Wärtsilä Wins First In-Line Closed-Loop Scrubber Order

The Stena Transporter is one of two ferries to be retrofitted

Wärtsilä Corp. (Wärtsilä) Tuesday announced it will supply two Stena Line ferries with in-line closed-loop scrubber systems, the first of their kind.

"This is the first ever order for an in-line closed loop scrubber system, as the in-line option has earlier only been available with open loop systems," said Wärtsilä.

"The compact design of the inline system saves space and it also facilitates easier and faster installation, thereby reducing the length of time that the vessel needs to be out of service for retrofitting."

The Stena Transit and Stena Transporter, which operate between the Hook of Holland, Netherlands, and Killingholme, UK, are scheduled to be retrofitted with the technology in the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2016.

The ferries will use the scrubbers to reduce sulfur oxides emissions from their exhaust as they continue to operate on traditional heavy fuel oil (HFO) bunkers.

The closed-loop design circulates washwater, seawater mixed with caustic soda, within the scrubber and can discharged into the sea, it is said, without causing environmental damage.

"With the latest restrictions to sulphur emissions affecting more and more of the global fleet, our scrubber systems offer a competitive alternative to low sulphur fuels," said Juha Kytölä, Vice President of Environmental Solutions, for Wärtsilä Ship Power.

Stena Line's Technical Director, Bjarne Koitrand, added "we are also, in cooperation with Wärtsilä and other partners, converting the Stena Germanica on the route Göteborg-Kiel to be run on Methanol, another step in our strive to achieve sustainable shipping."

In January, Stena Line began conversion of the Stena Germanica at Poland's Remontowa shipyard.