Virgin Voyages ships to have Smart Air compressors

APRIL 20, 2017 — Oslo, Norway, headquartered TMC Compressors has won a contract from Fincantieri to supply an environmentally friendly compressed air system to the first of three cruise ships the Italian shipbuilder is building for Virgin Voyages.

Virgin Voyages has a stated goal to work with partners that share its passion for creating a better world and reducing business impact on ecosystems and the environment.

TMC will provide a highly energy efficient compressed air system to Fincantieri for the Virgin Voyages ships.

TMC’s Smart Air compressors offer 50 percent energy saving compared to conventional compressors. This technology is a good match for the rest of the ship, which will be equipped with a range of equipment to reduce environmental impact.

Under the contract, TMC will manufacture and deliver one 40 kW Smart Air compressor, two 44 kW compressors, air driers and filters to the on board service and control air system. The equipment will be delivered to the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri Ponente (Genoa), Italy. Contract value is undisclosed.

“Virgin Voyages wants a strong environmental profile for their new cruise ship. This is a good match for our Smart Air technology, which I believe was a key reason for why TMC was chosen for this project. We have also supplied our compressed air systems to numerous other Fincantieri new-builds, so they are familiar with the reliability of our technology,” says Per Kjellin, managing director of TMC.

Stuart Hawkins, Virgin Voyages SVP Marine, said, “We will continue to work together with Fincantieri to select great partners who share our vision to make a sea change. We are pleased to welcome TMC on board and excited that their system helps us to achieve our energy savings and ship efficiency goals.”

The first ship is scheduled for delivery in 2020. Steel cutting took place in Genoa on March 22, 2017 and will be followed by keel laying during the fourth quarter of 2017. Each of the three ships will be about 110,000 gross tons and will feature over 1,400 guest cabins that can host more than 2,700 passengers and 1,100 crew members.