MARINE NEWS PRODUCTS, TECHNOLOGIES AND ACTIVITIES
PROPULSION
BY MIKE MERCER
RT-flex50 common rail low-speed
engines for a series of three 56 000 dwt
handymax bulk carriers to be built at
the Nam Trieu shipyard for Dutch
owners. In addition, Vinashin ordered
six-cylinder Wärtsilä RTA62U-B low-speed engines for a series of four 1700
TEU container vessels contracted by
Vietnamese owners. A
Second Turkish Ferry
Launched
The second Auto Express 88 fast car
ferry Orhan Gazi- 1 was launched recently at the Austal shipyard. The vessel is
scheduled to go into service this coming
July. The 88 m aluminum catamaran is
the 10th fast ferry Austal has built for
Istanbul Deniz Otobusleri (IDO). The
first ferry into service was the Osman
Gazi- 1. The new Austal ferries are designated to operate on a 39 nautical mile
reciprocal service across the Marmara
Sea between Yenikapi (Istanbul) and a
new port development in Mudanya ser-
vicing the city of Bursa. The catamaran’s
propulsion consists of four, MTU 20-
cylinder 8000 Series diesel engines driving a Lips propulsion system through
four Reintjes gearboxes. A
New Vietnamese
Licensee for Wärtsilä
Recently, the Vietnam Shipbuilding
Industry Corp. (Vinashin) and Wärtsilä
Switzerland Ltd., a subsidiary of Wärtsilä
Corp., jointly signed a license agreement
for the manufacture and sale of Wärtsilä
low-speed marine diesel engines in
Vietnam. The agreement was signed by
Pham Thanh Binh, chairman and CEO
of Vinashin and Martin Wernli, president of Wärtsilä Switzerland Ltd.
The agreement grants Vinashin the
right to manufacture certain types of
Wärtsilä modern low-speed engine
types between 48 and 82 cm bore size
at their works in Vietnam. The first
delivery of a Wärtsilä engine is scheduled for the beginning of 2010.A
Wärtsilä Acquires
Propeller Repair Business
Wärtsilä has acquired the U.K.-based
propeller repair company McCall
Propellers Ltd. which has purpose-built
repair facilities next to Glasgow Airport.
Work is carried out either in the workshop or on-site anywhere in the world.
The company’s net sales are reportedly
US$12.7 million and it has 33 personnel.
McCall Propellers is the largest marine
propulsion support services company
based in the U.K. specializing in emergency repair of propeller equipment. A
Short Notes
Support services and shipbuilding
company VT Group has been contracted to build and manage three
Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV),
including associated training and
long-term maintenance support,
that are to be supplied to Trinidad.
The program is valued at more than
US$299 million. A
