Wärtsilä will provide engines and propulsion machinery for two new vessels that are the first in their classes to be powered by LNG: Spartacus, the world’s most powerful cutter suction dredger (CSD) vessel, and Orion, an offshore construction vessel.

The €20 million (US$21 million) contract for Spartacus, booked in fourth-quarter 2016 and announced in April, includes delivery of:

  • Four 9-cylinder Wärtsilä 46DF dual-fuel engines;
  • Two 8-cylinder Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel engines;
  • Wärtsilä LNGPac fuel gas storage and supply system with a newly designed bilobe tank arrangement;
  • Two fixed pitch propellers with shaft assemblies and high-pressure nozzles;
  • Two tunnel thrusters; and
  • Commissioning, site supervision and extended project management services.

The equipment is scheduled for delivery in fourth-quarter 2017.

The 164-m (538-ft) vessel will have total installed power of 44,180 kW. It is being built at the Royal IHC yard in The Netherlands for Belgium-based Dredging International (DEME).

“Wärtsilä has worked in close cooperation with the owners starting from the early stages of this large project,” Arthur Boogaard, general manager, business development special vessels at Wärtsilä, said in a statement. “This has enabled a well-engineered and fully integrated propulsion arrangement, and an LNG fuel system that is optimized for the needs of the vessel.”

“We are very aware of our environmental responsibilities, and for this reason we have opted for Wärtsilä dual-fuel engines running on clean burning LNG fuel,” said Jan Gabriel, head of newbuilding and conversion department at DEME.

CSDs are able to dredge nearly all kinds of soils, including sand, clay and rock. They are used wherever the ground is too hard for conventional dredgers to operate.

The 210-m (689-ft) Orion will be powered by four 9-cylinder Wärtsilä 46DF dual-fuel electric propulsion engines and two 6-cylinder Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel engines, which are expected to be delivered later this year. The company will also supply:

  • Two custom-made retractable thrusters;
  • Four underwater demountable thrusters;
  • The Wärtsilä LNGPac storage and supply system; and
  • Commissioning, site supervision and extended project management services.

—Joseph Markman