Wärtsilä, the marine solutions and services provider, will supply complete main propulsion systems for six new chemical tankers. The ships are being built at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group yard in China on behalf of Stolt Tankers B.V., the operator of one of the largest chemical tanker fleets in the world and a unit of Stolt-Nielsen. There is an option for a further two vessels.
The Wärtsilä propulsion packages include Wärtsilä RT-flex50 2-stroke engines, controllable pitch propellers with a tunnel gearbox and shaft generator, and oily water separators. Deliveries of the equipment are scheduled to begin in summer 2014.
“These ships have been designed to deliver substantial improvements in fuel efficiency, and are expected to consume significantly less fuel compared with existing parcel tankers”, says Niels G. Stolt-Nielsen, CEO of Stolt-Nielsen.
Each of the tankers will be 185m in length with a 32.26m beam, and will have 43 stainless steel tanks with a total volume of 44,000m3. The ships will have IMO I, II and III capabilities, and will be able to handle the full range of difficult-to-handle cargoes that Stolt Tankers carries. The first of the new 38,000 deadweight ton (dwt) tankers is expected to be delivered in December 2015.
