The new factory trawler, Baldvin Njálsson GK-400, – 66.30 metres long 16 metres wide–, designed by Skipasýn and built at Astilleros Armón Vigo for the Icelandic company Nesfiskur, has incorporated a system developed by Siemens and Ibercisa Deck Machinery called ‘ULISES’ that brings together the latest technologies in efficiency and energy management for trawlers. 

 

Fishing winches have such importance in the energy balance of fishing vessels that other essential aspects of the vessel, such as its propulsion or its energy generators, should be dimensioned according to the characteristics of those winches. The difficulty lies in designing a balanced system that optimises the use of the installed power, keeping the initial output as low as possible whilst maximising operational efficiency. That is to say, keeping the consumption as low as possible, the CAPEX as much as the OPEX.

 

With this goal, IBERCISA and SIEMENS began development of the ULISES platform, now tested on this vessel, and which has demonstrated the advantages safety and energy saving, as well as the opportunities for future developments in hybrid propulsion, energy efficiency and safety at sea.

 

The ULISES system was developed according to the Industry 4.0 concept of IBERCISA and SIEMENS. During an initial phase an offline simulation was carried out at Siemens Germany with data from the generators, propellers, refrigeration, bow thrusters, and the auxiliary diesel generator. At a later phase, several teams of Ibercisa and Siemens technicians went to the Siemens drive factory in Nuremberg (Germany) to directly test the system in an HiL (Hardware in the Loop) simulation.

 

“These simulations, ULISES’ digital twin as well as Hardware in the Loop tests, allowed us to carry out a commissioning of the system, before the real one, with the aim of discovering possible weak points and establishing corrective measures”, explain Ibercisa.

 

ULISES combines Innovation, Integration, Industry 4.0, energy saving and cyber security; five key aspects for the industry now and for the future.

 

IBERCISA’s technicians will be present at Navalia 2022, where they will be able to share their knowledge of the system’s application on different vessels. At the same time, IBERCISA has organised a technical paper presentation on Wednesday the 25^th of May at 10 o’clock.