In modern cruise ships, lighting systems account for up to 25% of the total energy consumption that is not used for propulsion. Therefore, any reduction in electricity consumption for lighting reduces the vessel’s operating costs, as well as reducing the environmental impact.

Electricity aboard these big cruise ships is provided by the diesel engines and generators – no direct drive to the screws these days. Typically, Costa Cruises’ ships are powered by diesel-electric power plant comprising four to six 12-cylinder four-stroke medium speed diesel generating sets (usually by Wartsila with electric propulsion motors by GE of around 21MW coupled to fixed-pitch propellers – though some ships use azipod thrusters instead).

A typical output, depending upon the actual ship, might be around 70 – 80MW (over 100,000 BHP). As well as providing propulsion, these main generators provide power for all shipboard consumers from propulsion motors to hotel functions, such as lighting and air conditioning.

Regardless of the propulsion system used, fuel consumption cost is always a big issue with cruise ships and Costa, for example, has reported a reduction of around 11% in fuel consumption, and with reduced CO2 emissions too. The company has already experimented with LED lighting combined with automatic lighting-control that adjusts light levels to match sunlight intensity.

Slashing carbon emissions

It is here, of course, that Philips comes in, with its over 300,000 LED lights being installed in ten of Costa Cruises’ ships. This lighting renovation enables total annual savings of 30,000 tonnes in CO2 emissions.

It is only relatively recently that the shipping industry has had to meet increasingly tough emissions targets, and the switch to energy efficient LED technology is the latest step towards Costa Cruises’ goal to slash its CO2 emissions according to targets it set out in its Sustainability Report published in 2014.

LED spots and tubes

Philips’ MasterLED spots and CoreProLED tubes installed on these ten cruise ships emit excellent quality white light that does not irritate or tire the eyes. Moreover, the LED light sources last far longer than the older conventional lamps (up to 40,000 hours), so maintenance costs are reduced, while the lighting itself is bright and warm and provides an inviting atmosphere for passengers.

Philips completed the re-lamping of three ships back in 2013, with the lighting of the remaining seven ships completely renovated by December 2014. Philips is also involved in the LED lighting renovation of Costa Cruises’ headquarters in Genoa, Italy.

Cruise ships operate with big fixed costs, so Costa Cruises’ aim as an operator is always to maximise efficiency. Fuel is one of the biggest costs, and prices have soared over the last few years (the fall in price in 2014 is unlikely to be sustained for long) so the company is keen to keep associated expenditure under careful control.

A sustainability boost

Commented Stefania Lallai, Costa Cruises Sustainability Director: “This initiative between two companies engaged in providing solutions for the mitigation of the impact on the environment represents another step forward by Costa Cruises in the field of sustainability. The lighting project with Philips is an important initiative undertaken to lower the CO2 impact generated by our fleet and to reduce energy consumption on board.”

Philips has long had an important emphasis on sustainability. For example, we reported only a few days ago that in its continued sustainability drive, the company had increased its sales of ‘Green Products’ to 52% of total sales and has achieved its ‘Green Innovation’ target a year ahead of schedule (read about this by using the link at the bottom of this web page).

In terms of Costa Cruises, the Head of Sustainability for Philips Lighting, Nicola Kimm, said: “Travel by sea already has the lowest carbon footprint compared to other forms of transport in the wider tourism industry.

‘’Think of cruise ships as self-contained mini floating cities, powered by their own energy supply. Switching from 50W bulbs to 7W LED technology increases energy efficiency by more than halving each ship’s electricity consumption required for lighting,’’ she pointed out.

There is, however, one Costa Cruises ship that won’t be benefitting from Philips LED lighting – the ill-fated Costa Concordia that sank in early 2012.

Visit us at Novel Energy Lighting to browse our range of Philips LED products, including the MasterLED GU10 lamps and Master and Corepro LED tubes.

 When you hear the term “LED lights,” your first vision may be a plethora of bright white, blue, and other-colored lights illuminating the outside of a boat and even the water beneath the hull. Like a scene out of a science-fiction movie, eh? But there is a practical side to Light-Emitting Diodes or LEDs that makes them attractive for use in a boat’s interior.

This spring Will Keene, president of marine equipment manufacturer Edson International (www.edsonmarine.com) in New Bedford, Massachusetts, upgraded the lights on his 1985 Grand Banks 42, and I got to watch the process to replace the interior lights aboard his boat with LEDs, including an upgraded dimmer system in the saloon.

One of the primary reasons for the upgrade is that Keene likes to spend his nights anchored in secluded coves. The LEDs will save Keene battery power because they use only about a quarter of the juice required to power the old incandescent lights. The lights Keene chose use less than 5.0 watts, and have a 50,000-hour lifetime plus a five-year warranty.

In addition to being more efficient, LEDs are safer. To resist water intrusion each light has a sealed housing. Additionally, a quality LED light has a built-in driver with integrated current regulation to assure that each LED is being powered appropriately regardless of input voltage. LEDs need ambient air around the back of the housing to help keep them cool. Also, LEDs take up less space than old-school automotive-style bulbs, so there should be plenty of space in the same framework.

For the swap, Keene selected 15 of the Warm White color and a single Warm Red at the helm station to preserve night vision. Total cost for the lights, LED dimmer modules, Vimar switches, frames, and an LED engine-room kit was $3,334.90.

Here’s how Keene’s boat was upgraded. Single two-light fixtures in the forward and aft staterooms and accompanying heads were installed, while four assemblies with dimmers were replaced in the saloon. Because each LED had its own integrated circuit board,  a matched dimmer and two additional wires were used between the dimmers and the lights. To comply with American Boat and Yacht Council guidelines, lighting engineer Mike Moriarty made all connections with crimped heat-shrink quick-disconnect terminals from Ancor Marine.

The two-man crew spent about six hours removing the old fixtures and the valances that Grand Banks had installed to hide the original wiring. When I arrived at the boat, there were wires hanging down from all the openings awaiting the upgrade. Keene was fortunate because Grand Banks hid a little extra wire above the headliner and it was found in good shape. Fishing new wires throughout the boat would have made the job much more difficult.

To keep the Grand Banks look, Keene retained the original teak frame surrounding the old lights and covered each plastic lens with birdseye maple veneer, finishing it with a few coats of polyurethane. The lens would have been too difficult to remove so the veneer was applied over it. To help maintain rigidity and keep the lens from shattering or chipping when it was cut for the new lights, Keene applied a teak backing plate bonded with West Systems epoxy.

In the staterooms, the LED upgrade was easy. All that had to be done was connect the two wires on each light to those hanging from the opening. For the dimmer and added red light on the starboard side of the saloon, he had to run three new wires from the switch next to the helm entryway up behind the vertical valance to where the headliner met the inner wall. He used square plastic wiring races to run the new wires. The races were hidden outboard of the boat’s original valances. On the port side, most of the initial labor was dedicated to removing trim panels and valances to run the extra wire needed for the dimmer system.

Dimmer units were secured with screws to the framework above the headliner for the forward lights on each circuit with extra wires run from the dimmer aft to the second set of lights on both sides. Adhesive-backed tiewrap anchors hold the wires in place. With wires and dimmers installed, he used the original fastening hardware for the lenses and snapped them back into place. After checking his wiring, he installed the switches. Now Keene’s boat has a lighting system that can set the proper mood and use significantly

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Novel Energy Lighting supplies LED GU10 and LED MR16 bulbs for boats, yachts, and ships around the world. Please call us for a quote today:+44 (0)208-540-8287, or email us at: sales@novelenergylighting.

Shuttla

www.novelenergylighting.com