Wärtsilä Extends Range of Marine Reduction Gears

Wärtsilä will extend its range of marine reduction gears and begin manufacturing these products in Khopoli, India. Production will start on the same site as Wärtsilä's existing factory. The value of the investment is approximately EUR 1 million. Wärtsilä has designed and manufactured reduction gears since 1990 in Rubbestadsneset, Norway. The new unit in Khopol will have 20 employees and it will operate in parallel with the reduction gear factory in Norway. The new reduction gears are at the lower end of the output range. Along with the existing gears, the Wärtsilä gear portfolio will cover the whole range of the power outputs needed by the market. The factory in India will allow Wärtsilä to expand its business volume in the growing Asian shipbuilding market. "Wärtsilä is now able to supply complete the propulsion power train from engine to propeller with our own marine reduction gears also at the lower power end. This enables us to provide a complete optimized propulsion solution from one source, Wärtsilä, which will benefit the customer," says Executive Vice President Mikael Mäkinen. Reduction gears reduce the main engine speed to the optimum propeller speed.