Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 53 No. 2 (2016)

FOREWORD

Technical Review Special Edition:
Shipbuilding and Ocean Development
Ko ji Okur a
Se nior Vice Pr esident
Vi c e Pres ide n t ,C o mm erc ial Avia t io n & Tr ansp or ta t io n S ys t ems
Se nior Ge ne ra l Ma nager,
Sh ip bu ilding & Oc ean De velop men t D i vision

Welcome to the special edition of MHI Technical Review featuring our Shipbuilding and OceanDevelopment.
In October 2013, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) restructured its operational segments
based on specific business domains. The current four-domain structure allows us to cultivate new
business areas and to offer new value-added products in order to achieve a greater market presence
and play a significant role in global advancement.
The shipbuilding and ocean development industry has experienced a slump in global demand for
new ships due to oversupply. The markets remain challenging as current weak demand and low
prices are expected to continue. However, MHI’s Shipbuilding and Ocean Development Division
remains committed to bringing significant benefits to our clients’ business development throughour range of unique, high-value products that fully incorporate the strength of our long-establishedshipbuilding technologies and the Group's comprehensive development capabilities.
Our operations are based in two locations: two subsidiaries launched in October 2015 at theNagasaki Shipyard handle construction of LNG and LPG carriers, while the Shimonoseki Shipyard
handles construction of domestic passenger ferries and special-purpose high-performance vessels
such as research ships. Both shipyards offer our clients vessels with high-added-value and superiortechnologies. Furthermore, MHI’s expertise in cruise ship construction is fully utilized in its
passenger-focused ROPAX ferries. With a plan to aggressively pursue business in European
markets, this passenger-focused area is expected to be a key shipbuilding operation for the MHIGroup.
This special edition features 11 new technologies and products as examples of our division’s
recent achievements and introduces the new group subsidiaries set up at the Nagasaki Shipyard.
We have developed Sayaringo STaGE, a next-generation LNG carrier with high economicperformance, low environmental load, and superior versatility, developed specifically to meet theongoing increase in LNG demand. As the production capacity of North American shale gas
improves due to technology innovation, the need to transport gas to the Japanese market isexpected to grow. Features of this new LNG carrier, such as new non-spherical, apple-shaped tanks
that significantly increase LNG carrying capacity compared to earlier spherical tanks, continuous
covers over the tanks, and the energy-efficient STaGE (steam turbine and gas engine) propulsion
plant are introduced. Also discussed are the LNG supply chain and floating production
infrastructure.
As for the energy-efficient RoPax ferry technology, we highlight our new large-size RoPaxferries, the first to be equipped with a dual hybrid propulsion system with an SGM (shaft generatormotor), and another with a hybrid propulsion system, main propeller directly driven by two diesel
engines and two electric-drive azimuth propellers besides the main propeller.

1Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 53 No. 2 (2016)2Regarding environmental protection technologies, we introduce the construction and installationof a wind turbine floater system for Fukushima floating offshore wind farm demonstration project,onboard testing of UE engines with low pressure EGR compliant with IMO NOx Tier III
regulations, and development and onboard testing of a marine SOx scrubber system compliant with
the IMO SOx emission regulations.
Concerning fundamental development technologies, we feature our high-precision estimation
technique for ship hull flow fields using numerical simulation, as well as prediction technology forunderwater noise radiation of propeller tip vortex cavitation.
Also discussed as contracted engineering projects are a new 11,000 GT-class RORO
(roll-on/roll-off) cargo ship and a 7,000-car class post-Panamax PCTC (pure car/truck carrier),
both conceptually designed by MHI and further developed and constructed at a shipyard of MHI’spartners.
We conclude this edition with introductions to the new subsidiaries: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Hull Production Co., Ltd.
While working towards creating a new business scheme for shipbuilding, MHI’s Shipbuilding &Ocean Development Division is also dedicated to the ongoing development of new products andtechnologies to satisfy ever-changing market and social needs. We deeply appreciate your ongoingsupport and guidance in our pursuit of excellence.