Wärtsilä Engines Powering Japanese Shipping Industry Into the "Gas Age"

The Wärtsilä 50DF emits almost no sulphur oxide. 

Wärtsilä Wednesday announced it has won contracts to supply 61 dual-fuel engines for sixteen new Japanese gas carrier ships - a number that was said to represent a "notable expansion of Japan's gas fueled merchant fleet."

"We are honoured and pleased to be making this contribution to Japan's ongoing shift into shipping's gas age," said Lars Anderson, Vice President, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.

The contracts were said to have been placed between the second half of 2014 and December 2015, with the first machinery delivered at the end of December 2015.

The engines are all 50DF-type and are capable of running on liquefied natural gas (LNG), light fuel oil (LFO), or heavy fuel oil (HFO).

The engines were said to be the first Wärtsilä has delivered for Japan's LNG carrier market.

"We at Wärtsilä have always been at the forefront in making it possible, through our technologies, for LNG to become a viable marine fuel," said Anderson.

The orders break down into 20 nine-cylinder, 25 six-cylinder,and 16 eight-cylinder 50DFs.

The 16 new vessels will be employed mainly in delivering shale gas from the USA to Japan.

The engines were said to be able to smoothly switch between fuels while operating and provide the same output regardless of fuel used, and operate on the so-called "lean-burn principle" to increase engine efficiency while reducing NOx emissions.

When operating in gas mode nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are said to be at least 85 percent below those specified in current International Maritime Organization regulations; CO2 emissions are said to be 25 percent less than those of a conventional marine engine running on diesel fuel.

In gas mode, sulfur oxide (SOx) and particle emissions are "negligible at almost zero percent," Wärtsilä noted.

In August of 2015 Ship & Bunker reported that Wärtsilä will provide the engine for the world's first LNG-powered dredger.