ADB May - Association of Dutch Businessmen

REVIEW
Container shipping is a logistic service
and hence planning is key. As a ship operator
you do not want to end up in a situation
whereby you have to discharge a specific
container for a certain port location and this
container is at the very bottom of the ship with a
stack of 14 containers on top of it! The Singapore
ship planning is the department looking
after the vessels in the Easter Hemisphere;
they do the planning of containers on
board. Parameters are: 1) maintaining the
advertised schedule 2) optimal space
planning 3) stick to agreed berthing windows,
4) optimize crane distribution, 5) ensure
stability and safe stowage during voyage
and 6) maximize economics of the ship.
P&O Nedlloyd Houtman
Also at the P&O Nedlloyd Houtman we were
warmly welcomed by Captain Mr. Vriens and his
(Dutch) officers.
The P&O Nedlloyd Houtman is one of the largest
container vessels of the P&O Nedlloyd fleet (the
biggest one being the PONL Mondrian with a
capacity of 8450 TEU). The vessel is named after a
famous Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman who
was born in 1540. He, together with his brother,
successfully explored a route to the East, and
set-up a flourishing trade in spices, together with
his brother
The vessel has recently changed from traveling
between USA and the Far East to the Europe Asia
service. She has a service speed of 24.5 knots (=45
km per hour). When the ship is fully loaded, she
has a weight of over 1,000,000,000 kilograms and
carries about 6800 (twenty feet) containers. The
length of the ship is 299.99 meters and is 43 meters
breadth. The height from the keel to the top of
the mast is 60 meters.
This modern vessel is equipped with the ‘state
of the art’ technology. Navigation equipment is all
computerised, and therefore one man is able to
sail this large vessel whilst at open sea. From the
bridge, the officer can control the whole vessel,
including the engine room.
The Master is in command of the vessel, with
the Chief Engineer Officer by his side. Being a fully
integrated vessel, all officers are fully operational
in both the navigational
as technical department.
Total crew is 25 only!
The engine used for the
propulsion is a Sulzer RTA 96c,
one of the largest engines in the world. It has a
power of 65,800 kilowatt, which is comparible with
750 Porsches Turbo. The engine is 23 meters long,
13 meter high and weighs over a million kilograms.
It has 12 cylinders with a diameter of about 1 meter
each. Each piston moves up and own 2.5 meter
while the engine is running. If at full speed, it
consumes about 250,000 liters of fuel every day!
For electric power the vessels has generators,
which can produce 15 megawatt, enough for
300,000 houses.
The officers gave an extensive tour of the vessel
including the bridge and engine room. A traditional
‘rijsttafel’ was kindly offered by PONL.
On behalf of all participants we thank Paul,
Captain Vriens and his staff for giving us the
opportunity to learn and see more about this key
industry for both The Netherlands and Singapore.
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Vol.15 • No. 4 • May 2005