Freely translated from Ny Teknik
The Finnish shipbuilder Wärtsilä has drawn up three possible scenarios for 2030 and made concept sketches for the ships of the future which would fit into the scenarios. They are now inviting comments from the public.
Wärtsilä’s “future investigators” have sketched three types of vessels that fit on each of the three different visions – Rough Seas, the Yellow River and the Open Oceans.
Rough Seas Water Carrier: Wärtsilä
Rough Seas is a scenario dominated by resource scarcity and uneven distribution of wealth between nations, resulting in international tensions. Climate change may add further to the stress , and the scenario sees armed escort of ships, trucks and trains becoming necessary. World trade has taken new paths and the bilateral agreements between countries has increased and industry has moved to resource-rich areas. Water has become a major commodity to be shipped in giant tankers. Global trade of food increases.
The Wärtsilä concept ship for the Rough Seas scenarios is a water tanker and having extremely energy-efficient propulsion with a combination of solar , wind and wave power.
Rough Seas Water Carrier: Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä Yellow Rive container ship
In the Yellow River scenario China has come to dominate both the geopolitical landscape and the world’s economy, but China is no longer the world’s workshop. That has moved to other Asian countries and to Africa. But it is China that governs world trade. The big shipping companies are mainly owned by Chinese interests and trade routes are mainly from the rest of the world to China. New ports are built in Africa, eastern Russia and India while Chinese ports would have grown into sophisticated, integrated logistics centres.
To represent this scenario the Wärtsilä concept ship is a container ship specially built for an entirely new kind of mega-sized container – a Mega-Box. Each Mega Box would then contain 16 standard containers.
Wärtsilä's Yellow River Mega-Box container ship
Open Oceans Algae Harvester
The Open Oceans scenario conceives of a fully globalised world where mega-carriers and megacities have the economic power while the various country Governments concentrate and cooperate on framework agreements for climate issues or free trade agreements. Climate change seen as a business opportunity for adaptation and innovative, green solutions have become a way of life. In this world, logistics is king. All roads lead to the rich mega cities with clean water, food and energy being transported.
New ship types would have been developed for this scenario – with specialised vessels for seawater desalination or waste management or recycling which would be anchored anchored outside of these megacities. A growing trend would be cruise holidays with eco-friendly cruise ships.
As an illustration of the Open Oceans scenario, Wärtsilä has conceived of a ship specialising in the harvesting of sea algae which are envisaged to have become a vital part of the economy for food or energy. The vessel itself would be operated on biomass and solar cells.
Wärtsila Open Ocean Algae Harvester
Tags: Future Ships, Technology, Transportation and Logistics, Wärtsilä
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