Win GD Approves Universal Lube for "Any Sulfur Content" Bunkers

Total Lubmarine Tuesday announced that its cylinder lubricant Talusia Optima has received a letter of no objection from Winterthur Gas & Diesel.

Total Lubmarine Tuesday announced that its cylinder lubricant Talusia Optima, which can be used with both emission control area (ECA) and non-ECA compliant bunkers, has received a letter of no objection from Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD) permitting the use of the product in Wärtsilä RTA, RT-flex, X engines, and Sulzer 2-stroke engines.

"Talusia Optima is an exciting new development and a step forward for the lubes industry," said Jean-Philippe Roman, Total Lubmarine's technical director.

"It is the first and only cylinder lube oil on the market able to lubricate engines operating with fuels with any sulfur content. It will bring an end to the need for vessels to change lubricant when entering and leaving ECAs, making life easier for ships' crews. We're delighted with its performance to date and are confident that we will bring it to market soon."

The oil is said to utilise ash-free neutralising molecules (ANM) to maintain cylinder cleanliness and potentially reduce feed rates.

Prior to WinGD's approval, Talusia Optima is said to have been put through 4,300 hours of validation testing onboard a mega container ship on Asia-Europe routes.

Further, container ship's two-stroke Wärtsilä 14RT-flex96C-B engine is also said to have undergone a series of inspections and oil analyses during test period, performing "satisfactorily" and complying with all Wärtsilä's requirements.

Speaking on the development of Talusia Optima, Serge Dal Farra, global marketing manager at Total Lubmarine said: "research carried out with our customers indicated their need for a simple, flexible product to counter the complexity of shipping operations in the current regulatory environment."

"Not only does Talusia Optima simplify engine lubrication for engineers, but used in conjunction with a well monitored feed rate reduction programme, offers potential savings. There is an all-round customer benefit."

In December, Total Lubmarine announced that its new blending plant in Singapore, intended to meet demand for marine lubricants in the Asia Pacific market, produced its first batch of Total Lubmarine products.