Wärtsilä Corp. will supply the engines, exhaust cleaning systems and fuel gas handling systems for Atair, a new LNG-fueled research vessel under construction for the German government.

The exhaust cleaning systems are based on selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology. Wärtsilä’s LNGPac system will be used for complete fuel gas handling. The SCR technology will be employed when the engines are running on conventional marine diesel fuel if the vessel exhausts its LNG supply on long voyages.

Atair is being built at the Fassmer shipyard in Germany and will be owned by Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH), the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency. The contract was signed in June and announced in early August.

The new 75-m (246-ft) ship will replace her 30-year-old namesake and be the first German research vessel to operate on LNG fuel. Wärtsilä will also supply the engines and SCR systems for three German Federal police boats, also to be built at the Fassmer yard.

The contract calls for Wärtsilä to supply:

  • Two six-cylinder 20DF dual-fuel engines capable of running on LNG or conventional liquid fuels;
  • One six-cylinder Wärtsilä 20 engine;
  • Two exhaust cleaning systems; and
  • A Wärtsilä LNGPac fuel storage, supply and control system.

The engines will have Tier III classification because the dual-fuel engines comply with this classification when running in gas mode, and the Wärtsilä SCR systems allow all the engines to be compliant when operating on diesel. The engines will be double elastically mounted to minimize noise, which will enable the ship to fulfil the DNVGL classification society’s “Silent R” rating and allow sonar equipment to be used without disturbance from underwater radiated engine noise.

“Our dual-fuel technology is unique when it comes to small-bore medium speed engines, and the extended service intervals and economic fuel consumption of the Wärtsilä 20DF engine enable lower operating costs than is possible with high speed engines,” said Lars Anderson, vice president, engine sales for Wärtsilä Marine Solutions in a statement. “We have worked closely with the Fassmer shipyard and are proud to have once again been selected to supply the machinery and equipment for this important project.”

Kai Twest, head of the ships and equipment division at BSH, said the agency relied on Wärtsilä’s experience and expertise for the first LNG vessel in its fleet.

“With Wärtsilä’s dual-fuel and SCR technologies, the vessel will fulfil the IMO’s Tier III regulations in all operational conditions, whether sailing on LNG or on diesel fuel,” he said.

The Wärtsilä equipment is scheduled to be delivered to the yard in mid-2018, and the vessel will enter service in early 2020.

—Joseph Markman