经济学人下载:船舶技术 探索未知之旅

Science and technology
科学技术

Marine technology
船舶技术

A voyage of discovery
探索未知之旅

New technology can make ships more versatile, more efficient and cleaner, too
新技术使轮船更万能、更高效、也更环保

IN THE days when Norsemen pillaged their way around the monasteries and villages of Europe, Norwegian shipwrights were at the forefront of naval architecture.
早在北欧人大肆掠夺欧洲的修道院和村庄时 ，挪威的造船工人就已在造船技术方面跻身前列。

They still are.
现在他们仍然处于世界领先水平。

Norway is an important centre of marine innovation and several foreign companies have operations there, too.
挪威是重要的船舶创新中心，一些外国公司也在这里设有分公司。

One such is the marine division of Rolls-Royce, a British firm, which is collaborating with Farstad, a shipping company based in Alesund, and STX OSV, a shipbuilder.
其中一家便是劳斯莱斯公司在这里设立的海运部，这家英国公司与总部设在阿雷松德的Farstad航运公司以及STX OSV造船公司都拥有合作关系，

The result of their efforts is Far Solitaire, the first of a new class of vessels which bristle with novel technology that promises to make shipping safer, cleaner and cheaper.
而他们三强通力合作的成果便是远航明珠舰。它是一批新式轮船中第一艘运用大量创新技术的船，这些技术使得船运更安全、更环保/清洁、更低廉。

Far Solitaire has been designed as a platform-supply ship for the North Sea's oil and gas industry.
远航明珠舰是为了发展北海石油和天然气开采业而设计的一艘平台供给轮船。

This means she is not a large vessel.
这意味着它的体型并不大。

She is 91 metres long, has a deadweight of 5,700 tonnes and cost about 70m.
它长91米，载重量为5700公吨，总造价约7000万美元。

But some of the innovations she uses should be applicable to vessels of all sizes.
但是设计该船时所运用的一些创新技术却适用于任何大小的船只。

At the moment she is being fitted out by STX OSV at its Langsten shipyard on Tomrefjord.
目前这艘轮船还停泊在Tomrefjord的Langsten造船厂由STX OSV公司完成装配工作。

In October she will be delivered to Farstad, who will use her to supply rigs in the region's notoriously heavy seas.
今年十月，它将被交付给Farstad公司，该公司会用它在波涛汹涌北海运送钻探设备。

Crucially, she has to be able to hold her position while transferring cargoes that include various noxious materials which are employed in drilling or pumped into wells to improve the process of extraction.
最关键的是，它必须在转移货物时保持平稳。这些货物包含了各种有毒物质，将用于钻井或用泵注入油井中以优化石油提取过程。

These have to be delivered to and removed from the platforms.
它们必须由船只运到钻井平台上，使用完后再运离平台。

Such transfers are potentially hazardous for the people involved and for the environment.
这种运输过程对参与者以及环境都存在着潜在的危险。

One of Far Solitaire's most important innovations is her wave-piercing hull. Below the waterline her bow has the bulbous drag-reducing nose that has become a familiar feature of modern ships.
远航明珠舰所使用的最重要的一项创新技术就是它的穿浪型船体。该轮船的吃水线下面有一个球形的“大鼻子”用来减少波浪带来的阻力，这对现代轮船来说并不是什么稀奇的特点，

Above it, however, things are all new.
但它球鼻上方的构造却是十分新鲜。

Where a standard ship's bow would have a flat foredeck, Far Solitaire's flows up and over the vessel.
按标准结构来说，轮船的船头通常都有一块平坦的前甲板，而远航明珠舰的船头却向上突起，高过船身。

This means that instead of riding the waves, as most ships do, she can penetrate them.
这意味着与其它的乘浪行驶的轮船不同，远航明珠舰能破浪行驶。

That is a crucial change.
这是一个十分重要的改变。

When a ship rides the waves her engines slow down and then surge as her hull rises and falls.
当一艘船乘浪行驶时它的引擎转速会随着船体的上下颠簸而加快或变慢/它的引擎会随着船体的上下颠簸或减速或加速。

By piercing the swell, Far Solitaire will be able to maintain her engines at a constant speed.
远航明珠舰能破开涌动的海浪从而使它的引擎维持常速工作。

This will cut fuel consumption, reduce wear and tear, and make life for the crew safer and more comfortable.
这一改变能降低轮船的油耗，减少轮船的磨损，同时使船员更加安全舒适。

Future shipshape
未来新船舶技术

Far Solitaire is powered by a conventional diesel-electric system consisting of three engines connected to generators that run electric motors.
远航明珠舰由一个传统的柴电推进系统驱动，该系统由三个引擎组成，而这三个引擎又与运行着马达的发电机相连接。

The thrusters which those electric motors drive, however, are anything but conventional.
但是那些马达所驱动的推进器却远非寻常。

The main pair are stern-mounted Azipull propellers. These are similar to the azimuth thrusters already used on some vessels: propellers on pods that can be rotated to push the ship in different directions, making a rudder unnecessary.
其中最重要的一对是安装在船尾的Azipull螺旋桨，它们与一些轮船已经在使用的方位推进器有点相似：分离舱上可旋转的螺旋桨能够推动船驶向不同的方向，这样就不必再使用船舵。

But the Rolls-Royce Azipull has the propeller at the front of the pod rather than the back.
但是劳斯莱斯公司将Azipull螺旋桨装在了分离舱的前端而非尾部，

That means the propeller operates in a smoother flow of water, which improves efficiency and assists steering.
这意味着螺旋桨能在更平稳的水流中工作，从而提高效率，方便轮船的行驶。

This design has been made possible using computational fluid dynamics to perfect the shapes of the blades and pods.
设计师通过计算流体力学完善舵叶与分离舱的形状，使得这种设计成为可能。

Further control is provided by two bow thrusters. These are propellers mounted in transverse tunnels in the hull, to help position the craft and hold her stable while alongside a rig.
其他操控设备还有船首侧推装置，它是安装在船体横向通道中的两个推进器，用来帮助轮船进行定位并在船上装载钻探时保持船体平稳。

And there is also an azimuth thruster that can be swung down from the forward part of the hull if an extra push is required.
另外在需要额外推力时还有方位推进器可从船体前方摆下。

All of these propulsion systems are handled by moving one of the joysticks next to the captain's chair in a bridge with a 360° view that looks more suitable for the starship Enterprise than what is, after all, a souped-up freighter.
船长只要移动驾驶室座椅边的操纵杆就能控制这些推进装置，这个拥有360°全方位视角的驾驶室看起来更适合进取号星舰，而不仅仅是普通的货船，因为后者只不过是加了马力的船舶而已。

The consequences of moving the joystick can, fortunately, be practised on shore without risk to ship or platform, courtesy of a new 360° bridge simulator in Rolls-Royce's marine-training centre in Alesund.
幸好移动操控杆的效果能在阿雷松德船舶训练中心进行试验，劳斯莱斯公司在这里建有一个360°全方位视角的模拟驾驶室，有了岸上的训练就能避免给轮船和钻井平台带来危险。

The captain can also call on the assistance of an electronic positioning system that uses a combination of data from satellites, gyrocompasses, and wind and motion sensors to operate the thrusters automatically.
另外，船长还能从电子定位系统中获取帮助，该系统能结合卫星、回转罗盘、风能和运动传感器三者的数据自动操控推进器。

Solid freight is carried on a deck that has an area of 1,020 square metres.
固体货物会被安置在一个面积达1020平方米的甲板上，

Liquids, meanwhile, are stored below deck in tanks, each of which is fitted with its own pumping system, in order to avoid the risk of mixing substances best kept separate.
而液体货物则会被存储在甲板下的液货舱中，每种液体对应相应的抽运系统以避免不宜混合放置的液体搅拌在一起。

Borge Nakken, who is in charge of technology and development at Farstad, expects Far Solitaire to use about 40% less fuel than a conventional vessel of the same size that is carrying out similar tasks.
Borge Nakken是Farstad公司技术与发展部门的负责人，他预期，在执行相似任务时，远航明珠舰的耗油量将比同样大小的传统型轮船少40%，

This is a remarkable saving, and although she is a small, specialist vessel, many of her features, particularly the new bow and the more efficient system of propellers, could help reduce fuel consumption and emission levels in larger ships as well.
其耗油量的减少是十分显著的。尽管远航明珠舰是一艘专用型小轮船，但它的许多性能特别是新的船头以及更加高效的推进器都可以同样利用在大型船只上以减少耗油量与排放量。

Stricter regulations on ships' emissions are on their way—including, in particular, new controls for vessels in the North Sea and the Baltic, and off the coast of North America.
有关部门正在制定更加严格的轮船排放标准，特别是针对北海、波罗的海和北美沿海的船只。

That means shipowners who wish to ply these waters will have to stop using bunker fuel to power their vessels because burning it produces too much sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and soot.
这意味着船主想要在这些水域航行就必须停止使用船用燃料油因为它们在燃烧过程中会释放过多的二氧化硫、氮氧化合物和煤烟。

That gives extra impetus for technology of the sort being tested in Far Solitaire.
这给远航明珠舰上所试用的那种新技术的发展带来了额外的推动力。

And this time no villages will have to be pillaged to pay for it.
而这次，没有村庄会因此再遭受掠夺了。