Due to the growing demand for offshore wind energy and the increasing wind turbine sizes, a shortage of capable installation vessels is anticipated by 2024. Consequently, the utilisation of heavy-lift vessels, previously not employed for bottom-founded or floating offshore wind turbine installations, may become imperative to realise the offshore wind project pipeline. Therefore, this study analyses the technical and economic feasibility of installing floating wind turbines with the largest construction vessel in the world named the Pioneering Spirit. For this, the concept development stage of the systems engineering method was applied, consisting of three successive phases. Firstly, in the Needs Analysis phase, valuable insights regarding the operational environment were obtained, resulting in operational requirements for the concept design. Secondly, in the Concept Exploration phase, these requirements were used for generating multiple alternative concept options after which the most promising concepts were selected for further analysis through a trade-off analysis. Lastly, in the Concept Definition phase, the technical feasibility, workability and economic feasibility were evaluated for the selected concepts. The technical feasibility was assessed by creating storyboards for the different installation procedures, determining the stability of the barge named the Iron Lady for different load cases and providing technical descriptions of performed operations and required equipment. Furthermore, the workability was estimated by comparing statistical wave and wind data with the environmental limits for various operations obtained through literature, previous projects and a motion analysis model. Subsequently, with the storyboards and workability results, the economic feasibility was determined with a model that included estimations of the vessel and fuel costs for constructing a reference wind farm located at a variable distance to shore. Ultimately, it was found that Spar- and TLP-type floating wind turbines are of most interest for the concept design and that the Pioneering Spirit is in principle capable of installing the corresponding pre-assembled foundations and wind turbines relating to a capacity of 15 megawatt with a single-lift operation. Furthermore, this research gives valuable insights that extend beyond the initial scope of this paper. Since the performance implications of the selected concepts related to the workability assessment and economic feasibility study can directly be linked to specific design choices and limitations. This, in combination with the exploration of floating wind turbine installation with alternative lifting equipment, can be used to provide recommendations for future designs of purpose-built vessels in this sector. Finally, the methodology used in this study could be applied to evaluate the feasibility of other potential concepts for deployment in this area.

The maritime industry faces a lot of uncertainty, and the energy transition has only increased this uncertainty. Ships will probably have to be converted to an alternative fuel during their lifetime and methanol seems to be the fuel with the most potential for offshore ships. By preparing for this, Design-for-Conversion to methanol, the costs of changes can be significantly reduced with only minor investments during the new building phase. The added design preparations pay for themselves only if they are being used in the future. However, due to large uncertainties, it is unclear whether a ship is actually converted to methanol in the future. Therefore, an answer had to be found to the main research question: How to determine the value of Design-for-Changeability under uncertainty to find the optimal DFC level when preparing for conversion to methanol? From the literature is concluded that Design-for-Changeability principles can help to deal with uncertainty during a ship's lifetime. Moreover, Real Options Analysis is selected from the literature, as a method to deal with decisions and uncertainty when designing for conversion to methanol. By means of a combination of these methods, a methodology is established which is used in a case study. In the case study, it was found that waiting with the execution of conversion to methanol results in decreasing added value of Design-for-Conversion. Moreover, it was found that the Discount Rate used for Net Present Value calculation significantly impacts the choice of whether to prepare a ship for methanol. It can be concluded that an instigator is needed so that ships are converted to methanol. Two instigators have been researched, a carbon pricing measure and a ban on harmful emissions. It can be concluded that a carbon pricing measure is only effective if the right price is established, while a carbon ban is highly effective as ships are converted instantly. The combination of methods, the Design-for-Changeability principles together with a Real Options Decision Tree, provides a suitable framework to quantify the impact of Design-for-Conversion to methanol under uncertainty.

Currently, our society faces a pressing challenge: global warming. The solution lies in the energy transition, which replaces fossil fuels with clean sources. This requires a global effort across all sectors, including shipping. While a significant portion of shipping relies on polluting fuels, the European Union’s Green Deal aims for climate neutrality by 2050, which applies to shipping as well. Emission reduction technology and low-to-zero emission energy supplies are emerging, yet choosing the right energy supply for new vessels remains complex, especially in meeting EU targets. This study focuses on supporting the decision-making process for the energy supply of a new Semi-Submersible Crane Vessel (SSCV). The method facilitates a comprehensive comparison of energy supply options using multiple criteria. It also integrates decision-makers’ preferences with the characteristics of alternative energy supplies, providing insights into the most suitable choice. This research features a case study centered on Heerema Marine Contractors’ SSCV Sleipnir. To create this method, a literature review on Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods was conducted. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model was chosen as the foundational framework for the decision-making tool. During the research key limitations and requirements for designing an energy supply for a SSCV were identified. Furthermore, the research contains an examination of various fossil and sustainable fuels, including Marine Gas Oil (MGO), (E-)Liquefied Natural Gas ((E-)LNG), EHydrogen, E-Methanol, E-Ammonia, Uranium, and Thorium. Additionally, the study considers diverse energy conversion systems including Internal Combustion Engines (ICE), Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC), Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC), Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC), Molten Salt Reactors (MSR), and Very High-Temperature Reactors (VHTR). A set of significant criteria are identified and the accompanying characteristics of the energy supplies regarding these criteria are gathered. The literature research is followed by a financial assessment. This assessment shows that the financial impact of fossil- and e-fuel energy supplies is highly dominated by Operational Expenditure (OPEX), while the nuclear energy supplies are highly dominated by its Capital Expenditures (CAPEX). The preferences of Heerema’s decision-makers are collected via a survey, revealing that the Technological Readiness Level (TRL) of the system, health risk, emissions, Levelized Cost Of Energy (LCOE), maintenance requirements, and efficiency of the conversion system are found to be the most important criteria according to the survey results. The preference weights assigned to the criteria are integrated with the energy supply characteristics, providing a score that indicates the suitability of each energy supply considering the SSCV’s limits and requirements, aligned with the preferences of the decision-maker. Hence, the optimal energy supply choice can be deduced from this data. Although the fossil fuel MGO is included to act as a base-case scenario during this case study, the results of the method show that MGO used in an ICE would be the best-suiting energy supply according to the preferences of the decision-makers. Since MGO energy supplies are assumed to be non-compliant with the EU-emission goals they are excluded. When excluding MGO from the results, methanol used in an ICE is identified as the best-suiting alternative. This can be attributed to its relatively high TRL, favorable overall characteristics, and absence of significantly low scores regarding the criteria assigned high priority by the decision-makers, in comparison to other energy supplies. However, the validity of the presented results is reduced due to several factors. These include the reliance on assumptions about alternative energy supplies, a limited number of interviewees, and the sensitivity to uncertainties about future developments. Nevertheless, this study shows that the use of this method can provide insights into complex decision problems regarding future energy supply choices. Also, the study identifies a range of attractive energy supplies, with methanol used in an ICE ranked as the most suitable option. These high-ranking energy supplies can be an interesting subject for further studies.

The offshore wind market is growing rapidly, and new offshore wind projects are being launched more than ever. To keep up with demand, parts for these wind turbines are being produced all over the world. To get all the parts needed to their destination on time, they must be transported on heavy transport vessels (HTVs). Today, business cases focused on maximizing profits dictate the design of these vessels. Despite the upcoming energy transition, the environmental impact of these vessels is usually neglected. Therefore, there is a need for a method to evaluate the economic and environmental performance of HTVs. One basis for such a method is Blended Design. This method is able to cope with market uncertainties in the early stages of ship design by expanding knowledge when design freedom is still high by combining market forecasts for offshore wind farms with multiple vessel designs. An uncertainty model then evaluates the financial performance of the vessels in the market, allowing designers to explore the performance on basic main dimensions of an offshore wind installation vessel. The main limitations of this method are that it is not able to optimize on environmental performance and evaluate the financial impact of alternative fuels. Due to growing concerns about climate change, Ulstein has seen an increase in requests for the use of alternative fuels in ship designs. For this research, methanol, ammonia and liquid hydrogen are being investigated as these alternative fuels are considered future-proof. The use of alternative fuels in ship design involves some adjustments to the Blended Design method. Due to the different gravimetric and volumetric densities of these alternative fuels, this has implications for the endurance of the ship design and the amount of cargo the ship can carry. Changing system and installation requirements and varying fuel costs also drastically alter the financial performance of alternative fuels on ship designs. The proposed methodology accounts for these changes and quantifies alternative fuel emissions by converting them to CO2-equivalent emissions. In this way, other greenhouse gases such as CH4 and N2O are also included in this metric. The environmental performance is then expressed in the EEXI-equivalent: the amount of CO2-e emitted by the ship design per tonmile. The EEXI-e index makes it possible to compare the various alternative fuels in terms of their environmental performance on the same basis. In this work the EEXI-e method is combined with the original Blended Design method and the method is adapted to include alternative fuels. This makes it possible to evaluate the environmental performance and associated financial impacts of different alternative fuels. Because financial and environmental performance are now linked, it is possible to examine the impact of different ranges of carbon taxes. The case study results presented in this thesis show that the carbon tax has a large impact on the financial performance of the ship when it is applied. When enforced, the choice of an alternative fuel system becomes more attractive. The proposed method has provided a guide to ship designers to make better decisions about the main dimensions of a ship at an early stage of ship design. In addition, the method can provide much-needed insight in the selection of alternative fuels by evaluating the financial and environmental performance of alternative fuel systems.

The current path the marine industry is following, the goals of the Paris Agreement to reduce emissions, will not be met. The marine industry is mainly sailing on HFO and emits 2.2% of the global greenhouse gasses (GHG) by doing so, as well as 18-30% of NOx, 5-8% SOx and 11% particulate matter (PM). The IMO has even predicted that the emissions of GHG will increase between 50 and 250% if the shipping industry continues on this path. In order to reduce emissions, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has implemented ambitious goals for the next decades. However, the current policy measures sparks low ambition to meet this IMO GHG strategy. To be able to meet this goals, four options with different potential of reducing emissions are available, viz. efficient ship hull designs (20%), energy efficient engines (10-15%), more efficient propulsion (5-20%), clean technologies such as fuel cells and the use of alternative fuels (100%). Since the alternative fuel option has the largest potential in reducing emissions, a number of researched have looked into possible options for alternative fuel, such as LNG, LPG, methanol, biofuel, hydrogen and ammonia. This thesis looks into the potential of ammonia as an alternative fuel in the marine sector by 2030 by looking into the critical success factor for the fuel. This research takes all the aspects of the marine industry into account and researches the mutual interaction and relation between the aspects. The main aspects are the power generation options, the fuel availability including the port logistics, price of the fuel, operations (OPEX), impact on the vessel (CAPEX) and legislation and rules. These aspects have a number of inter-dependencies. The barrier related to the power generation option is the lack of availability of an engine that can run on ammonia. This engine needs to comply with legislation, which is not implemented yet. The barrier related to the fuel itself is the availability of the fuel in both volume and location. The production capacity is not yet at a level to fuel a significant part of the marine sector. The barrier related to the port are the logistics of the supplier and storage and handling of ammonia. Ammonia is a toxic substance and requires safety measures. These rules have not been implemented either. Closely related to the availability of the fuel is the price of the fuel. This is dependent on the demand of ammonia, which is currently zero for the marine sector. For the operational aspect is the lower energy density compared to conventional fuel an important barrier. For the same energy output, a greater volume of fuel is needed. This requires either extra stop overs during the voyage or a larger fuel tank, which could lead to loss of cargo space. The larger fuel tank has an impact on the design of the vessel, as well as the different storage and handling of ammonia compared to conventional fuels. Together with the legislation, this is an important barrier for the CAPEX of the vessel. This is a very important decision factor for the ship owner. Finally, most important barriers is the legislation. This aspect has the largest influence on all the other aspect and can promote other aspects to invest in ammonia and take steps in implementation. The regulation for sailing on ammonia are not yet in place. The IMO is responsible for the IGC and IGF code that regulate fluids as cargo and as fuel. The IMO has not started working on implementing ammonia as a fuel yet, since the demand of the fuel is currently low. This is however due to the regulations not yet being in place. Ship owners are reluctant to switch to another fuel when the risk of implementing the rules incorrectly are too large. The design requirements are not yet clear and it would be too costly to refit a vessel to the correct requirements for the early adaptors. Another aspect the regulations have large impact on are the engine options. Ammonia has a narrow flammability and is more difficult to ignite compared to conventional fuels. The design of the engine needs to comply with the regulations for safe ignition.

The probabilistic damage stability method offers great design freedom when used as a base of design. However, due to the complexity of the calculation and amount of parameters that influence the attained index, much of this freedom is not being harnessed by designers. This research tries to give the designer more insight in where to look when trying to comply with the regulations, by providing an initial subdivision design and create an overview of the influence of the parameters on the attained index. Many parameters have been found that either direct or indirect influence the damage stability calculation. A selection of parameters is chosen from this list as a starting point that are commonly used in the subdivision of large single hold vessels. A parameterised base ship has been made in the DELFTship program that is used for the execution of the optimisation and sensitivity analysis. The exploration for a suitable optimisation method and sensitivity analysis is based on the properties of these methods and method requirements that apply to this specific research. The most important requirement for both methods is the number of iterations needed to obtain a reasonable result, as the damage stability calculation can take up to 15 minutes. This resulted in the choice for the SACOBRA optimisation algorithm. To guarantee the effectiveness of the design, a second level to the optimisation is added where, the number of bulkheads is optimised, while simultaneously optimising the steel weight. During the research, the cargo hold volume was added as this proved to be an effective objective to ensure the efficiency of the design. This resulted in the change to the SAMO-COBRA algorithm, where the single objective SACOBRA algorithm was still used as a verification method and to investigate if it could be used for experimenting with certain design choices. For the sensitivity analysis the Morris method was chosen, mainly for its low number of sample points needed to converge. This method can be applied to a broad range of models and is characterised by its simplicity. However, this simplicity resulted in a relatively low amount of insight generated regarding the influence of the parameters on both the objectives as well as each other. A correlation matrix was added to further provide knowledge and insight. A sensitivity analysis by hand was performed to verify the results of both analysis methods. The first optimisation stage showed to be a relatively fast way to determine the amount of bulkheads compared to the attained index that can be expected. However, a relatively large margin of error is observed in this stage and more information is needed to be able to make a decision on how many bulkheads is used to further optimise. The use of the SAMO-COBRA method in the second optimisation stage proved to be effective at providing the naval architect with a range of design proposals, where the probabilistic damage stability regulations were used as a base of design. Furthermore, it is shown that for single hold ships in general, the priority of the algorithm followed the influence of the parameters on the distance they were able to create between the cargo hold and the outer hull. The influence of the parameters, resulting from the sensitivity analyses endorse these claims. The Morris method showed the high non-linear and non-monotonic behaviour of the parameters that were investigated. This made it difficult to distinguish the level of influence between the parameters. The combination of the Morris method, Pearson correlation matrix and the sensitivity by hand proved to be sufficient for determining the behaviour of the probabilistic damage stability calculation. In the end, this research proposes a new foundation of designing a ship with the probabilistic damage stability regulations as a base of design. After the initial design from the two stage optimisation all other design requirements are implemented in the design. If the ship then fails to comply with the regulations, the knowledge and insight from this research can be used to increase the survivability of the ship in order for it to comply again.

Semiconductor product development becomes increasingly challenging due to diminishing product life cycles, miniaturization, introduction of new physical principles, and new manufacturing processes. These problems are compounded in the absence of standardized development processes for the most complex semiconductor products like MEMS technologies, because the manufacturing of these products is often outsourced. Suppliers play a pivoting role in the realization of the product, from product design until process design and ramp-up. The supplier selection problem in this industry denotes the challenges in finding the right supplier while meeting all the technical, process and business requirements. The contribution of this research is in presenting how to develop a generic methodology for data-driven co-development. Thereby, this work presents a novel product development framework that leverages co-development and supply chain integration through data-driven decision-making. Co-development is reached through standardized methods for generating the required engineering output for supplier selection. Supply chain integration is introduced in the early stages of product development. This synthesizes with the outsourced manufacturing processes. Clustering algorithms are used to effectively shortlist suppliers based on their competences, and provide insights into supplier profiles and gaps. The latter is used to draw strategies for developing unattainable technologies. Using the framework, the required engineering output for supplier selection was generated in 77% less time while reducing information asymmetries between actors in the product development process. Furthermore, the framework made it possible to quantify decisions, allowed for supplier profile recognition and gap identification through its hybrid automated approach, and supplier shortlisting in 95% less time. This efficiency does not only showcase the immediate benefits of the proposed methodology, but also lays the foundation for future research towards a fully automated approach in semiconductor product development. The developed framework includes information flows between actors and steps in the product development process, their interfaces and demonstrates its added value and potential for a fully automated yet efficient future approach in semiconductor product development.