MAN B&W Units Power Brazilian Resurgence

MarineLink.com May 29, 2013

Naming ceremony in 2010 for the ‘João Candido‘, the first Suezmax tanker in a series of ten built by Estaleiro Atlântico Sul for TransPetro and a sister ship to ‘Zumbi dos Palmares’. The oil tanker’s main engine is an electronically controlled MAN B&W 6S70ME-C type, designed by MAN Diesel & Turbo and built by licensee Doosan (Photo: Petrobrás)

MAN Diesel & Turbo representatives attended the delivery ceremony of the Suezmax tanker Zumbi dos Palmares. Powered by an MAN B&W 6S70ME-C type prime mover and three MAN 7L23/30H auxiliary engines, the vessel is the second ship built by Estaleiro Atlantico Sul (EAS) stemming from the Brazilian Government’s PROMEF shipbuilding program.

The ceremony took place at the EAS shipyard in northeastern Brazil and was attended by the President of Brazil – Dilma Rouseff, President of Petrobras – Maria das Graças Silva Foster and President of Transpetro – Sergio Machado.

At the ceremony, Transpetro announced the reactivation of contracts for 12 ships to be constructed by EAS. The latest newbuilding is one of 10 Suezmax vessels EAS is contracted to produce.

Transpetro is Brazil’s largest hydrocarbon transportation company and a fully owned subsidiary of Petrobras, the local energy multinational. Under PROMEF (Program for Modernization and Expansion of the Fleet), Transpetro has ordered a total of 28 ships, all to be equipped with MAN B&W two-stroke prime movers. Each engine has an output of circa 22,000 hp.

The Zumbi dos Palmares has a payload of one million barrels of crude oil, equivalent to half of Brazil’s daily production, and will primarily sail long, international routes. Immediately after the ceremony, the tanker started its maiden voyage, departing Atlântico Sul in Suape for the Campos Basin off Rio de Janeiro. Its launching marks the fifth PROMEF vessel in operation, two of which have come from the EAS yard. The other EAS vessel is a sister Suezmax tanker, the João Cândido, which was delivered in 2010 and is similarly powered by an electronically controlled MAN B&W 6S70ME-C type engine.

Zumbi dos Palmares – main data
Length – 274.2 meters
Moulded breadth – 48 meters
Height – 51.6 meters
Number of tanks – 12, plus two cargo tank leftovers
Speed – 14.8 knots
Range – 20,000 miles
Main engine – one MAN B&W 6S70ME-C, Maximum Continuous Power 16,852 kW at 91 rpm
Aux. engines – three 7L23/30H, individual output of 1,120 KW at 900 rpm