The consortium of the innovation project Shore Support is expanding with ship-owner Gerhard de Jonge and his new ship m.s. Alana Evita. This ship sets sail in November 2009. During the building process De Jonge decided to convert his HFO installation to an MGO installation. This switch makes it possible to join the project Shore Support and makes sailing better for the environment. The Alana Evita is the 25th ship joining the Shore Support project.
‘Sailing without Chief Engineer is not considered a barrier’
By joining Shore Support De Jonge has a concrete objective to aim for: “By joining this project and with help of my Maritime Officers (MBO, level 3), I want to show that sailing without a Chief Engineer is not considered a barrier. Furthermore the chance of fatigue decreases by sailing with Marof’s. This reason only is an improvement and a reason to sail without Chief Engineer.”
De Jonge has more to add to his opinion: “On board of ships in the category <3000GT/<3000kW, maintenance often means changing parts. In combination with support from shore this is very much doable for a Marof. Practice will show that a smaller crew is capable of efficiently solving problems, although there might be thought that only a Chief Engineer is capable of doing this. It is important for the Marof to learn how to analyze, so the problem can be transferred correctly to the support team ashore.”
From HFO to MGO
The decision of De Jonge to convert his HFO installation to an MGO installation on the Alana Evita is at least remarkable. Sailing on HFO is cheaper then on MGO. De Jonge: “The developments on national and European level lead to tougher regulations for the shipping industry on various aspects. This, and based on my earlier, present and future calculations on fuel prices confirms that my decision of converting the fuel installation, even in this stadium of building the ship, is correct. MGO as cleaner fuel contributes to health of humans and animals, and I consider this as profit. Sailing on MGO is easier for my personnel.”
De Jonge is prepared to contribute in the benefit of the environment. He also says: “I hope that the Dutch government and the EU support these kinds of initiatives by rewarding us with discount on harbor fees.” The Swedish harbors already provide discount on harbor fees. De Jonge adds: “All European harbors should apply these kinds of discount as stimulation.”