(EnergyAsia, July 27 2012, Friday) — Wartsila, the Finland-based marine industry’s leading solutions and services provider, said it will be supplying engines for vessels built for the subsidiaries of state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) and Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC).

Wartsila will supply the main engines for the first liquefied natural gas-fuelled (LNG) two tugs being built for CNOOC Energy Technology & Services Limited (CETS). When delivered in June 2013, the tugs will be the first globally to take advantage of the dual-fuel benefits offered by the Wartsila DF engine technology.

Operating along China’s coastline, the 6,500 bhp tugs will be fuelled from the company’s bunkering terminals.

“The low emission levels made possible by this technology is particularly beneficial for vessels operating close to population centres, as tugs frequently are, while the high fuel efficiency enables lower operating costs,” said Wartsila.

Aaron Bresnahan, Vice President for Wartsila Ship Power Specials, said:

“We are delighted to be co-operating with CNOOC in supplying the main engines for these gas fuelled tugs. It is a landmark project that is very much in line with the marine sector’s key targets of achieving greater sustainability with better fuel efficiency. We endorse CNOOC’s strategic move towards cleaner energy and the use of LNG as a marine fuel, which is in line with Wartsila’s own strategy.”

The company launched its advanced dual-fuel technology in the early 1990s meet demand for land-based power plant applications that led to the first marine installation a decade later.

Engines incorporating this technology can seamlessly switch between using natural gas, light fuel oil (LFO) or heavy fuel oil (HFO) during operation without loss of power or speed.

Wartsila said its dual-fuel engines were first fitted onboard LNG carriers in 2006, setting a trend that has led to 65% of all new LNG vessels using its engines today.

The company said it recently supplied its dual-fuel engine to the 100th LNG carrier.

Separately, Wartsila announced that it has secured a contract to supply main engines for nine ships for Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC). The fleet includes four Very Large Crude Oil Carriers (VLCCs), one Aframax tanker and four medium-range tankers being built at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea.

The VLCCs will be fitted with 7-cylinder Wartsila RT-flex 82T engines and a waste heat recovery system that will allow for exhaust gas to be used for generating steam. This steam is used to operate a turbo generator that produces electricity for the ship.

Wartsila said the Aframax vessel will be powered by its six-cylinder RT-flex 58T main engine, while the medium-range tankers will be powered by its 7RT-flex50D main engine. The engines will be built by a Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd division, which has been licensed by Wartsila since 1975.