Wärtsilä: Engines for One of the World’s Largest Dredgers

One of the world’s largest non self-propelled cutter dredger vessels, which is also one of the largest of all cutter dredgers in the world with 5200 kW of cutter power, will feature Wärtsilä engines, both to generate power and to drive the dredging pump.

The ship has been designed by the Design & Research Institute of Ship and Ocean Engineering at Shanghai Jiaotong University, and is being built for Jiangsu Haihong Construction Engineering Co. at the company’s yard in China. The order with Wärtsilä was placed in December, 2014.

The 6500 CBM vessel will be fitted with four 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 32 engines, two of which will be used to drive the dredging pump. For this application the 6000 kW engines will run at 775 rpm instead of the normal 750 rpm. The Wärtsilä machinery is scheduled to be delivered in August 2015.

“This is another notable contract for Wärtsilä. More Chinese ship owners and shipyards are selecting Wartsila for their vessels and this further strengthens our position within the Chinese shipbuilding market. The owner’s requirements for this important vessel are high efficiency and reliability with low operating costs, and we have been able to demonstrate our capabilities for meeting these criteria,” said Mr Hans Laheij, Area Sales Director, Wärtsilä Ship Power.

“Wärtsilä’s engines have proven reliability and fuel oil flexibility, which is important in dredgers. Wärtsilä is a leading company in the marine sector and we hope that this project will lead to a long-term cooperation between our companies,” said Mr Meng XianHong, the president of Jiangsu Haihong.

When delivered, the vessel will operate in the South China Sea and in Middle Eastern waters.

The Wärtsilä 32 engine

Designed for reliability and easy maintenance, this medium speed engine is also used for generating set applications. The Wärtsilä 32 was developed in response to a need in the market for a new engine in the 320 mm cylinder bore class, and since 1998 more than 1200 of these engines have been sold worldwide.

Based on the latest achievements in combustion technology, it is designed for efficient and easy maintenance in combination with long maintenance-free operating periods. The engine is fully equipped with all essential ancillaries and a thoroughly planned interface to external systems.

The Wärtsilä 32 engine is fully compliant with the IMO Tier II exhaust emissions regulations set out in Annex VI of the MARPOL 73/78 convention.

Press Release