One of the best-known manufacturers of thrusters, Wärtsilä, recently launched the new Wärtsilä WTT-40 transverse thruster. It says the first WTT-40s have been ordered and are scheduled for delivery during 2016. This first variant is part of Wärtsilä’s new transverse thruster series and features a 4,000kW power level and a 3,400mm diameter controllable pitch propeller, neither of which have been available in Wärtsilä’s product range until now.
While Wärtsilä has designed and built large (up to 5,500kW) transverse thrusters as customised versions , the WTT-40 and others in the WTT range address customer needs for high power transverse thrusters for bow and stern applications. Development work on the Wärtsilä WTT-40 began in 2015 in response to market demand. It is intended for various vessel types, including large offshore support vessels and offshore construction vessels.
Wärtsilä can also now supply a tunnel thruster fully type-approved by Lloyd’s Register. For the marine industry, this means the Wärtsilä WTT11 thruster can be installed and used without the need for a design review on each vessel, which the company anticipates will also result in cost savings. The type approval certification confirms the product meets industry quality standards that will enable a more rapid production time, so reducing customer lead times.
Another well known thruster manufacturer, Schottel, says it started the year “with a bag full of orders”. The company has long played an important role in the tug market. At the end of 2015, it held orders for propulsors for eight azimuth stern drive tugs and a rotor tug. It also has orders for a range of vessel types, including seismic vessels and says the Schottel Rudderpropeller is often the first choice of shipowners.
April 2016 saw Brunvoll in Norway open the Brunvoll Competence Centre. “This change in location means that we can be far more efficient, having everything at the same location, including production, sales promotion, development, construction and services,” said the director of Brunvoll Holding AS, Terje Dyrseth. Among the company’s most recent contracts is one for the thrusters for an advanced cablelay vessel that is being built at Kleven for ABB. Brunvoll will deliver tunnel thrusters for the 140m vessel, which is of SALT 306 CLV design.
A crewboat for Seacor in the US is one of the latest references for Thrustmaster, which supplied three 30TT200 electric-mechanical tunnel thrusters for Alya McCall, the first of a new class of monohull fast support vessels for Seacor. Two UT4000 monohull fast supply vessels designed by Incat Crowther and built by ETP Engenharia Ltda in Brazil also have Thrustmaster thrusters. The vessels, Baru Providencia and Baru Antares, are the third and fourth in a 12-vessel series and have fixed-pitched propellers, with two 150 horsepower electric tunnel bow thrusters supplied by Thrustmaster.
Among Rolls-Royce’s most recent contracts for thrusters are units intended for SPA80A anchor handlers that Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group in China is building for Esnaad, part of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Each ship will have a bollard pull of 80 tonnes and be equipped with Bergen diesel engines, main and tunnel thrusters, electrical power system and a deck machinery package from Rolls-Royce. The first ship is due for delivery in 2017.
Dutch thruster manufacturer Veth Propulsion has named Nico International as its distributor for select Middle East markets (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar). The companies will leverage their positions to offer customers in the region access to Veth Propulsion’s wide range of shipping products, supported by Nico’s extensive support network of sales and service facilities.
Among the most recent contracts awarded to Steerprop Ltd in Finland is one from Havyard shipyard in Norway to deliver two 1,000kW SP 14 D propulsors to serve as the main propulsors for a windfarm support vessel for Esvagt. The propulsors will be delivered to the shipyard in December 2016. Steerprop also has a new sales representative in Italy in the form of Marine EQ Snc.
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.