During the past year, the technology group Wärtsilä has received orders to supply more than sixty of its transverse thrusters for twelve new cruise ships being built in four shipyards on behalf of six different owners. This represents the dominant share of newbuild vessels within the cruise sector during this period. The efficiency and performance of Wärtsilä’s transverse thrusters is particularly important for large cruise ships, since manoeuvring and mooring in often crowded harbours is mission critical, the company said in its release.
The Wärtsilä series of transverse thrusters represents the latest generation in thruster technology, combining a compact design with high thrust performance and low levels of noise and vibration. Following a quality audit held at Wärtsilä’s production facilities in Wuxi, China, a major cruise ship builder indicated that it was one of the most successful audits they had ever held, and that the factory’s quality system was among the best they had experienced.
The latest generation Wärtsilä WTT series of thrusters covers variants up to a maximum power rating of 5500 kW. The hydrodynamic performance of each thruster unit is optimised based on state-of-the-art Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analyses. Furthermore, the WTT series is full prepared for use with environmentally acceptable lubricants (EAL), and complies with the latest environmental requirements.
Wärtsilä in brief:
Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasising sustainable innovation, total efficiency and data analytics, Wärtsilä maximises the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2018, Wärtsilä’s net sales totalled EUR 5.2 billion with approximately 19,000 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 80 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.