The five new electric ferries are bidirectional, meaning that they are designed to sail in both directions. The navigation, starboard and port side lights shift sides when the sailing direction changes and, as the ferries have two bows, the wind indicator must change from forward to after presentation when the ferry changes sailing direction.

Sailing bidirectional can be a bit of a challenge. Before having the new wind indicator system installed, the ferry operator experienced some challenges when operating, for example in slave and master mode with the radar. Having a system that features both a true and a relative wind indicator makes operation easier.

DEIF designed a customised wind measuring system comprising two XDi 144 N displays and a WSS 550 wind sensor. The displays are mounted in the panel on each of the two bridges and show both relative (apparent) wind speed and direction and also true wind. One screen view with a forward-looking presentation of wind data and the other view showing the aft-looking wind data. The screens are automatically shifted when the ferry shifts sailing direction. Besides the two indicators, the solution comprises a WSS 550 – a static sensor with built-in heating to withstand very low temperatures.

M/F Sulé¸y carries passengers on the crossing between Hareid and Sulesund in Norway and is one of the five ferries that has the solution installed. So far, Captain Mindor Lidvar Myrhol is positive about the system provided, “I have sailed with the solution since December 2018, when we took delivery of the sister ship, and it is the best wind sensor I have ever used for ferry transport. It is very robust, and the illuminated display is a great help when sailing at night”

Mindor continues, “Some days, it looks as if the wind is hitting the wharf, but the wind sensor which is mounted in 20 meters height indicates that the wind actually is coming from the quay. At first, I thought that the sensor was not working correctly, but after some time, we have concluded that these measurements are correct”.

The gusts from the fells have a significant impact on manoeuvring the ferry when calling into port as the wind direction at water level and at the top of the ferry can be very different. Having the measurements from the wind sensor provides Mindor and the crew with more accurate wind data enabling them to manoeuvre the ferry in the optimum way.

DEIF’s wind measuring solution was selected for the project by Norwegian Electric Systems. Svein Ove Farstad, General Manager Sales and Marketing for Norwegian Electric Systems said “We see an increasing demand for smart navigation systems that integrate data from all parts of the vessel so that all relevant information can be found in one place. Featuring NMEA data, makes the XDi display highly integrable and the robust design of DEIF’s wind sensor made it perfect for Fjord1’s ferries.”