Wärtsilä and Mitsubishi announce new, smaller...

Wärtsilä Corporation, Trade & Technical press release, 8 September
2008

Wärtsilä introduces two new low-speed marine diesel engines at the
Wärtsilä Licensees Conference held this week in Lucerne, Switzerland.
The engines are developed in co-operation with Mitsubishi Heavy
Industries Ltd in Japan, taking advantage of the strengths of both
companies with these types of engines. This project comes under the
strategic alliance between Wärtsilä and Mitsubishi agreed in
September 2005.

The power range of the new engines is 3500-9000 kW. They have
cylinder bores of 350 and 400 mm, and each is available as Wärtsilä
RT-flex electronically-controlled common-rail engines and Wärtsilä
RTA mechanically-controlled engines. Based on the RTA engine designs,
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd will develop UEC-LSE series engines.

The new engines extend the low-speed engine range available from
Wärtsilä to lower powers for many types of small and medium-sized
commercial vessels. They are designed to give the best powers and
speeds for a wide variety of ship types, such as handysize bulk
carriers and product tankers, general cargo vessels, reefers, feeder
container ships, and small LPG carriers. The market for the new
engines in such vessels is world-wide though there is a greater
volume of such newbuildings from shipyards in East Asia, especially
China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam.


Designed for future environmental challenge

The key benefits of the new engines will be in compliance with IMO
Tier II emissions regulations, low fuel consumption, low cylinder oil
feed rate, high reliability, and long times between overhauls. They
will also be able to provide optimum fits to the ships in terms of
power, propeller speed, dimensions, weight, and electrical power
consumption, as well as being competitive in manufacturing costs.


Latest common rail-technology

The Wärtsilä RT-flex35, Wärtsilä RTA35 and Mitsubishi UEC35LSE engine
types have cylinder dimensions of 350 mm bore by 1550 mm piston
stroke, and a maximum continuous power of 870 kW/cylinder at 167
rev/min (see table below). The Wärtsilä RT-flex40, Wärtsilä RTA40 and
Mitsubishi UEC40LSE have cylinder dimensions of 400 mm bore by 1770
mm piston stroke, and a maximum continuous power of 1135 kW/cylinder
at 146 rev/min. All these engine types will be available with five to
eight cylinders, so that the RT-flex35, RTA35 and UEC35LSE cover an
overall power range of 3475 to 6960 kW at 142-167 rpm, while the
RT-flex40, RTA40 and UEC40LSE cover an overall power range of 4550 to
9080 kW at 124-146 rpm.

The Wärtsilä RT-flex35 and RT-flex40 engines incorporate the latest
common-rail technology with full electronic control of fuel injection
and exhaust valve operation. The RTA35, UEC35LSE, RTA40 and UEC40LSE
have traditional mechanically-driven camshafts with fuel injection
pumps, exhaust valve actuator pumps, etc. Otherwise both versions
have the same principal characteristics and design features.

The first 350 mm-bore engine, an RT-flex type, is planned to be
delivered in the first quarter 2011. The first of the 400 mm-bore
type will follow twelve months later. The Wärtsilä RT-flex and RTA
engines will be manufactured by Wärtsilä's licensees while the
Mitsubishi UEC-LSE engines will be produced by Mitsubishi and its
licensees.


Wärtsilä Lisensees Conference

Wärtsilä's Licensees Conference is being held in Lucerne,
Switzerland. Some 70 representatives of the Wärtsilä family of 17
low-speed engine licensees from eight countries are taking part. They
are discussing the further development of Wärtsilä low-speed
two-stroke engines to meet the market needs of ships today and into
the future.


Principal particulars of new Wärtsilä and Mitsubishi small-bore
low-speed engines:

Engine type                             RT-flex35      RT-flex40
                                        RTA35/UEC35LSE RTA40/UEC40LSE
Cylinder bore, mm:                      350            400
Piston stroke, mm:                      1550           1770
Power/cylinder, R1 MCR, kW:             870            1135
Speed range, R1-R3, rpm:                167-142        146-124
Brake mean effective pressure, BMEP at  21.0           21.0
R1, bar:
Mean piston speed at R1, m/s:           8.6            8.6
Number of cylinders:                    5 to 8         5 to 8
Power range, R2-R1, kW:                 3475-6960      4550-9080



Link to picture
Caption: Wärtsilä programme of low-speed marine engines, all
available in fully electronically-controlled common-rail RT-flex
versions, highlighting the new 350 and 400 mm-bore engines.


Media contacts:
Mr Martin Wernli
President
Wärtsilä Switzerland Ltd
Direct tel:     [phone]
e-mail:         [e-mail]

Ms Marit Holmlund-Sund
Public Relations Manager
Wärtsilä Corporation
Direct tel:     [phone]
e-mail:         [e-mail]
Internet:       www.wartsila.com

Mr Tomoo Kuzu
Senior Manager, Marine Diesel & Machinery Business Section
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd
Direct tel:     [phone]
e-mail:         [e-mail]
Internet:       www.mhi.co.jp

Wärtsilä in brief
Wärtsilä enhances the business of its customers by providing them
with complete lifecycle power solutions. When creating better and
environmentally compatible technologies, Wärtsilä focuses on the
marine and energy markets with products and solutions as well as
services. Through innovative products and services, Wärtsilä sets out
to be the most valued business partner of all its customers. This is
achieved by the dedication of more than 17,000 professionals manning
160 Wärtsilä locations in 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is
listed on The Nordic Exchange in Helsinki, Finland.

www.wartsila.com

Mitsubishi in brief
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd is one of the world's leading
shipbuilders and also a major supplier of a wide-range marine
machinery such as diesel engines, turbines, boilers, propellers, deck
machinery etc., covering high-, medium-, and low-speed diesel
engines, with the related services, for various type of vessels. For
the power generation market, Mitsubishi delivers power plant
solutions from 1 to 1200 MW. In addition Mitsubishi has high-level
independent research and development centres with more than 2,000
qualified researchers who assist the development and design of the
wide range of various products. Mitsubishi's net sales totalled
Japanese Yen 3,200 billion (approx. EUR 20.0 billion) in fiscal year
of 2007 and it has 33,000 employees.
For the low-speed engines, Mitsubishi has been a licensee of the
Sulzer and Wärtsilä types since 1925, and has been the designer of UE
engines for some 50 years as well, enjoying the customers' reputation
on its products.

www.mhi.co.jp