Lars Anderson News

Wärtsilä introduced an upgraded version of its Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel engine that delivers increased power output, has a reduced environmental impact, and will feature a lower fuel consumption. It will also further increase the engine’s fuel flexibility by allowing a much wider gas quality span, down to methane number (MN) 65, while still delivering full output.The engine’s power per cylinder is increased from 185 to 195 kW, while the methane slip is lowered by as much as 40%, thereby reducing the CO2 emissions, according to the manufacturer.

Wärtsilä announced it will include Japanese-designed gate rudders as part of it propulsion offering for newbuild vessels and retrofit.The Finnish-based firm said it signed a license and cooperation agreement with Kuribayashi Steamship Co for future development, sales and servicing of the gate rudders. As an authorized license holder and partner, Wärtsilä intends to fully integrate gate rudders within its propulsion product designs for all vessel classes and focus on global markets outside Japan.

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä,  the Netherlands based Maritime Research Institute MARIN and Italian ship owner Grimaldi, have together successfully designed an Energy Saving Device (ESD), suitable for use by ships with Controllable Pitch Propellers (CPPs)."Following model tests, and subsequent sea trials with Grimaldi’s ‘Grande Portogallo’, a 165 metres long Pure Car & Truck Carrier, fuel efficiency gains of 3.5 percent were confirmed," said a press release from the engineering company. This translates into a pay-back period of only 1.3 years."The initial noon reports suggest a 5 percent decrease in the fuel consumption, but in order to get a more realistic value we need to record a wider range of data…

The Fassmer shipyard in Germany is currently cinstructing a new research vessel to be owned by Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH), the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency. The new 75-meter-long ship, the Atair, will replace her 30 year old namesake, and will be the first German research vessel operating on liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel. The engines for the new vessel will be supplied by Wärtsilä, who will also supply exhaust cleaning systems based on selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology and the LNGPac system for complete fuel gas handling.

The 100th Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel marine engine will be delivered from the factory in early 2016. This delivery will represent part of an order for three new large escort tugs being built for Norwegian operator Østensjø Rederi. The ships will operate at Statoil's Melkøya terminal near Hammerfest in Norway. "This milestone delivery further emphasises the popularity of this engine and highlights Wärtsilä's leadership position in dual-fuel technology. These 100 engines do not include those delivered for land based energy generation applications. Within its power range, the Wärtsilä 34DF has become the workhorse of the marine industry, thanks to its superior reliability and lower operating costs.

The upgraded version of the Wärtsilä 34DF engine is rapidly becoming established as an industry standard. The three major South Korean shipyards are supporting the use of this engine for auxiliary applications in the LNG Carrier segment where dual-fuel engines are favoured. South Korea currently has more than 80% of the total order book for LNG tankers, while the Wärtsilä 34DF engine has achieved an auxiliary application market share of approximately 70% in this sector. During…

A new generation "Antigoon" class dredger, called Scheldt River, being built by Royal IHC in the Netherlands on behalf of the Belgium based DEME Group, is to be powered by Wärtsilä dual-fuel (DF) engines. This will be the first ever dredger to operate on engines capable of utilising either liquefied natural gas (LNG) or conventional marine fuels. The contract with Wärtsilä was signed in July. The 104-meter-long vessel will have a hopper volume capacity of approximately 8,000 cubic metres. The scope of supply includes one 12-cylinder and one 9-cylinder Wärtsilä 34DF engines, two Wärtsilä controllable pitch propellers and two transverse thrusters as well as the company's patented LNGPac gas supply and storage system.

The Wärtsilä 50DF marine engine has been tested and certified to run on ethane (LEG) fuel. The testing program was carried out by Wärtsilä in close collaboration with Evergas, an owner and operator of seaborne petrochemical and liquid gas transport vessels. "We are very pleased that the Wärtsilä engines will be capable of utilizing ethane boil-off gas as fuel. It increases our operational efficiency and improves flexibility in the bunkering of fuels. All in all it results in a significant reduction in operating costs, while also providing a minimal environmental footprint. It also enables us to offer our customers increased flexibility, which has a monetary value to them," said Steffen Jacobsen, the CEO of Evergas.

Five new Arc 7 design ice-class LNG carriers being built at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) yard in South Korea will be powered by a total of 30 Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines. The vessels will operate in arctic conditions to serve the Yamal LNG project in Northern Russia. The order was placed in January with Wärtsilä's joint venture company, Wärtsilä Hyundai Engine Co. (WHEC) who will also build the engines in South Korea. Each of the LNG carriers will be fitted with four 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 50DF engines and two 9-cylinder Wärtsilä 50DF engines. The engines will primarily utilise liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel, but are also capable of running on conventional marine diesel fuels.

The Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) yard in South Korea has ordered a total of 54 Wärtsilä dual fuel engines to power 172,600 cbm icebreaking LNG carriers being built for use in arctic conditions to serve the Yamal LNG project in Northern Russia. The ships will be owned by one joint venture between Teekay LNG Partners of Canada and China LNG Shipping (CLNG), and another joint venture between China Shipping LNG Investment Co.,Ltd. (CSLNG) and Japan based Mitsui O.S.K.

The increasing use of LNG as a marine fuel is further emphasized with the latest order for Wärtsilä's dual-fuel engine technology. A new cement carrier being built at the Scheepswerf Ferus Smit yard in the Netherlands will feature a six-cylinder Wärtsilä 34DF main engine, making it the first bulk carrier to adopt Wärtsilä's multi fuel capability. The ship has been ordered by JT Cement, a joint venture between Erik Thun AB of Sweden and KG Jebsen Cement of Norway. In addition to the main engine…

Drydocks World and Dubai Maritime City (DMC), the leading provider of services to the shipping, maritime, oil, gas & energy sector is supporting the "Green Economy for Sustainable Development" initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of UAE and Ruler of Dubai. As part of this initiative, the company has entered into Memoranda of Understanding with Wartsila and Dubai Carbon Centre of Excellence for building the world’s first LNG powered harbor tug. The project launched under the trade mark “Elemarateyah” is part of the Dubai Maritime Green Initiative, a strategic movement to encourage all-round environmental excellence in maritime and allied sectors including oil, gas and energy.

Wärtsilä announce their new medium-speed 46DF engine which is capable of operating on natural gas, heavy fuel oil, or marine diesel oil. “With this newly launched product, Wärtsilä has raised the industry standard even higher, since it offers simultaneously drastically lower specific fuel consumption, both in gas and diesel fuel mode, remarkably higher output, and extremely attractive lifecycle costs compared to any other alternative currently available on the market,” says Mr Lars Anderson, Vice President 4-stroke Sales, Wärtsilä Ship Power.

Wärtsilä is expanding its engine portfolio with the introduction of two additional auxiliary engines, the Wärtsilä Auxpac 16 and the Wärtsilä Auxpac 32. Both the Auxpac 16 and the Auxpac 32 are pre-engineered gensets with a turbocharged four-stroke engine having direct fuel injection and charge air cooling and provide the electrical power onboard all types and sizes of ships. They are based upon Wärtsilä's four-stroke engine technology, which has been proven with more than 1,000 Auxpac 20 and 26 engines in operation having in excess of 6 million accumulated running hours experience.

Wärtsilä has now released its Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel  engine for sale in the US market. The engine meets the strict emissions compliance criteria of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tier 4 and is now available to American ship owners and operators. The Wärtsilä 20DF is a proven and successful engine, and its release to the US market is in response to the growing demand for natural gas fueled engines. By extending the availability of dual-fuel engine technology…

Wärtsilä's RT-flex common rail engine technology provides environmental benefits including low fuel consumption and reductions in exhaust emissions. The engine waste heat is utilized to produce onboard electricity. These features help maintaining and operating seaborne transportation in more economical and sustainable ways. Wärtsilä will supply the main engines for a series of vessels being built for Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. (KOTC), a Subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Four VLCCs (Very Large Crude Oil Carriers), one Aframax tanker and four medium-range tankers are being built at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea.

Wärtsilä to supply main engines for a series of 9 large vessels being built by Daewoo for Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. Four VLCCs (Very Large Crude Oil Carriers), one Aframax tanker and four medium-range tankers are being built at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea. The VLCCs will be fitted with 7-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex 82T engines and a Waste Heat Recovery System, which utilizes exhaust gas energy  to generate steam which is used to operate a turbo generator that produces ship's electricity supply.

Wärtsilä has now been contracted to supply Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel propulsion engines to 100 Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Carrier vessels. This notable milestone was recently passed with the supply of a LNG carrier in a South Korean shipyard. The 100 LNG Carriers represent approximately one quarter of the current global fleet. Wärtsilä's advanced dual-fuel technology was first launched in the early 1990s for use in land-based power plant applications. The first marine installation of the 50DF engine came a decade later. The technology enables the engine to be operated on either natural gas, light fuel oil (LFO), or heavy fuel oil (HFO), and switching between fuels can take place seamlessly during operation, without loss of power or speed.

Wärtsilä extends its offering in the low-speed X-generation engine series with the new Wärtsilä X92 engine, to the upper end of its portfolio with a bore of 920 mm. The new engine, extremely efficient in terms of fuel consumption and emissions, will serve the market for large and ultra-large container vessels with a size above 8,000 TEU to any size under construction and beyond. The first 92-bore engine is planned for delivery in 2014. The Wärtsilä X92 is designed based on known and validated concepts and employs well-proven Wärtsilä electronically-controlled common-rail technology. Thanks to these technologies, the Wärtsilä X92 will be very efficient in terms of fuel consumption and emissions.

Algoma Central Corporation has chosen Wärtsilä to supply complete propulsion systems with integrated scrubbers for six Great Lakes vessels. The full propulsion system with integrated fresh water scrubber lowers operating costs while reducing the vessel's environmental footprint by allowing owners to use high sulphur fuels in Emission Control Area (ECA) Zones and meet sulphur emissions restrictions. This represents the first order for the new integrated Wärtsilä scrubber concept.

Wärtsilä has tested its new low-speed gas engine technology in trials conducted at the company's facilities in Trieste, Italy. The tests were carried out on September 19 in conjunction with Wärtsilä's Licensees Conference in Trieste. Wärtsilä successfully demonstrated that the engine performance fully complies with the upcoming IMO Tier III nitrogen oxide (NOx) limits, thereby setting a new benchmark for low-speed engines running on gas. The new RTX5 2-stroke test engine is part of Wärtsilä's 2-stroke dual-fuel gas engine technology development programme. This is an important part of the company's strategy to lower emissions, increase efficiency and to develop its low-speed engine portfolio to include dual-fuel gas engines alongside its medium-speed dual-fuel engines.

Wärtsilä, the marine industry's leading ship power system integrator, strengthens its offering in the mid-size, low-speed engine sector by adding new 62- and 72-bore low-speed engines to its portfolio. These standardised engines offer high propulsion efficiency, reliability, and optimised total cost of ownership for customers in the bulker, tanker, and feeder container markets. Both engines employ well-proven Wärtsilä low-speed technology, and incorporate electronically-controlled fuel supply and control.

Wärtsilä has, in the autumn of 2010, initiated a major project to further develop its low-speed engine portfolio to include gas engines, alongside its medium-speed dual fuel engines, as part of the company's strategy. A new test engine will be installed in the Trieste engine laboratory in Italy in March this year. Engine testing will commence shortly thereafter. The marine market is today characterised by a growing awareness of the need for alternative fuel solutions that can reduce emissions while, at the same time, being commercially viable. Natural gas is currently the alternative fuel offering the biggest potential in this respect. LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) has also attracted some interest but is not a commercially viable alternative due to its prohibitive price.