Wärtsilä Enjoys Good Success With Sulzer RTA84T's On Large Tankers

For the year 2000, Wärtsilä Corporation reports that 24 Sulzer RTA84T low-speed diesel engines with an aggregate power output of 713.4 MW (970,800 bhp) have been ordered for installation in very large tankers contracted at shipyards in China, Japan and South Korea. The engines will all be built by licensees of Wärtsilä in Japan and Korea. Altogether there are now 78 Sulzer RTA84T engines (including the -B and -D versions) delivered or on order, with a combined output of 2171.9 MW (2.95 million bhp). Ten 305,000 dwt oil tankers recently contracted in China and South Korea by National Iranian Tanker Co (NITC) will each be propelled by a seven-cylinder Sulzer RTA84T-B low-speed diesel engine. The engines will have a maximum continuous output of 27,160 kW (36,960 bhp) at 74 rpm, and give the ships a service speed of 15.5 knots. Five of these VLCCs will be built at Dalian New Shipyard, China, with delivery between December 2001 and December 2002. The other five will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. at Ulsan, South Korea, with their delivery due during 2002. Eight VLCCs and ULCCs for HellespontHellespont has contracted the first ULCCs to be ordered for many years. Hellespont recently placed orders for a total of four 442,500 dwt ULCCs at Daewoo Heavy Industries Ltd, as well as four 310,000 dwt VLCCs at Samsung Heavy Industries Co Ltd, both shipyards being in Korea. The four ULCCs will each have a Sulzer 9RTA84T-D engine of 36,900 kW (50,220 bhp) MCR output to obtain a service speed of 16.5 knots. The four VLCCs will each be powered by a Sulzer 8RTA84T-D engine of 32,800 kW (44,640 bhp) MCR output, for a service speed of 17 knots. In addition, the ULCCs will each be equipped with three Wärtsilä 9L20 auxiliary engines each of 1530 kW output. The VLCCs will each have three 1,360 kW Wärtsilä 8L20 auxiliary engines. These auxiliary engines will be manufactured at Wärtsilä's Vaasa factory in Finland. Other orders Shinwa Kaiun ordered a 280,000 dwt VLCC at Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co Ltd (IHI) to be powered by a Sulzer 7RTA84T engine of 27,160 kW (36,960 bhp) output. The ship is due for delivery in December 2001. Two 260,000 dwt tankers contracted by Formosa Plastics at IHI will each be equipped with a Sulzer 7RTA84T engine of 27,160 kW (36,960 bhp) output. NYK Line ordered two 300,000 dwt VLCCs at NKK Corporation which will each be powered by a Sulzer 7RTA84T engine of 27,160 kW (36,960 kW). The ships are both due for delivery in 2002. A single 300,000 dwt VLCC has also been contracted by Iino Kaiun at IHI that will be equipped with a Sulzer 7RTA84T engine. All six RTA84T engines ordered by Japanese shipyards will be built under licence from Wärtsilä Corporation by Diesel United Ltd. The Sulzer RTA84T low-speed two-stroke diesel engine is specifically tailored for the propulsion needs of large tankers. It runs at low speeds (54 - 76 rpm) to match the optimum propeller speeds of such large ships. As part-load fuel economy is important in ships which might have long periods of `slow-steaming', the RTA84T uses flexible engine setting through variable exhaust valve closing (VEC), load-dependent cylinder liner cooling, and variable fuel injection timing (VIT). These features contribute to the RTA84T being the most economical propulsion engine today for large tankers. It is manufactured in two versions, the RTA84T-B and the RTA84T-D with a higher power output. Available with five to nine cylinders, the RTA84T covers a power range of 19,400 to 36,900 kW (26,400 to 50,220 bhp) at maximum continuous output.