Contship Aurora - Container Ship

The Contship Aurora was built at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Company in Korea as hull number 4,082. It is owned by CP Ships and operated by Contship Containerlines. The vessel was designed by Daewoo as the first of three sister ships.

This Contship Aurora was ordered to fulfill part of a circumnavigation route sailing eastbound via Suez and returning via Panama to the eastern seaboard of the USA and back to Europe. There will also be a westbound reversed service which its sister vessels will participate in.

The Contship Aurora has an overall length of 281m and a length between perpendiculars is 69.8m. It has a moulded breadth of 32.2m and the depth to main deck is 19.85m. The designers specified that the ship should be a double skinned vessel. The width of the double skin is 2.07m at the side and 1.8m at the bottom.

The vessel registers 4,609t. It has a design deadweight of 50,361t and a scantling deadweight of 54,155t. It has a design draft of 12m and a scantling draft of 12.5m.

ENGINES, MANOEUVRING AND POWER OF CONTSHIP AURORA

Its main engine is a Sulzer model 9RTA96C-B unit, manufactured in Korea by the HSD Engine Company. It has an output of 69,360bhp at 102rpm or 62,940bhp at 98.5rpm. This is directly coupled to a Hyundai fixed pitch propeller. The nickel aluminium bronze propeller has a diameter of 8.5m and is driven at 102rpm.

For manoeuvring there is a 1,600kW Lips bow thruster, which is driven at a speed of 1,200rpm.

Power is supplied by four diesel driven gensets. These consist of Wartsila engines linked to Hyundai heavy industries alternators. Two of the alternators have an output of 3,900kW at 720rpm and the other two have an output of 3,400kW at 720rpm.

The Contship Aurora has a horizontal auxiliary boiler and a vertical exhaust gas boiler. These are supplied by Kangrim and have an output of 4.5t/h each.

CONTAINER CAPACITIES OF CONTSHIP AURORA

The containership has a total of seven cargo holds and can accommodate containers with lengths of 20ft, 40ft and 45ft. It has a total TEU capacity of 4,121 units, which are arranged on the upper deck in seven tiers by 13 units across and seven tiers by 11 across in the holds. The arrangement breaks down to 1,698 TEUs in the holds and 2,423 TEUs on deck. As many as 739 of the containers in the holds are refrigerated.

The vessel also incorporates 14 hatches, which are closed by 41 McGregor lift-away pontoon hatch covers. These are designed to except stack loadings of 90/120t. Holds 2 to 7 have a mechanical supply and exhaust ventilation system which provides 4,500m³/h for each 40ft reefer container.

BRIDGE AND CREW OF CONTSHIP AURORA

The bridge control system is designed for one-man operation. The vessel is staffed by a complement of 20 officers and ten crew. At the stern of the vessel is the eight-tier accommodation block and navigation bridge. Below this is the machinery space.

The hotel facilities include a Jong-Hap model be 10 AEROB sewage plant, a Hyundai MaxiT 150SL waste incinerator and an Electrolux 51060 waste compactor.

The key feature of the new vessel is that it has been awarded a GL 'Green Passport' notation. This is a document detailing the environmental properties of the ship. Port authorities may examine this to test its compliance with international environmental requirements, which could bring financial benefits such as reduced port fees.