was examined. For each step, the ship structure scantlings were verified against the rules of classification societies, the manoeuvring features were simulated and the power necessary for attaining certain speed was calculated. Finally, the economic and environmental impacts of lengthening were assessed. The results of the analysis confirmed that lengthening can be viable, in particular for larger vessels (in this case, class III) where the payback periods were found to be relatively short. In addition, the lengthening proved to have a positive effect from the environmental point of view. The analysis also demonstrated that there are conditions related to waterway characteristics and economic environment under which the lengthening would not pay off, even though it would be technically feasible.