Maritime Reporter, February 2001

<BODY> <div> Investment in Design demonstrated by Wartsila's unfolding EnviroEngine program. Extensive tests on the group's full-sized research engine at Winterthur, Switzerland, show that the RT-flex layout is conducive to oper- ation on the same grades of high viscos- ity, heavy fuel oil as ingested by stan- dard RTA-series engines. The electronic two-stroke Sulzer engines specified for two 13,200-dwt reeferships ordered from a Portuguese yard will have the same cylinder diame- ter, albeit with a longer stroke and a seven-cylinder rather than six-cylinder arrangement, as MAN B&W's first elec- tronic 6L60MC power unit in Bow Cecil. Each Sulzer 7RT-flex60C engine will deliver 22,470-bhp (16,520-kW) to ensure the 21.3-knot service speed required by Israel's Agricultural Export Co. (Agrexco) for its new, combined pallet and container-carrying new ves- sels. Ordered from Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo, the ships are destined for the fresh produce traffic from the eastern Mediterranean to France and Spain. German technical, design and finance-raising influence in the new- build project is substantial. Wartsila said that the owner's expectations with regard to operational economy and envi- ronmental standards led to the adoption of RT-flex technology. The first Sulzer RT-flex production engine has been manufactured by Hyundai Heavy Indus- tries for transfer across the Ulsan penin- sula to Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, where the recipient, self-unloading bulkship for Gypsum Transportation is taking shape. Also described as the first "smokeless" engine in the two-stroke category, the 6RT-flex58T-B was chosen for its favorable exhaust emission char- acteristics and overall fuel efficiency, including performance at non-optimum speeds. The conversion of the 6L60MC main engine in Odfjell's stainless steel chem- tanker Bow Cecil has made the much- vaunted Intelligent Engine concept a seagoing reality. With the two-stroke unit in the 1998-built vessel already pre- pared for switchover, the adaptation from standard camshaft operation to fully-computerized fuel injection and valve actuation was accomplished in just an hour and a half, with the ship lying off Borneo. "This event is the climax of 10 years of dedicated development efforts to pave the way for a future generation of extremely reliable engines with compre- hensive flexibility in terms of operating modes," stated MAN B&W. Another milestone is in sight: Concordia Mar- itime's two V-max crude carriers, due for delivery by Hyundai in the spring, will each be powered by twin MAN B&W two-stroke engines arranged for February, 2001 conversion to electronic control at each ship's first scheduled drydocking. Get- ting the measure of pods The industry's uptake of podded, azimuthing electric drives has proved to be one of the most pronounced technical trends of recent years, most especially as regards the cruise ship and specialized vessel cate- gories. New and upcoming applications in the crude carrier, products tanker and RoRo passenger ferry sectors attest to an ever-widening appreciation of the design and operational merits of podded electric propulsors. As with any area of innovation, though, it is important that the ongoing design process is attuned to actual oper- ating experience in the field. Hydrome- chanical and structural performance have been thoroughly investigated numerically and by means of model testing. However, since the preponder- ance of seagoing systems date from as recently as 1998, the basis for demon- strating the long-term integrity and reli- ability of the concept remains theoreti- cal. 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