Wärtsilä RT-flex engines will power KOTC tanker series

JULY 19, 2012 —      A series of tankers being built for Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. (KOTC) at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shipyard in South Korea will have Wärtsilä RT-flex common rail engines.

The KOTC newbuilds on order at Daewoo comprise four VLCCs , one Aframax tanker and four medium-range tankers.

The VLCCs will be fitted with seven-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex 82T engines and will have a Waste Heat Recovery System, using exhaust gas energy 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 six-cylinder RT-flex 58T main engine, and the medium-range tankers by 7RT-flex50D main engines. All the engines will be built by the Engine & Machinery Division of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI-EMD).

Wärtsilä’s 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.

“The choice of Wärtsilä RT-flex engines ensures that these new vessels will be both fuel and energy efficient, and that their emissions will be minimized. It is obvious that the Wärtsilä RT-flex82 engine is increasingly becoming the preferred choice for VLCCs worldwide,” says Lars Anderson, Vice President Merchant, Wärtsilä Ship Power.