Aufrufe
vor 2 Jahren

HANSA 01-2022

Outlook clouding as Omicron surges - Versicherer starten Weckruf gegen Container-Risiken - Ampel will den Fortschritt wagen - MEPC 77 enttäuscht auf ganzer Linie - MCN Cup 2021: Eine Ideenschmiede für Häfen und Schiffe

TECH-INNOVATION POWERED

TECH-INNOVATION POWERED BY VDMA - MARINE EQUIPMENT AND SYSTEMS No exports without a domestic market With around 400 employees, the Hamelin-based company Reintjes produces marine gear units in a range from 250 kW to 40,000 kW. HANSA spoke to Managing Director Klaus Deleroi about current trends in gear development and in the shipbuilding and supplier industry innovation replaces the previous model, which is now more than 30 years old. »We applied the latest gear technology know how and achieved a smaller size, but with more power throughput plus – very important – a modular set up,« says Klaus Deleroi. »Many customers want to switch to hybrid drive in the future. That is why our new small transmission is already pre-equipped. A change to a hybrid gear at a later stage is possible, the PTO/ PTI and the electric motor can simply be retrofitted in situ, of course provided there is enough space on board.« The new transmission series is designed especially for inland waterway vessels, fishing vessels, small coasters and smaller workboats or ferries. Klaus Deleroi has been managing director at Reintjes since 2015 The traditional company, founded in 1879, has its origins in inland shipping, reports Klaus Deleroi in an interview with HANSA. At that time, Theodor Reintjes laid the foundation for today’s globally active gear manufacturer with a mechanical workshop in Emmerich on the Rhine. One of the milestones in the history of Reintjes was the development of a reversing gear by Eugen Reintjes in 1929. »Previously, ships could only reverse by stopping the engine and shifting the camshaft so that the engine turned the other way. This prompted Eugen Reintjes to develop a reversing gear, especially for inland waterway skippers. Our origin is the inland vessel,« says Deleroi. When the Emmerich workshop was destroyed in World War II, Reintjes relocated to Hameln. At that time, the Weser was still navigable and there were several inland shipyards in the area, reports the current managing director. »Little by little«, Reintjes then also entered ocean shipping. Then as now, Reintjes oriented the development of its products to the needs of the market. Today, emission reduction, especially of CO 2 , is the main issue occupying engine makers and thus also gearbox manufacturers. »We will have to adapt to new drive systems,« says Deleroi, »Already today, around 80 % of customers are requesting transmissions for hybrid drive systems.« The managing director assumes that there will be some changes in drive technology in the next five years. For this reason, he says, he is working closely with the engine, propeller and waterjet manufacturers in order to be able to offer the correct reduction ratios in the future. »In order to meet the tighter emission regulations, the nominal engine speeds are going up. The propellers tend to have larger diameters and thus a lower propeller speed. As a result: we need to design our gears with higher gear ratios,« explains Deleroi. Reintjes also developed a new small gearbox series, called WF. The product © Wroblewski Feeder are interesting According to Deleroi, the hybrid topic also plays a major role in the yacht sector. Particularly in the Mediterranean, for example in Italy or France, some ports only allow »electric entry«. Therefore, the Reintjes managing director thinks that yachts of the future will all be fitted with hybrid drives, however he could also well imagine that yachts will be completely electric in the future. Especially in view of the fact that these ships are often only driven at full power for a few hours a year and therefore do not need so much power. Where Deleroi cannot imagine hybrid drive systems at all, is in the area of seagoing vessels. Such a ship crossing the ocean would end up carrying only batteries but no cargo or passengers. Deleroi is sure that for ships with long haul journeys, combustion engines will still be used in the future, but with synthetic CO 2 neutral fuels. Where the journey for Reintjes is to go in the future, the managing director formulates as follows: »We are now strongly represented in a lot of patrol vessels, for example in coast guard or police, as well as in the commercial sector, in fishing vessels, ferries, yachts or workboats. In the near future, feeder ships will become more interesting, for which Reintjes has 40 HANSA – International Maritime Journal 01 | 2022

The gear box on the left is 30 years old and will be replaced by a new one from the WF series suitable gears and propulsion systems in their portfolio. Of course all these gear solutions can also come with a hybrid function.« According to Deleroi, who is not only Reintjes’ managing director but also active in the German industry associations VDMA and VSM, such feeder ships could also be build in Europe, e.g. in Germany. Especially those ships which have to comply with the latest regulations with regard to ship efficiency and emissions »Without a healthy domestic market, we will not remain an exporting country,« Deleroi is certain, »We need strong shipbuilding in Germany – I am firmly convinced of that.« New control system to come This opinion is also reflected in current trends: »Many short sea ship owners are currently returning to Europe and want to build their vessels here again,« he describes the positive development. »Against this background, it is a pity that that Europe has lost some shipyard capacities over the last years. However, the remaining shipyards in Spain, Turkey, Netherlands, just to name a few countries, could still be interested in these projects. Maybe there is even interest in Germany.« German suppliers play a leading role in many trend topics, including digitalization. Of course, this applies to Reintjes as well: »We do not have a sophisticated monitoring and control device on every gearbox,« says Deleroi, »But we are currently developing an »Many short sea ship owners are currently returning to Europe and want to build their vessels here again« Klaus Deleroi new control and monitoring system for all of our gears. Eventually, this work will be extended to a Reintjes condition monitoring system. We are currently testing some units in the field. The system collects basic operational data on board, like oil temperature, oil pressure and vibration levels. This data is then clustered and transmitted to a server, which then is run through a trend analysis. If something goes wrong, a warning goes to the operator and also to Reintjes. Then we will send an employee on board to check physically. In cases like this, it is advantageous that our company has a well organized worldwide service network.« Next year, some more field test units are entering the market, before the series introduction is to begin in 2023. Deleroi also reports that digitalization is making its way into the company’s work processes. For example, Reintjes has developed a gearbox configurator with which the sales managers can select the gears easily according to the customers’ requirements. »The topic of digitalization within Reintjes is currently about how we can make our work easier. Most important, we have to increase the efficiency of our processes so that we can serve our customers faster and more focused having their requirements in mind,« says Deleroi. In terms of the company’s direction in general, Reintjes continues to improve its products and focuses on drive train solutions for hybrid propulsion plants but also fully electric drives. AW Körting ejectors for the shipbuilding industry trouble-free operation for life! HANSA – International Maritime Journal 01 | 2022 41 +49 511 2129-446 | sales@koerting.de

HANSA Magazine

HANSA Magazine

Hansa News Headlines