Wärtsilä has received an LR-type approval certificate for its WTT11 tunnel thruster from classification society Lloyd’s Register (LRS).
With this new development, Wärtsilä will be able to eliminate the need for a design review of the solution for each individual vessel or hull number.
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Moreover, this approval is expected to result in significant cost savings and reductions in production time, the company stated.
Lloyd’s Register Type Approval global business development leader Flans Kemp said: "With our new type approval procedure, we were able to work together with Wärtsilä in tailoring the type approval certificate exactly to the requirements outlined at the start of the entire process."
This final step in the approval process also ensures that the solution is in full compliance with the LR Rules.
LR approval involved a production quality assurance, knows as factory audit, at the manufacturing facility in Wuxi, China. It recognised that the facility is capable of producing these thrusters according to the design specification and test plans.
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By GlobalDataWärtsilä Ship Power Propulsion vice-president Arto Lehtinen said: "The factory audit is comprehensive and very demanding and we are delighted that the Wuxi factory has passed the audit for the new WTT portfolio with flying colours.
"We are also proud of the fact that the Wuxi plant is the first producer of type approved thrusters in China to have been certified by Lloyd’s Register."
The Wärtsilä e-motor driven WTT11 tunnel thruster has a maximum power rating of 1,100kW and it can be delivered with either a controllable pitch or fixed-pitch propeller.
The hydrodynamic performance of each thruster unit is optimised based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analyses and this design complies with the latest requirements regarding environmentally friendly lubrication.
Image: Wärtsilä WTT11 tunnel thrusters. Photo: courtesy of Wärtsilä.
