Wärtsilä, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have inaugurated a new, jointly owned, low-speed marine engine factory QMD in Qingdao, Shandong province, China.
The state-of-the-art QMD factory is one of China’s most advanced engine factories, featuring a modern welding shop, machine shop, assembly shop, and a testing shop, as well as facilities for heat treatment, blasting and painting. The automated equipment and processes, the flexible use of test beds, the possibility to test two large engines at full load in parallel, together with the efficient internal logistics, make this one of the most efficient engine production factories in the world.
Completed in Ten Months
Civil construction of the factory started in May 2008. Within ten months, most of the construction work, equipment installation and commissioning was completed. The factory became operational in March 2009. The factory represents an overall investment of approximately EUR 100 million and a production capacity of 1 million BHP.
Full Orderbook
QMDs orderbook is worth some EUR 200 million. The engines on order are mainly of the Wärtsilä RT-flex50, RT-flex60C and RT-flex82C, and Mitsubishi UEC50 engine types. These are all destined for Chinese shipyards.
The factory will have a total of around 500 employees by the end of this year. Located near the Haixiwan area on the Bohai Sea primarily serves China’s growing shipbuilding industry, but is also able to export engines to other shipbuilding markets.
Joint Venture
The joint venture company Qingdao Qiyao Wartsila MHI Linshan Marine Diesel Co., Ltd. (QMD) is owned jointly by China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (50%), Wärtsilä Corporation (27%) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (23%). The company was set up in 2006 to provide a world-class supply of large marine engines, together with local technological expertise and support within the same field. The joint set up is unique in China, and provides a very good basis for efficient production and high quality.
Picture: The first engine produced at the QMD factory was a seven-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex60C engine
