ZULU Associates Group is active as an initiator, developer, and operator of innovations in the marine component of logistic chains. It develops a fleet of zero-emission commercial vessels on short sea, coastal, and inland waterway routes through autonomous operation combined with alternative propulsion.
Zulu Associates CEO Antoon van Coillie addresses challenges in sustainability, crew availability, and shipping modalities.
The Zulu X-barge, for example, is a concept of an “Autonomous Inland Waterway Freight System,” which features battery-powered electric propulsion and sensor/navigation systems for autonomous or remote navigation, while offering a DWT capacity of up to 1,500 tonnes.
With commercialisation following a “Shipping-As-A-Service” model planned in the next few years, ZULU Associates turned to Flanders Hydraulics to support the vessel engineering.
The Zulu X-barge concept is an economical alternative for fossil fuels on the condition that the proprietary hull shape is optimised for its battery-powered electrical propulsion. This means retrofitting existing ships is not an option, and the new vessel’s performance must be validated with high confidence.
The expertise at Flanders Hydraulics towing tank demonstrated the vessel’s efficiency through resistance tests in various operational cases, such as different speeds, loads, and drafts, while taking wave effects into account.
“We use 4m replicas of ships to perform laboratory tests. These tests help us understand how a real ship will behave in various situations. We examine the behaviour of a ship within river or constricted waterway settings. Here, we delve into the ship’s proclivity for the stern to shift towards the adjacent bank.”
For more information, visit Zulu Associates’ website.
