Car Carrier Cuts Weight Through Diab Solution

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By replacing three out of thirteen decks with Divinycell sandwich panels, shipbuilder Uljanik cuts the deck weight of car carrier Siem Cicero by 25%, allowing for energy and cost savings.

Founded in 1856 in Pula, Croatia, Uljanik is one of the oldest shipyards in the world with 4,000 employees. For their new gigantic car carrier, Siem Cicero, the Uljanik shipbuilders were looking for a way to make a lighter construction without compromising durability. They teamed up with Diab, a Swedish-based company focusing on high-performance core materials.

Siem Cicero, will be used for the transportation of cars and heavy vehicles for the Londonbased company “Siem car carriers”, serving mainly Volkswagen cars. With a length of two football fields, the ship can carry 7,000 vehicles and it incorporates new technologies that will reduce environmental impact and cut cost. Three of its thirteen decks were built with sandwich elements using Diab’s light-weight Divinycell core. Compared to the traditional steel decks the weight savings for the decks will be 25% or a staggering 200 tons. This, in turn, will result in a reduced fuel consumption of 4% or an increased payload.

The substantial weight savings were made possible by replacing a mere three out of thirteen decks. As the vessel has ten additional decks and a superstructure made of thick steel, there is a tremendous opportunity for further savings in the ships that are to follow Siem Cicero.

Through close cooperation and a careful analysis of data from this first vessel, Uljanik and Diab are looking into how core sandwich solutions can be used in other parts of the ships. Since there are car carriers of the same size built with traditional steel, the collaboration between Uljanik and Diab offers a unique possibility to monitor and measure the savings that can be had with sandwich composite solutions. As a leader of knowledge and innovation within the field of sandwich composites, Diab is consistently developing new methods for stronger, lighter and smarter products and will follow Siem Cicero and her sister ships with great interest.

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Source: Diab Group