Wärtsilä has received approval from the DNV-GL classification society for its Wärtsilä Steerable Thruster (WST)-14 prototype design.

The new thruster is part of the WST compact series, primarily developed for tugs, anchor-handling vessels and coastal and inland waterway cargo vessels.

Features of the WST include greater performance, effortless installation, a high level of integration and ice-class compatibility.

With an effective design, the thruster will be able to meet the recent environmental regulations, including the US EPA VGP 2013.

This DNV-GL approval for the prototype design ensures that the design calculations meet the classification society’s requirements regarding standard operations, Wärtsilä stated.

This new development will help Wärtsilä achieve type approval for the WST-14, although the thruster will not have to be certified for each individual vessel or hull number.

Wärtsilä Ship Power director, sales and project management (propulsion business line) Wim Knoester said: "This exceptional approval provides further evidence of the quality of Wärtsilä’s technology development.

"The fact that the WST-14 thruster design has been already approved will serve as an assurance to the customer that he is buying a product that already meets classification requirements."

The WST-14 thruster prototype is currently under construction at its facility in Wuxi, China, and will be sent for testing and validation at the company’s propulsion test centre in Tuusula, Finland.

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Image: An illustration of the Wärtsilä WST-14 thruster. Photo: courtesy of Wärtsilä.