As a fitting finale to a major contract from a valued customer, MAN Diesel SE held a small celebration at its works in Augsburg, Germany. The event marked the start of acceptance testing of the final engine of eight ordered by shipowner Harren & Partner of Bremen, Germany, for a series of eight 16,500 DWT oil products and chemicals tankers being built at the Chinese Jiangnan Shipyard. As well as representatives from the shipowners, delegates from investors in the ships also participated at the celebration.
Of the eight vessels ordered by Harren & Partner, six were delivered in the period between November 2004 and November 2006 with the final two scheduled for handover later in 2007. In detail, the tankers have a liquid cargo capacity of 19,500 cubic metres, an overall length of 472.4 ft, a beam of 75.4 ft and an 27.5 ft draught.
On the propulsion side, the tankers feature a single six cylinder inline version of the 48/60B heavy fuel main engine. Rated 6,300 kW at 500 rpm, the 6L 48/60B engine transmits propulsion power to a single MAN Diesel Alpha CP propeller via a Renk reduction gear. Built to Ice Class 1A, the vessels also feature a takehome device whereby the 1500 kW A van Kaick shaft generator on the reduction gear can act as a motor, drawing electrical power from the ship’s auxiliary engines.
MAN Diesel notes that the eight engines were among the first examples sold of the further developed “B” version of its well-proven type 48/60 diesel, featuring enhanced fuel consumption and reduced emissions among other improvements.