Wärtsilä will supply the main engines for a series of vessels being built for Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. (KOTC), a Subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Four VLCCs (Very Large Crude Oil Carriers), one Aframax tanker and four medium-range tankers are being built at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea.
The VLCCs will be fitted with 7-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex 82T engines (picture) and a Waste Heat Recovery System, whereby the exhaust gas energy is utilised to generate steam. This steam is used to operate a turbo generator that produces electricity for the ship. The Aframax vessel will be powered by a Wärtsilä 6-cylinder RT-flex 58T main engine, and the medium-range tankers by a Wärtsilä 7RT-flex50D main engine. All engines will be built by the Engine & Machinery Division of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI-EMD), which is a Wärtsilä licensee since 1975 and based in South-Korea. The orders were received during the first half of the year.
RT-flex Common Rail Technology
The RT-flex common rail engine technology is designed with electronically controlled fuel injection and valve operation. Its benefits include extremely low Specific Fuel Oil Consumption (SFOC) across the entire operation range, and smokeless operation at all running speeds. The resulting reductions in exhaust emissions are of considerable significance as the marine industry is under pressure to reduce its environmental footprint. KOTC already has two of its vessels fitted with Wärtsilä main engines and four vessels fitted with Wärtsilä auxiliary engines.
