Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

DESIGN-DRIVEN INNOVATION: A PROPOSAL FOR IMPROVING THE

SUSTAINABILITY OF LOGISTICS IN IRELAND THROUGH A MODAL SHIFT TO

COASTAL VESSELS

S McCartan and T Thompson, EBDIG-IRC, Coventry University, UK

G Lynch, EBDIG, NMCI, IRL

SUMMARY

Increased awareness of an over reliance on fossil fuels and the need to reduce transport CO2 emissions (formalised in EU

and national directives) has brought into sharp focus the need for energy efficient transport modes for passengers and

freight. An IEA report proposed that shifting freight from energy intensive modes such as road and air to rail and

shipping should be a priority for many countries. Comparing energy use by sector for EU-28, Ireland has the highest

percentage energy consumption for transport at 40% compared to an EU-28 average of 33%, as it has the highest

reliance on road infrastructure for freight transport at 99.1% compared to the EU-28 average of 75.5%. Ireland does not

use the inland waterways for freight transport compared to an EU-28 average of 6.7%.

This paper presents Design-Driven Innovation scenarios for the use of the coastal waterways of Ireland for both freight

and tourism, based on the EU MoS (Motorways of the Sea) proposal. There are two key objectives of the EU MoS

proposal, to reduce road transport congestion by direct replacement with water based transport routes and to reduce

transport CO2. The congestion aspect relates to the cost of motorway infrastructure and the delays in journey time. Two

Design-Driven Innovation scenarios are proposed, on for each coast. An MoS scenario for the East coast based on the

technical innovation of the Incat Francisco, which can compete with road transport due to having a top speed of

100Km/h combined with a fine dining experience for luxury tourism. A Wild Atlantic Way by sea scenario for the west

coast proposes the use of the BMT Alaskan high speed ferry, which facilitates luxury tourism through fully integrated

media and fine dining, and a passenger hydrofoil with the design meaning of a first class train. Both of these vessels are

capable of travelling at 60km/h, offering tourists reduced transit time and spectacular views of the rugged coastline of

the Wild Atlantic Way. This proposed transport innovation would enable tourist to travel to more locations in a given

holiday, due to reduced travel times, resulting in increased expenditure.

1. INTRODUCTION

Increased awareness of an over reliance on fossil fuels

and the need to reduce transport CO2 emissions

(formalised in EU and national directives) has brought

into sharp focus the need for energy efficient transport

modes for passengers and freight. An IEA report [1]

states that: “Shifting freight from energy intensive modes

such as road and air to rail and shipping should be a

priority for many countries. Freight road transport has

significant external costs...” The IEA recommends that

governments focus on improving the sustainability of

freight transport and notes that this requires the provision

of infrastructure to assist with improved freight logistics

and to encourage modal shift. Comparing energy use by

sector for EU-28, Ireland has the highest percentage

energy consumption for transport at 40% compared to an

EU-28 average of 33%.[2]

In an analysis of the modal split for freight transport

between road, rail and inland waterway, for EU-28 in

2012. Ireland has the highest reliance on road

infrastructure for freight transport at 99.1% compared to

the EU-28 average of 75.5%. Ireland does not use the

inland waterways for freight transport compared to an

EU-28 average of 6.7% [2]. A recent Environmental

Protection Agency report on sustainable transport in

Ireland concludes: “There is a policy gap in the area of

freight and policy makers should develop a separate

national freight strategy with input from stakeholders and

industry representatives in order to evaluate the potential

for more efficient road freight and freight modal shift

from road to rail and/or inland waterways.” [3] This

present paper provides a preliminary investigation into

the potential of the coastal waterways of Ireland for

carrying commercial transport – freight and passengers.

1.1 MOTORWAYS OF THE SEA

The EU Trans-European network (TEN-T) Priority

Project 21 on Motorways of the Sea (MoS) [4] builds on

the EU’s goal of achieving a clean, safe and efficient

transport system by transforming shipping into a

effective alternative to overcrowded land transport. The

concept aims at introducing new inter-modal maritime

logistics chains to bring about a structural change to

transport organisation, namely door-to-door integrated

transport chains. The objectives of these chains are to be

more sustainable and commercially more efficient than

road-only transport. To facilitate these objectives a

greater exploitation of maritime transport resources, rail

and inland waterway, into an integrated transport chain

will be required. Motorways of the Sea will thus improve

access to markets throughout Europe, and bring relief to

the over-stretched European road system. The three main

objectives for the sea motorways projects are: freight

flow concentration on sea-based logistical routes;

increasing cohesion; reducing road congestion through

modal shift. Motorways of the Sea will also help

implement the policy initiatives on the European

Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

maritime space without barriers and the maritime

transport strategy for 2018[5].

The EU economy is one of the most open in the world.

The future prosperity of the continent will depend on the

ability of all of its regions to remain part of a fully

integrated world economy. The transport industry is an

important part of the economy: in the EU it directly

employs around 10 million people and accounts for about

5% of GDP. Growing congestion and poorer accessibility

are significant issues, given that fuel costs and

congestion levels are expected to rise significantly by

2030, leading to further divergences in accessibility. In

October 2009, the European Council showed support for

the objective of reducing GHG emissions in the EU by

80% to 95% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels, resulting

in a tight carbon budget for the transport

sector. Transport accounts for about one fourth of GHG

emissions: 60% comes from passenger transport, one

quarter is urban, less than one quarter is inter-continental

over half of which is medium-distance [3]. To meet these

challenges transport has to: use less energy; use cleaner

energy; exploit efficiently a multimodal, integrated and

‘intelligent’ network. This has resulted in the following

Ten Goals for competitive and resource efficient

transport:

1. Halve the use of ‘conventionally-fuelled’ cars in

urban transport by 2030; phase them out in

cities by 2050; achieve essentially CO2-free city

logistics by 2030.

2. 40% of low-carbon sustainable fuels in aviation

and 40% (if feasible 50%) less emissions in

maritime by 2050.

3. Optimising the performance of multimodal

logistic chains, including by making greater use

of more energy-efficient modes.

4. 30% of road freight over 300 km should shift to

other modes by 2030, and more than 50% by

2050.

5. A fully functional and EU-wide multimodal

TEN-T ‘core network’ by 2030.

6. By 2050, connect all core network airports to

the rail network; all seaports to the rail freight

and, where possible, inland waterway system.

7. Deployment of SESAR by 2020 and completion

of the European Common Aviation Area.

Deployment of ERTMS, VTS, ITS, SSN,LRI, RIS

and Galileo.

8. By 2020, establish the framework for a

European multimodal transport information,

management and payment system.

9. By 2050, move close to zero fatalities in road

transport.

10. Move towards full application of “user pays” and

“polluter pays” principles.

The EU White Paper on transport [6] proposes that these

goals will be achieved through: internal market

stimulation; innovation; and infrastructure investment.

The internal market will create a genuine single

European transport area by eliminating all residual

barriers between modes and national systems. MoS

example: E-Maritime initiative for paperless and

intelligent shipping. EU research needs to address the full

cycle of research, innovation and deployment in an

integrated way. In terms of infrastructure the revision of

TEN-T (2011) based on the creation of a ‘core network’

and on a corridors’ approach, will result in over € 1.5

trillion investments from 2010-2030 [6]. The Motorways

of the Sea (MoS) is the building block for the Maritime

Dimension of TEN-T, covering the whole European

maritime space and the financing framework for

maritime (ports and shipping).

2. PORTS AND SHIPPING

With specific reference to Ireland, the majority of the

international freight movements to and from the island of

Ireland are by sea, with the exception of a very small

tonnage of airfreight. With very few direct container

sailings to destinations across the Atlantic, most

intercontinental container trade travels on feeder

container ships across the Irish Sea to deep sea ports

either in Great Britain or in mainland Europe. The ferry

movements crossing the Irish Sea can be divided into

corridors as shown in Figure 1. The Central Corridor

additionally can be subdivided between short sea

journeys to / from Holyhead and long sea journeys to /

from England’s north-west: Liverpool, Fleetwood or

Heysham. This traffic can be split into two groupings.

Accompanied (red line): This freight tonnage is

transported to and from the ferry by the same tractor and

driver. This provides a more flexible and faster service.

Accompanied vehicle movements are strongly

concentrated on the shorter distance services such as

Holyhead to Dublin and Cairnryan to Larne. Whereas,

unaccompanied (blue line): The trailer carrying the

freight tonnage is dropped off by a driver at the domestic

port and travels by ferry without its driver or tractor. A

different driver at the overseas port collects the trailer

plus consignment. Unaccompanied is more competitive

over the longer distance crossings, such as the flows

from Cherbourg to Rosslare (Continental Corridor) or

Northern Ireland to the north-west of England. [7]

The Lo-Lo flows to the island of Ireland from mainland

Europe are also shown in Figure 1 (green line). This

tonnage is loaded and unloaded by dock-side crane and

therefore is not automatically transported by road at

either end. Currently Waterford is the only Irish port that

has an active rail connection to its container berths. The

different types of freight handled by the ports are shown

Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

in Figure 2, where Rosslare and Larne primarily deal

with Ro-Ro traffic, and Foynes (Shannon) with bulks.

The largest ports by volume are Dublin and Belfast,

which have facilities to handle all the main types of

commodities. The largest ports for Ro-Ro shipments are

on the east coast. Ro-Ro is particularly focussed on the

shortest crossings because it carries higher value, time-

sensitive goods. [7]

Figure 1: Ro-Ro Accompanied / unaccompanied and Lo-

Lo freight tonnes shipped to the island of Ireland [7]

The most recent freight transport report for the island of

Ireland, published in 2008 [7], identified that the overall

tonnage of Ro-Ro goods exceeds that of any of the other

cargo types, twice as much as Lo-Lo. This trend was

identified as unusual in the European context, indicating

the very open nature of both NI and Eire economies.

Where it was the unitised traffic (Lo-Lo and Ro-Ro),

rather than the bulk goods, that is the source of the

growth in tonnage passing through the ports, North and

South. In line with the rapid growth in economic trade,

containerised traffic over the decade to 2006 through,

North and South, had increased by 125 % in TEU

volume, while Ro-Ro has increased by 70% units of

vehicles.

3. ROAD FREIGHT AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The volume of freight tonnes in 2006 [7] transported by

road between different ‘NUTS3’ regions is shown in

Figure 3. This data was compiled from haulier surveys of

Irish and Northern Ireland registered goods vehicles and

therefore excludes the tonnes on vehicles registered

outside the island of Ireland. The map shows all

movements originating at a single point representing

each region, for reasons of clarity of illustration. The

largest volume of tonnes transported between regions is

usually between neighbouring regions (particularly

Dublin and Mid-East), with relatively low volumes being

transported beyond 100 miles. The corresponding

monetary value of freight transported by road between

NUTS3 regions is shown in Figure 4, where the

commodity price per tonne for each type of commodity

transported has been used to calculate the overall value

of each inter-regional freight movement.

Whilst Dublin remains the region with the most inter-

regional road haulage, its main trading partner has

changed from the Mid-East region to Northern Ireland

when measuring the value rather than the volume of

goods. This highlights the importance to the economy of

the high-value haulage of foodstuffs and finished

manufactured goods, which tend to be moved over long

distances, relative to the lower value raw material inputs

to manufacturing production and particularly to

construction, many of which tend to be moved over short

distances from the closest point of potential supply. The

broad trend in developed economies is for the long

distance haulage of higher value goods to become an

increasing proportion of freight traffic. [7]

Figure 2: Port sizes by category of goods received [7]

Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Figure 3: Freight tonnes moved by road between NUTS 3

regions [7]

Figure 4: Freight value moved by road between NUTS 3

regions [7]

4. DESIGN DRIVEN INNOVATION

To facilitate design innovation marine designers should

consider implementing a Design-Driven Innovation

strategy as is often employed within product design.

People do not buy products but buy design meanings.

People use things for profound emotional, psychological,

and socio-cultural reasons as well as utilitarian ones.

Analysts have shown that every product and service in

consumer as well as industrial markets has a design

meaning. Marine designers should therefore look beyond

features, functions and performance, and understand the

real design meanings users give to vessels. [8]

Figure 5: DDI as research [8]

Figure 6: The strategy of DDI [8]

The process of Design-Driven Innovation is an

exploratory research project, which aims to create an

entirely new market sector for a given product through

changing the design meaning the user has for the

product. It occurs before product development, as shown

in Figure 5, and is not the fast creative brainstorming

sessions that are typical of concept generation but a

design investigation similar to technological research. In

essence, it is the development of a design scenario

through engaging with a range of interpreters in

technology and cultural production. Knowledge is

generated from immersion with the design discourse of

the interpreter's groups. The process can be structured or

unstructured and is dependent upon the nature of the

relationship of the client with the interpreters. The

interaction between innovation of design meaning and

technology innovation can transform the market within

an industry and even create new market sectors. The two

strategies are complimentary as technological and socio-

cultural models are inextricably linked, evolving together

in innovation cycles. The successful interaction between

design-driven and technology-push innovation is called a

Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

technology epiphany, shown in Figure 6, it creates a

market leader and in some cases a completely new

market sector. It is the basis for successful products such

as the Apple iPod. [8]

McCartan et al [9] presented a design concept based on

this high speed platform to compete with road transport

and air transport, supported by specialised infrastructure

to optimise the vessel loading and unloading process for

cars and HGVs. The vessel design combined the

following functions: high speed ferry as an alternative to

HGV road transport; passenger ferry as a alternative to

flights; luxury cruising cabins. It is based on a 120m

trimaran platform designed to operate at 40 knots as a

coastal cruiser in the Mediterranean, connecting the coast

of Spain, France and Italy. The project was an

engagement in Design-Driven Innovation (DDI), with the

objective of changing the design meaning of what a

multi- purpose commercial vessel can be. Proposing the

CLF (Cruise Logistics Ferry) as a new market sector for

the commercial marine industry. The key driver was

sustainable luxury, as the vessel is multifunctional,

providing a high speed alternative to less sustainable

modes of transport. Thus addressing the growing

European definition of green luxury with the potential to

create a new market sector between cruise ships and high

end passenger ferries, while also reducing motorway

traffic and hence logistics carbon footprint. This trimaran

platform would not have sufficient seakeeping capability

to operate in the Irish Sea.

The ultra-luxury small cruise ship sector has experienced

significant growth in recent years. McCartan and

Kvilums [10] presented a design proposal for a

catamaran eco-luxury cruise ship, which integrates a

Passive Design methodology within the marine design

process, with the objective of reducing the energy

consumption of the vessel as an ecological statement

enhancing the sense of luxury within the design. The

design is an evolution of luxury in cruising, creating a

new market through Design-Driven Innovation, with the

objective of offering green luxury user experience with a

sense of intimacy similar to that of a superyacht. The

concept design shows the potential of Passive Design as

a means of reducing emissions in line with EEDI

legislation, by reducing hotel loads such as HVAC

systems and lighting. While this proposal was designed

for the Mediterranean where the HVAC requirements are

a considerable energy consideration. The use of the

catamaran hull compared to a mono-hull design reduces

the power requirement and hence CO2 by 56% at

13knots and by 68% at 22 Knots, based on a target

displacement of 650 tonnes. A critical factor in

developing a DDI scenario for coastal logistics is to be

able to compete with the road based HGV as the majority

of goods will be time critical.

5. THE WILD ATLANTIC WAY BY SEA

Tourism plays a significant part in Ireland’s economic

recovery, supporting 140,000 jobs and contributing €1.4

billion to the Exchequer in 2013. By 2025 the Ireland

aims to deliver 250,000 jobs and to achieve €5 billion in

tourism revenue. This requires visitor revenue to grow by

5% per year for the next ten years and attract 10 million

visitors annually by 10,000. [11] To achieve these

ambitions an Action Plan to be published in early 2016

will deliver the following:

highest standards of environmental and

economic sustainability in promoting peace and

political co-operation on the island of Ireland

mobilise assets of people and place

The National climate policy in Ireland aims to achieve

transition to a competitive, low-carbon, climate resilient

and environmentally sustainable economy by 2050 and a

key action in achieving this is to offer tourists a low-

emissions choice. [12] Launched in 2014, the Wild

Atlantic Way is a long-distance touring route, stretching

along the Atlantic coast from Donegal to Cork for

2,500km, which aims secure more international visitors

to stay longer and spend more.

Engaging in Design-Driven Innovation scenario the

proposal of the Wild Atlantic Way by sea proposes two

vessel types for the whole of the route a coastal cruise

ferry providing car transport and fine dining in an interior

resolved to support the experience of tourism. The other

vessel is a coastal hopper hydrofoil which has the design

meaning of a first class train carriage, enabling tourism

to travel further and seem more and spend more. The

vessel proposals have the potential to build tourism

capacity towards the achievement of the 2025 targets for

low-carbon choice, asset mobilisation in terms of

utilising existing infrastructure the length and breadth of

the Atlantic seaboard. Given that this WAW is a new

tourism offering there are no published figures for the

number of visitors or the number of vehicles used.

However, given 7.3 million overseas visitors to Ireland in

2014 and the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation

predicts 400,000 extra people in 2015 [13]; given that

80% used a private car and given that 64% of bed nights

sold in Ireland were in the regions of the WAW [14], we

estimate that approximately 1.3 million cars shall travel

various sections of the Wild Atlantic Way in 2015.

Making the WAW accessible for more international

visitors to stay longer and spend more can be facilitated

by building luxury hopper services all along the Atlantic,

utilising existing port, pier and marina infrastructure.

Visitors will experience Ireland’s craggy coastline from

the seaward side.

The UK is the most important international tourism

source market for the island of Ireland, accounting for

over half of all visitors and almost 40% of

holidaymakers. It accounts for over a third of all tourism

revenue. Over one million British holidaymakers visit

Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Ireland each year, of which 25% are from the highest AB

social class. The US is the second most important

tourism market for Ireland. In 2011, there were 846,000

visitors. The US accounts for around 17% of all overseas

visits but generates 20% of all tourism revenue. It is the

most affluent market as 25% of US holidaymakers are

from the highest AB social class. These two largest

markets together provide in excess of 460,000 tourist

from the highest AB social class who would be potential

client for the luxury wild Atlantic way by sea

experience.[15]

5.1 Wild Atlantic Way Coastal Cruiser Ferry

In order to offer Class AB social group tourists a positive

expereince it was important to identify a ferry platform

which could offer good seakeeping in the high sea states

Atlantic sea while being able to maintain a speed

comparable to road journeys to enable them to see as

much of the coast as possible. The BMT Alaska Sea

Highway was selected as it can achieve 65 kph. The

designers were presented with a simplified wave

condition summary, 2m Hs with a peak period of 4-6

seconds. This condition is more severe than 99% of the

conditions expected to be seen. The designer was

required to meet motion sickness goals of 10% MSI in

these conditions with the use of T- foils and no more than

15% MSI without. [16] This correlates well with the

Atlantic ocean. It can carry 34 cars and 160 passengers,

and is shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7: BMT Alaska sea highway [16]

Fundamentally the interior design objective is to

facilitate HNWI tourism with a strong focus on cultural

contextualisation as indentified in the analysis of the two

largest tourist source countries to Ireland. A key interest

identified for all of these groups is fine dining. Therefore

the activities which must be facilitated by the design

proposal are fine dining and multimedia

contextualisation of the trip, with digital image

management linked to social media. As these people like

to present the daily developments of their trip as a fluid

social media narrative with associated peer discourse.

The GA proposal for the passenger deck of the BMT

vessel is shown in Fig.8. Where the central bar area,

(Figure 9) with a strong biophilia theme, is the focal

point for two dining areas on either side at the rear of the

vessel. The port side dining area is shown in Figure 10, it

combines an ethereal atmosphere created by the mood

lighting with panoramic views of the coast on southerly

routes. Here the transparent area dividers have large

screen for showing cultural media, such as Irish dancing

and traditional Irish music, which could be streamed live

from venues to which the tourist are travelling. In order

to add to the authenticity of the experience.

The lounge area is shown in Figure 11, where the

multimedia coffee tables are a multimedia resource with

collaborative social media tools for exploring the regions

of future travel and sharing images of previous journeys,

as point of conversational reference. This area is

designed to facilitate the large demographic spread

between large family groups and individual travellers the

tables range in layout for 4 or 8 people. The idea being,

to introduce travellers to each other to discuss their

experience of the holiday. Individuals may chose to

associate with people from the same culture or country,

or even chose to be alone. To this end the lounge area has

reading pods (Figure 12), which provide individuals with

a personal space and a table where they can dine alone,

without feeling expose the noise levels of the dining area.

The online booking system will enable users to select

their view point for the coastal vistas. For those seated on

the opposite side of the vessel, there is a camera system

to provide them with the view on a personal media

screen.

Figure 9: Central bar area

Figure 10: Port side dining area

Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Figure 11: Lounge area

Figure 12: Reading pods

5.2 Wild Atlantic Way Hopper Service

Most island hopper tourist vessels operating in Ireland

are converted fishing boats or catamarans operating at

relatively low speeds. The WAW hopper services will

transport 40 people on the Eurofoil [17], which is a

single deck passenger hydrofoil vessel with aft-located

power plant and a bow thruster. This engages in DDI as

the hydrofoil platform offers good sea keeping and low

power consumption for a maximum speed of 60km/h.

This will enable visitor to have very fast transit time to

coastal islands with the design meaning of a first class

train carriage. The vessel shown in Figure 13, would

offer class AB tourist unparalleled views of the coast line

with the luxury of a 1st class train travel

.

Figure 13: Eurofoil [17]

Figure 14: Interior seating in row configuration

Figure 15:Interior seating in table configuration

Figure 16: View of table configuration

The Eurofoil is a much smaller vessel with adaptable

interior to facilitate groups of up to 8, in the same social

space the seats are flipable with a large leg pitch to

facilitate high BMI tourists, in a high degree of comfort.

The vessel also has a key role of providing integrated

logistics for air freight through carrying air containers in

its adaptable modular interior. The row and table seating

configurations are shown in Figure 14 and Figure 15

respectively. Where the individual seats are rotated and

flipped to produce 2 sets of 2 seats facing each other,

with a wall mounted retractable table. This table (Figue

16) has a multimedia surface for the groups to create

social media diaries and collaborative posts. When 2 sets

of 4 people are on both sides of the isle as a group of 8,

the multimedia tables can be linked to create a shared

collaborative social media space for the group as a

whole.

Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

6. EAST COAST MoS

The use of 0.9% rail transport compared to 99.1% road

transport, for the modal split of freight transport for 2012

is an underutilisation of potential multi-modal logistics

solutions. However, a significant consideration of both

road and rail transport is the cost of infrastructure

construction and maintenance, in addition to the cost of

modal nodes. Whereas, coastal waterway transport can

use existing coastal ports. The key opportunity building

on the DDI development of the CLF is to combine

tourism with logistics needs. As Ro-Ro tend to be time

critical goods it would be critical to compete with road

journey times as an assessment criteria. Considering the

freight value moved by road between NUTS3 regions as

shown in figure 4, the following observations can be

made:

Over 2000 Million Euro trade between Dublin

and Belfast

Over 2000 Million Euro trade between SW and

SE

1000- 2000 Million Euro trade between SE and

Dublin

This value of trade could rationalise the use of a high

speed catamaran to reduce the motorway HGV volume,

which could facilitate capacity growth by reduced

congestion on the motorway system. The number of

vessel in use could then increase to improve transport

capacity thereby avoiding the significant infrastructure

investment required to increase motorway capacity.

In analysing the freight tonnes moved between NUTS, as

shown in Figure 5, it can be seen that there is a potential

east coast route connecting: SW; SE; Dublin; Border.

This is based on the fact that the annualised freight flow

between these regions is between 2,000,000 and

5,000,000 Thousands of Tonnes.

Figure 17: Incat 100m catamaran Francisco [18]

As speed is a critical factor the Incat catamaran Francisco

[18] which is capable of 100km/h top speed with a DWT

of 450t, has been selected. It would be capable of

carrying 18 24t TEUs. The journey time analysis is

shown in Table 1 for the proposed routes Dublin to

Belfast and the route: Cork; Rosslare; Dublin; Drogheda.

Considering loading/unloading time in addition to the

journey time, 2 return journeys can be completed daily

on the Cork-Drogheda route, and 4 return journeys can

be completed daily on the Dublin-Belfast route. The

routes are shown in Figure 18. Based on each of these

routes operating one vessel, the cargo capability analysis

is shown in Table 2, based on the 2009 freight volume

estimates. Where based on the annual freight tonnes

estimates, the Cork-Drogheda route vessel could transfer

13%-33% of road transport TEUs to coastal transport.

The Dublin-Belfast route vessel, which could achieve 4

return journeys daily, could transfer 26%-66% of road

transport TEUs to coastal transport. This modal shift

would support the EU 30% target for modal shift of road

freight to other modes by 2050. The other key EU target

is a reduction in CO2, which will be analysed in the

further work of the authors. The Incat operates two GE

22MW LM 2500G4+ marinised gas turbines, which are

designed to operate on LNG, thereby significantly

reducing NOx and SOx compared to MGO.

Figure 18: Map of proposed routes

7.0 DISCUSSION

7.1 Wild Atlantic Way

The WAW Hopper Service ticks all of the boxes to build

tourism capacity towards the achievement of the 2025

targets for low-carbon choice, asset mobilisation in terms

of utilising existing infrastructure the length and breadth

of the Atlantic seaboard. Given that this WAW is a new

tourism offering we estimate that approximately 1.3

million cars shall travel various sections of the Wild

Atlantic Way in 2015. Making the WAW accessible for

more international visitors to stay longer and spend more

can be facilitated by building luxury hopper services all

Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

along the Atlantic, utilising existing port, pier and marina

infrastructure. Visitors will experience Ireland’s rugged

coastline from the seaward side.

The hopper service could link the WAW into marine

infrastructure from Waterford in the south to Derry in the

North using appropriate ports of call along the route.

This means that visitors could hop onto the WAW

Hopper service in Waterford in the morning, complete a

sea leg of the WAW, and arrive in Kinsale for dinner.

This journey would take 2hrs 20mins compared to 2 hrs

by road. Longer routes such as Kinsale to Westport

would take 6.5hrs by WAW ferry instead of 4 hrs by

road. The flexibility of the high speed ferry would enable

tourist to cover larger distances of the WAW without

having to drive, enjoying rural areas when they arrive

refreshed and informed, by the use of the multimedia

tools.

“The Future of Luxury Travel, A Global Trends Report”

was a qualitative and quantitative research project which

was carried from 2011 to 2013 [19]. To measure the

main trends and challenges of the luxury travel industry,

an Internet survey with luxury travel buyers and

suppliers was conducted, and one-on-one interviews with

CEOs or senior representatives from major luxury travel

groups worldwide are being conducted. In addition, focus

groups with buyers (tour operators and travel agents who

provide a distribution channel for reaching the consumer,

i.e., the luxury traveller) and suppliers (including airlines,

cruise lines, hotels, etc.) took place in Singapore and

New York. The key observations of the luxury travel

market report were:

A differentiation of ultra-luxury from affordable

luxury

A re-direction of supply to meet the resilient

demand by the super-wealthy

To recover ultra-luxury positioning,

authenticity, content, knowledge, real

relationships, customisation and personalisation

are redefined as ruling principles.

The real luxury culture of service has returned.

Traditional know-how, choice of materials,

craftsman’s products all contribute to the

uniqueness of product and a one-to-one

relationship with customers.

Luxury travel providers now focus on

sustainable development and luxury customers

feel more entrusted with social responsibility as

opposed to ostentation.

By 2020, 100 million outbound tourists from

China are expected.

The Chinese market is considered the key driver

of global luxury, with an estimated 250million

Chinese now able to afford luxury products.

The primary destination for luxury travel is

Europe, listed as the top luxury destination by

41% of the interviewees.

a small number of operators offer cruises aboard

smaller ships (50-100 guests) that can carry a

limited number of passengers and are

exclusively reserved for high-end customers

This analysis has informed the interior development of

both vessel interiors. The significant use of IT enables

the class AB tourist to immerse themselves in the

experience and to encourage detailed planning of their

holiday through social media and multimedia. The high

speed luxury nature of the WAW by sea could appeal to

the Chinese market. Where it could be implemented as a

curated experience of shopping and culture.

Hurtigruten is the Norwegian coastal passenger and

freight shipping service which operates between Bergen

and Kirkenes. Completing the round-trip journey in 11

days. The trip has been described as the "World's Most

Beautiful Sea Voyage". Since the 1980s, Hurtigruten has

placed more emphasis on tourism. New, bigger and more

luxurious ships were introduced, with attention given to

hot tubs, bars, restaurants and other comforts. However,

Hurtigruten still serves important passenger and cargo

needs, and operates 365 days a year. The company has

nearly 2% of the worldwide cruise market [20]. This

synthesis of coastal logistics and luxury tourism could

create a new and innovative market sector in Ireland

given the significant international tourism market in the

island of Ireland.

7.2 East Coast MoS service.

The estimation of the costs of transport have been

important issues for European transport research and

policy development for many years. Estimating the

economic costs of transport infrastructure including

depreciation and interest on capital and running costs can

be done using the Perpetual Inventory Method (PIM) or

the Synthetic Method. Each of these

accounting philosophies has its own strengths and

weaknesses. In a review of the two methods Doll and

Essen [21] recommend the Synthetic Method for

infrastructure accounting purposes. This method is

considered superior if there is no tradition of calculating

infrastructure costs with the PIM approach due to the

better availability of the required data, the reflection of

current infrastructure quality and the relation of cost

accounting to existing physical objects of the road

network. They reported similarities of cost levels and

cost structures between the big Western European

countries, € 600,000 (Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain) and

€ 800,000 (France) per motorway kilometre. Their main

finding was that unit costs for motorways are roughly ten

times higher than for trunk or urban roads.

Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

The indicative motorway infrastructure costs per km for

a HGV24t in Ireland was reported to be 0.273677

Euro/vehicle kilometre. This figure has be used in Table

3 to estimate infrastructure cost saving created by

transferring HGVs to coastal shipping. [20] For both

routes the combined annual road infrastructure cost

saving was €5.3million Euro, which would be

€53.9million over a 10 year period. In developing a

operational cost model for the East Coast route vessels, it

is essential to consider the magnitude of these

infrastructure costs savings over the operational life of

the vessel. It is also important to quantify the benefit of

reduced motorway congestion, as the modal shift of

TEUs from road to coastal logistics would enhance

motorway capacity. Thereby supporting economic

growth without the significant cost of new motorway

building at €600k-€800k per kilometre. In effect, this

Design-Driven Innovation proposal could increase the

time window before the motorway system reaches

capacity by reducing HGV traffic volumes. The

operational cost model will be developed in the further

work of the authors. A critical factor in the success of

this MoS proposal would be the optimisation of freight

containers. This preliminary analysis was based on the

assumption that all containers were at maximum load,

which will need further examination and consideration as

a area in for innovation.

7.2.1 The Physical Internet

Given that a city centre to city centre route is considered

along the East coast from Dublin to Belfast, urban

logistics becomes a consideration of the freight to be

carried on the Incat. Both Dublin and Belfast are city

ports with highly populated residential and central

business districts areas adjacent to the port centres.

Therefore, servicing the last mile of a door-to-door

logistics service between Dublin and Belfast can be

considered. The “last-mile” is regarded as one of the

more expensive due to a number of factors such as

security costs, high delivery failure rates, efficiency and

environmental performance. [22] Also, smaller freight

transport payloads are required, such as boxes, containers

and pallets rather than ISO containers sizes. Achieving

maximum utilisation of the 18 24t TEU capacity on

board the Incat could be achieved by taking a modular

approach to the allocation and design of the vessel so as

to deliver cargo direct into an urban city landscape, and

thus reducing the cost of last mile delivery in comparison

to road based transport. The goods onboard the Incat

could be offloaded onto smaller urban transport modes

such as electric vehicles or even cycle courier solutions

for distribution throughout the busy urban environments.

One such inspirational movement in freight transport is

towards the advent of the Physical Internet (π). Inspired

by the paradigms of the Digital Internet, the Physical

Internet enables organizations to move and deploy

physical products seamlessly though logistical networks

just like data packets move through the Digital Internet,

transparently, efficiently and heterogeneously; enabled

by guiding protocols. This concept is gaining momentum

as a global, interconnected, and sustainable logistics

system, underpinned by standard containers that are

easily transported by various modes. The containers

move though distributed, multimodal transport networks

in which transit sites aggregate containers and optimize

the containers for the step in the network. [23] In the

context of the Physical Internet, there are two important

categories of firms: the π-Enablers and the π-Enabled.

Figure 19: Type of business model innovation strategy

for the Physical Internet [21]

The introduction of the Physical Internet will force firms

to innovate. Figure 12 shows the relationships between π-

Enabler firms and π-Enabled firms. π-Enabler firms

provide the necessary physical and material

infrastructure, including a full range of services. The

standardization that this suggests for the Physical Internet

to be efficient (e.g., containers, vehicles, equipment) will

transform current providers. π-Enabled firms exploit the

potential value creation induced by the Physical Internet

to create value for the full range of stakeholders

involved.

Remarkably the realization of the Physical Internet will

allow manufacturers the opportunity to reach new

markets by increasing frequency, reducing constraints

related to lot size, and reducing the cost of delivery. The

emerging trend towards mass customization of products

will become easier thanks to the reduction of shipping

costs. The recently EU funded project Modulushca [24]

furthered the goals of the Physical Internet by developing

modular units that could be readily deployed in the Incat

East Coast MoS service. By maximising the utilisation of

the carrying capacity by using π-modular units (Figure

20), maximising speed of delivery between urban centres

we propose the world’s first physical internet modular

coastal cruiser.

Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Figure 20: Modular units [24]

7.2.2 e-Maritime

The implementation of e-maritime support platform for

smart shipping corridors will be critical to the safety of

operation of these high speed craft. The e-maritime

support platform for smart shipping corridors has two

main pillars: volumetric navigation concept (VNC) and

fleet management operation (FMO). Monitoring

information is given to maritime administrations to

control operations and master through enhanced onboard

systems. New platform providing volumetric navigation

support the smart decision of masters and allows

increasing waterways traffic efficiency in a safe manner.

Each vessel is surrounded by an envelope of safety

ensuring the proper navigation. High accuracy precision

based on expected new Galileo services, oceanographic

and weather conditions (sea currents speed and direction,

wind speed and direction), manoeuvrability of vessels,

are some of the key inputs for performing those

envelopes. All of them are interchanged using VHF

communications based on AIS binary messages. New

ongoing protocol VDE as future of AIS will be integrated

with ports. This key pillar will provide a navigation

support tool to Increase infrastructures use and passage

density capability by 20% on regulated areas based on a

realistic risk assessment on infrastructure constraints and

navigation conditions. A reduction of waiting times and

bottle necks will be achieved mainly in the load/unload

berths where the freight change of mode of transport

(vessel / truck). The other pillar is focused in emissions

reduction which can be obtained through an optimisation

of waste times of shipping stakeholders. Truck fleet

management concepts will be applied to fleet vessels in

order to monitor and optimize times of voyage of

vessels. ETA and ETD times of vessels and trucks will

be optimised as a consequence of sharing information

between stakeholders involved. There will be an

umbrella over those two pillars called Smart corridors.

Waypoints on route will be provided dynamically during

voyage integrating both concepts VNC and FMO.

The EU Regional Aid Guidelines (RAGS) [25] allow the

provision of enhanced rates of State Aid in the least

economically developed areas. The 2014-2020 RAGS

were implemented on 1st July 2014. Under the terms of

the RAGS, regions covering 51.28% of Ireland’s

population were designated as ‘assisted areas’, which

represents the majority of the coastal areas for the

proposed integrated water transport system. This enables

Ireland's enterprise development agencies to grant State

aid, at enhanced rates, to businesses in order to support

new investment and new employment in these most

disadvantaged regions. Regional aid is also provided

under schemes for tourism grants, marine tourism, urban

and rural renewal and other tax-based development

schemes. This State financial instrument would be the

key mechanism to realise infrastructural upgrades to

support this WAW by sea as a seamlessly integrated part

of a luxury holiday in Ireland for class AB tourists.

8.0 CONCLUSION

The Design-Driven Innovation scenario for the use of the

coastal waterways of Ireland as an integrated logistics

solution for freight on the east coast, and luxury tourism

on the west coast has been developed. The key objectives

of the scenario were to support the EU CO2 targets for

transport, and to reduce congestion through a modal shift

of road transport logistics and tourism traffic to the

coastal waterway. Potentially this proposal could

increase the time window before the motorway system

reaches capacity by reducing HGV traffic volumes.

Three existing vessel platforms have been identified,

with initial exploration of interior design requirements. A

detailed operational cost model is required to quantify

the benefits of the proposal. This should consider the cost

of vessels in the context of the reduction of road

infrastructure cost, provided by the modal shift. A critical

aspect of the scenario is the implementation of an e-

maritime support platform to develop smart shipping

corridors based on volumetric navigation concept (VNC)

and fleet management operation (FMO). This is a first

step in the analysis of the potential of the coastal and

waterways of Ireland, to meet the EU targets for

transport while also using innovation to create a

paradigm shift in the tourism industry. Namely, the

WAC (Wild Atlantic Coast), a sea route extending the

business opportunities of the WAW (Wild Atlantic

Way). State aid has been identified as a potential funding

mechanism to support the realisation of these proposals.

9.0 REFERENCES

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Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

10. AUTHORS BIOGRAPHY

Dr Sean McCartan holds the current position of Course

Tutor, Boat Design at Coventry University, UK. His key

research area is TOI (Transfer of Innovation) from other

sectors to the marine industry, in the areas of Design-

Driven Innovation (DDI), advanced visualisation and

Human Systems Integration(HSI). He leads the EBDIG

(European Boat Design Innovation Group) network,

which includes Chalmers University; Genoa University;

TU-Delft; and a number of leading European marine

design consultancies. He is currently project co-ordinator

for the Leonardo TOI project EBDIG-WFSV (European

Boat Design Innovation Group - Wind Farm Support

Vessels), which aims to develop online training material

for Naval Architects in the subject areas of: Human

Factors; WFSV design (Industrial Design); WFSV

mothership design (Industrial Design).

Tim Thompson holds the current position of part-time

CAD lecturer in the Department of Industrial Design at

Coventry University, UK. He is currently project

Research Assistant for the Leonardo TOI project

EBDIG-WFSV (European Boat Design Innovation

Group - Wind Farm Support Vessels). His CAD teaching

is informed by his professional practice within his design

consultancy, which specialises in photorealistic

visualisation for the superyacht design and interior

design industry.

Grainne Lynch holds the current position of Lecturer in

Transport and Logistics at the National Maritime College

of Ireland, Chairperson of the Chartered Institute of

Logistics and Transport Southern Section of Ireland,

member of mirror group of the European Technology

Platform Alliance for Logistics Competitiveness in

Europe. She is a technology champion who’s been

leading and teaching transport, logistics and supply chain

professionals how to plan, execute and interact with

information technology, manage data, make informed

decisions about IT spends, plan service and maintenance

and future proof their investment for the last twelve

years.

Marine Design 2015, 2-3 September 2015, London, UK

© 2015: The Royal Institution of Naval Architects

Routes

Distance

Road @ Sea @ % Duration

From To Road (km)

Sea (km) 60km/h 100km/h Decrease

Cork Rosslare 192 180 3.20 1.80 44%

Rosslare Dublin 154 130 2.57 1.30 49%

Dublin Drogheda 53 65 0.88 0.65 26%

Dublin Belfast 168 207 2.8 2.07 26%

Table 1:Comparison of road and sea journey times on East coast route

East Coast Low High

Annual Freight Tonnes 2,000,000 5,000,000

No. 24t TEU eqivalent 83,333 208,333

directional split one way 41,667 104,167

Daily tonnage one way 2,740 6,849

Daily Operational % Daily tonnage (450t DWT)

1 vessel 4 journeys 33% 13%

1 vessel 8 journeys 66% 26%

Table 2: cargo capability of east coast route

Routes Annual Infrastructure Costs

From To low High scenario

Cork Rosslare € 4,378,832 € 10,947,080 € 1,380,908

Rosslare Dublin € 3,512,188 € 8,780,470 € 1,107,604

Dublin Drogheda € 1,208,740 € 3,021,850 € 381,188

Dublin Belfast € 3,831,478 € 9,578,695 € 2,416,590

Annual Total € 12,931,238 € 32,328,096 € 5,286,290

Total over 10 years

€ 129,312,383 € 323,280,956 € 52,862,902

Table 3: Estimated annual infrastructure costs for road transport

Figure 8: GA proposal for passenger deck on BMT Alaskan Highway Vessel