MAN Engines is supplying a series of nine UK-built pilot boats with inline six-cylinder engines, while Rolls-Royce secures first orders for 16-cylinder MTU 8000 Series engines
German engine manufacturer MAN Engines has secured a milestone order, under which it will supply four-stroke diesel engines for nine pilot boats being built by UK shipyard Goodchild Marine Services Ltd.
Under the order reported in May, three pairs of the inline six-cylinder MAN D2676 LE425 engines, each with an output of 478 kW, will be installed in 17m ORC-171 pilot boats. Six more pairs of MAN D2676 LE474 engines, each with a lower output of 368 kW, will be installed in the smaller 13m ORC-136 boat class. Both engine types comply with IMO Tier III emissions.
Plans call for the pilot boats to be built over a five-year period under a £9M (US$12.5M) contract with the Norfolk-based boatbuilder, five of which will serve Humber ports, three for Southampton and one for Barry in South Wales. The first of them will be put to use in the Humber region by the port operator Associated British Ports (ABP) in 2021.
“Deciding on an engine manufacturer for a series of pilot boats is always a balance between costs, engine design, efficiency, customer service and environmental sustainability,” says Goodchild Marine Services general manager Stephen Pierce. “With MAN Engines’ products and local support from their importer for the UK and Ireland, PME Power Systems Group Ltd, we are able to make use of their many years of practical expertise and direct service on site.”
“Deciding on an engine is always a balance between costs, engine design, efficiency, customer service and environmental sustainability”
16-cylinder engines for Taiwanese patrol boats
Five years after being unveiled at Euronaval in Paris, the first new 16-cylinder engines from the MTU 8000 Series for naval applications are finding their way into a series of six new patrol boats for the Taiwanese Coast Guard.
Under construction at Taiwan’s CSBC Corp, the 1,000-tonne class vessels will each have two 16V 8000 M71L engines. Each engine will deliver 7,280 kW at 1,150 rpm, enabling the vessels to reach speeds of 24 knots. A total of six vessels of this class are to be built with MTU engines, with deliveries stretching to the end of 2022. A keel-laying ceremony was held in July 2020 for the first of the Taiwanese Coast Guard vessels, with delivery set for July 2021.
Engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce has sold a further 20, 16-cylinder 16V 8000 M91L engines to the Naval Group for five French Navy FTI-type frigates.
Designed for high-speed vessels like ferries, large displacement yachts, patrol boats and naval auxiliary vessels, the 16V engine complies with IMO Tier II and US EPA Tier 2 emissions regulations. Fitted with common-rail fuel injection technology, the 16V 8000 M71L has a fuel consumption at rated power of 196g/kWh.
Rolls-Royce says that the sale of the 16-cylinder engines to the Taiwanese Coast Guard continues the success story of the MTU Series 8000: with an output of up to 10,000 kW, its “big brother” 20V 8000 has been the best-selling engine in its power class since its introduction around 20 years ago.
Resiliently mounted, with torsional and offset compensating couplings, the engines meet the stringent requirements of the Taiwanese Coast Guard regarding structure-borne and airborne noise.
These are not the only MTU Series 8000 engines that are being installed in Taiwanese Coast Guard vessels. A series of four 4,000-tonne class vessels under construction at CSBC will be fitted with 20V 8000 M71L engines. The first of those, Chiayi, was delivered in April.
The Taiwanese Coast Guard is currently carrying out a modernisation programme, under which a total of 141 ships of various sizes are to be built by 2027. Rolls-Royce reports that many of these will be powered by MTU Series 4000 and 8000 Series engines.
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