The Development of the Propeller Design for the World's Largest Reefer Container Ships

At the end of the year 1999, the German shipyard HDW (Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft) delivered a series of two open-top reefer container vessels of 2 million cu-ft each to the renowned fruit shipping company Dole Fresh Fruit. The vessels entered service at the end of 1999 and were then the largest of their kind. HSVA (the Hamburg Ship Model Basin) has conducted the model tests in advance. The propellers have been manufactured by the German company MMG (Mecklenburger MetallgujB). The article describes the propeller design specification (with special emphasis on low vibration levels in the accommodation areas), propeller design considerations, and test results (powering performance, cavitation performance, and vibration excitation) with three different model propellers. The authors also present the full-scale sea trial results as far as they are available.