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Students on work experience at Det Norske Veritas (DNV) have presented their 'ship-train' concept to members of the shipping industry, which comprises a vessel that is powered by hydrogen fuel cells and wind power.

In the space of six weeks during the summer, 13 hand-picked students worked on an assignment entitled "Sustainable adaption to climate change - Arctic opportunities and threats".

The students chose the year 2050, by which time the Arctic Ocean is expected to be free of ice all summer. "If ice forms in winter, it will be the first year that ice is easy to break," DNV said. The students call their solution AMV Njord - Arctic Modular Vessel.

The ship is designed like a train and consists of several modules, each of which is 200 metres long. The ship's maximum length is 1.8 kilometres. Since the ship-train is to sail right across the Arctic Ocean, there is very little need for detailed navigation and the navigation is otherwise based on advanced satellite technology. A sail attached to each ship-train module efficiently catches the wind at a height of 300 metres.

The students have designed a bow that rotates so that it can change from a normal bow for use in open seas into an ice-breaking bow. At each end, there is a 200-metre-long propulsion unit with an engine and submersible propeller thrusters. In addition to wind power, the ship is also powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Commenting on the project, DNV said "Experienced DNV staff have been able to do calculations regarding the concept and have been unable to find any "faults" in the students' work. On the contrary, many of them have been full of enthusiasm and admiration for the innovative concept."

The five young women and eight young men, all from Scandinavia, have varied backgrounds ranging from biology and energy to IT, logistics and naval architecture.

Great interest

When the concept was presented at DNV's head office, representatives of three Norwegian ministries asked to be allowed to attend and shipping companies, equipment suppliers and others in the maritime industry were also represented.

"I'm proud to be responsible for this," says Gustav Lybæk Heiberg at DNV. "Our intention with this student project is to attract the cleverest people and get them to look at our problems with fresh eyes. And of course we hope that they'll go back to their universities as ambassadors for DNV," he added.

Representatives of shipping companies Wilh. Wilhelmsen and Maersk watched the presentation with great interest. "Ships are getting bigger and bigger. We're pushing boundaries all the time. This concept is a continuation of this trend," said Wilhelm Mohr, sales director of Maersk Line Norway.