Wärtsilä has won a contract from Koedood Diesel Service to supply a complete power system, including two of its 6-cylinder 20DF dual-fuel medium-speed engines, for a new dry cargo inland waterway vessel being built for Combi International.
The new 135m, first ever medium speed, dual-fuel, mechanically driven inland waterway vessel, which will be part of the ECO2 Inland Vessel project, will be operating on inland waterways in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and France.
After installation of the engine, the vessel will be capable of operating for 95-99% of the time on liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel, with a minimal amount of pilot marine gas oil (MGO) used for ignition, while the engines will also be capable of operating fully on MGO if necessary.
Wärtsilä Netherlands director of Inland Water Ways Bram Kruyt said that the ECO2 Inland Vessel project is helping the inland shipping industry to become more sustainable, whilst at the same time increasing fuel efficiency and reducing costs.
"Under the auspices of the project, all three pilot vessels will be monitored for up to three years in order to provide valuable input data for future generations of inland waterway vessels," Kruyt said.
"Wärtsilä’s dual-fuel engine technology, which is well established in ocean going applications, can now be applied to small scale LNG-fuelled vessel applications."
Under the deal, Wartsila will also supply two fixed pitch propellers in a nozzle, the coldbox, and the LNG tanks.
The new vessel will serve as pilots for the new environmentally sound power systems (engines and propulsion) for inland shipping.
It is the first of three inland vessels that will be designed, tested and implemented within the ECO2 Inland Vessel project, which aims to identify efficient and economical power systems for several types of inland shipping vessels.
A consortium of companies, which include Koedood Dieselservice, the Combi Group, Reederei Deymann, TNO, DST and Hochschule Emden-Leer, has collaborated with Wärtsilä Netherlands as the co-ordinating partner for the project.
The ECO2 Inland Vessel project is part of Maritime Technologies and Innovations Model (MariTIM) region Germany-The Netherlands, sponsored by the EU.
The Wärtsilä 20DF engine can be run on natural gas, marine diesel oil (MDO), or heavy fuel oil (HFO), and it can switch from gas to MDO/HFO and vice versa during operation without power interruption.
Image: Wärtsilä will supply two 6-cylinder 20DF medium-speed engines, for a new dry cargo inland waterway vessel for Combi International. Photo: Wartsila
