June 5, 2007 -- Wärtsilä's licensed enginebuilders have in recent months booked orders for 52 of Wärtsilä's new series of 82-cm bore low-speed marine engines with an aggregate power of 1726 MW. The engines were introduced to the market in the end of 2005.
Orders for the new 82-cm bore engines have thus taken off with them being contracted for the propulsion of panamax-sized container ships and large tankers such as VLCCs for which they are specifically designed. Four engine types of the same 82-cm bore, the RT-flex82C, RTA82C, RT-flex82T and RTA82T types, are being developed by Wärtsilä Corporation. The first RT-flex82C engine is planned to begin testing in mid 2008, in cooperation with Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd, Korea.
Details are given here of only a selection of the many orders for these 82-cm bore engines to indicate the range of ship types for which the engines have been contracted. Six 3400 TEU container ships have been ordered by the German owner Buxpower GmbH, each powered by a seven-cylinder Wärtsilä "82C" engine. The ships, contracted with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, will be built at Kiel (four ships) and Emden (two ships) with delivery due in 2009 and 2010. The engines, having a maximum continuous power of 31,640 kW at 102 rpm, will be built under licence by Doosan Engine Co Ltd, Korea.
Four panamax container ships ordered by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd ("K" Line), Japan, will each be powered by an eight-cylinder Wärtsilä 8RT-flex82C engine of 36,160 kW at 102 rpm. The ships will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd, Korea, at the Ulsan shipyard for delivery in 2009 and 2010. The engines will be manufactured by Hyundai's Engine & Machinery Division (EMD).
Two 4300 TEU container ships for Shipping Corporation of India also contracted at Hyundai will each be equipped with an eight-cylinder Wärtsilä RTA82C engine of 36,160 kW at 102 rpm. To be built at Hyundai's Samho shipyard, the ships are due for delivery in 2008, with the engines also manufactured by Hyundai EMD.
Two 318,000 dwt crude oil tankers have been contracted by Metrostar Management Corporation, Greece, also at Hyundai's Ulsan yard with each being propelled by a seven-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex82T engine. The engines from Hyundai EMD each have a maximum continuous power of 31,640 kW at 80 rpm. The ships are due for delivery in 2009 and 2010.
Ten 4300 TEU container ships contracted by the German shipowner Reederei Claus-Peter Offen will each be powered by an eight-cylinder Wärtsilä RTA82C engine. The ships have been ordered from Hyundai's Ulsan yard. The engines from Hyundai EMD each have a maximum continuous power of 36,160 kW. The ships are due for delivery in 2009 and 2010.
The four engine types, the RT-flex82C, RTA82C, RT-flex82T and RTA82T, are being developed on the basis of a common platform with as many parts as possible being shared to bring benefits of rationalisation in the design and manufacturing, lowering manufacturing costs, and rationalising also spare parts stocks.
The new Wärtsilä RT-flex82C and RT-flex82T engine types bring the benefits of both the electronically-controlled RT-flex common-rail system and up-to-date parameters to deliver optimum propulsion plants for the envisaged ship types. The '-C' versions are intended to be ideal prime movers for container ships of panamax size with capacities up to around 5000 TEU and service speeds typically of about 24 knots. They will have a stroke of 2646 mm and will be available with six to twelve cylinders to cover a power range of 21,720 kW to 54,240 kW at 87 to 102 rev/min.
The '-T' versions will have a stroke of 3375 mm to suit the optimum shaft speeds for the propulsion of large tankers, VLCCs and ULCCs of 200,000 dwt to more than 350,000 dwt. The engines will be built with six to nine cylinders to cover a power range of 21,720 kW to 40,680 kW at 68 to 80 rev/min.
A particular feature of these 82-cm bore engines is their novel extended layout field whereby the power/speed ranges of the engines are extended to higher speeds at ratings R1+ and R2+ with the same powers as the usual R1 and R2 ratings. The extended fields offer widened flexibility to select the most efficient propeller speed for lowest daily fuel consumption. This widened layout flexibility is already proving beneficial in ship projects.
Source: Hugin Press Release
Source: Factiva
