Answer

Introduction

A majority of the players in the maritime industry have focused their attention on the introduction of new technologies aimed at the reduction of emissions and the improvement of efficiency (Molland et al., 2014, p.175). The concerns about the protection of the environment from emissions codified under the Paris Agreement (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) has resulted in ship manufacturers adopting designs of dry cargo shops which respond to these issues (Marsh, 2017). Moreover, the changing economic conditions have led to the use of solar panels and wind power electricity which is more efficient and less costly compared to the diesel-driven engines (Balcombe et al., 2019, p.72). In the future, the design of the dry cargo ships will now be on practices which embrace composite materials for the hull and machinery and adopting other measures which seek to reduce noise emission and the costs of hiring and maintaining the seafarers. This paper provides a discussion of what the future of a dry cargo ship may look like based on the environmental concerns, changing economic climate, and the need to reduce emissions and ensure increased efficiency.

Future Dry Cargo Ship Designs

In the next 30 years, dry cargo ships will be designed to use solar and wind power and address the environmental concerns about emissions. Notably, according to Balcombe et al. (209, p.72), international shipping is responsible for more than 2 percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally. In recognition of those aspects, global shipping fleets committed in 2018 to cut the emissions of greenhouse gases by at least 50 percent by 2050 (Pearce, 2018). When the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, the responsibility of fighting climate change in the shipping industry was left in the hands of the International Maritime Organization. Balcombe et al. (2019, p.73), due to the availability of cheap and often dirty fuel, dry cargo ships have relied on such types of fuel which are not only wasteful but also detrimental to the environment. However, in the future, ships will banish the conventional petroleum-based fuel and resort to the use of liquefied natural gas as well as the application of nuclear reactors which will catch the wind as well as solar panels (see Appendix 1 in the Appendices section for the prototype of solar powered ships). Power will be captured from the wind as the roto’s sails will have large spinning cylinder amidships. As a result, the hurricanes hitting the rotors will create a vertical force which will be used in powering the ship to generate a Magnus effect (Horvath, Fasihi, and Breyer, 2018, p.230). The use of wind power and solar panels in the future will result in a reduction of dry cargo ships’ carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 tons annually.

In the future, ships will be unmanned/autonomous to ensure efficiency via the reduction of operating costs. In specific, most of the dry cargo ships around the world have continued to work on mechanisms for the decrease in operational expenses especially amid the imposition of various environmental regulations which entail greater implementation costs of both advanced technologies and safety measures. Notably, according to Baldauf et al. (2018, p.10), most of the current facilities and systems in a dry cargo ship have been set up to ensure that the crew is not only fed and kept safe but also comfortable. As such, the future will see the vessels eliminating the need for people via the radical simplification of the ships (see appendix 2 for the design of future umanned dry cargo ships). The autonomous vessels will not need any crew facilities and systems. For instance, there will be no need for air conditioners, electricity, and sewerage (Porathe et al., 2018, p.12). The uncrewed vessels will only see the seafarers deployed to man and steer them from a shore control room. The ships will have advanced communication and navigational systems which will seek to facilitate both accurate control and data transfer between the vessel and the shore control. It is expected that the autonomous ships will arrive faster than anticipated due to the falling costs of technology coupled with the need to solve the labour shortage of seafarers especially in the dry cargo ships (Baldauf et al., 2018, p.15). Irrespective of whether humans or robots will operate the shops, it is evident that the designs of the current massive and emission-spewing commercial vessels will change in the future.

The economic climate has called for increased efficiency of the ships which might see the future ships being built with composite materials. Notably, according to Neşer (2017, p.19), the metals which have been used to construct the vessels are heavy which has resulted in increased fuel consumption and decreased the capacity of cargo. However, in the future, the dry cargo ships will be built using fibres and plastic which will profoundly reduce their weight, improve energy consumption, and increase the cargo capacity. Notably, the European Union has led to the way in launching the “fibership” which develops composite materials such as hulls for dry cargo ships of more than 50 meters in length (Baraniuk, 2017). However, for the cargo ships with heavy cargo, steel will still be the material of choice. Moreover, systems will be used to ensure that the dry cargo ships have rigid sails. Also, various technologies will be deployed in the production of ship components. For instance, 3D printing technology will be used in the printing of propellers. The technology will not only lead to better designs of the ships which will increase their speed but also ensure that when a part breaks at sea and require replacing, then it will be printed used the 3D technology on board (Neşer, 2017, p.22). The machinery will have to change to accommodate the emerging technologies and ensure efficiency not only for the ship owners but also for the cargo owners who will see a reduction in the cost of dry cargo transportation by sea.

                Future ships will be made from effective hydrodynamic design; which are essential hydro-acoustic design in ensuring the effective control of noise both above and below the water. Notably, due to a large number of dry cargos carried by the ships, the sound propagates four times in water compared to its propagation in the air (Yahiya et al., 2016, p.3). In specific, currently, the sound propagation in water is 1484 m/s versus 343 m/s in the air (Borelli et al., 2016). The explanation for such a scenario is that the low absorption of sound in water makes the sound travel hundreds of kilometres in the open sea and hence affecting the marine fauna. The reasons for such high levels of noise emission is the main and auxiliary engines, electric motors, and turbulence in the boundary water arising from the hull and other appendages (Molland et al., 2014, p.176). With the propeller being the dominant source of noise, any cavitation in the propeller blades increases the noise levels from both the tonal and broadband noise. However, in the future, the noise aspect will be considered in the initial design of the dry cargo ships. When the hull is well-designed via the use of composite materials, then it will require less power and hence result in a uniform inflow to the propellers and increase the efficiency of the propellers (Atkinson, Nguyen, and Binns, 2018). In the end, the underwater radiated noise; which arises from the uneven wake flow, will be reduced. Although the cavitation of the dry cargo ships cannot be avoided entirely, it can be controlled and kept at moderate levels which will lead to future dry cargo shops being quieter, more efficient, and have lower emissions.

Conclusion

The increasing concerns over environmental protection and the adoption of the Paris Agreement; which requires reduction of carbon emissions from shipping by at least 50 percent in 2050, will see future dry cargo ships adopt better energy sources and use composite materials in the building/design of the crucial parts of the vessels. In the future, the shops will desert the traditional fuel-driven engines and adopt solar and wind environmentally friendly electricity. Additionally, the inefficiencies of the use of seafarers especially because of the costs of feeding them and making them comfortable will see future ships being operated automatically by robots/drones or being controlled from an external shore room. Moreover, the inefficiencies caused by the heavy materials used in shipbuilding will make future ships use composite materials such as fibre and plastics which will result in improved energy consumption and increased cargo capacity. Moreover, the vessels will deploy 3D printing of some of the parts such as the hull to ensure reduced noises which are a threat to the existence of marine fauna. Using the hydro-acoustic designs will make future dry cargo ships less noisy, more efficient, and environmentally friendly.