The agreement, spanning ten years, marks the 66th Anniversary of the first license agreement for low-speed diesels engines on 4 October 1948, then produced by Swiss company Sulzer, which was absorbed by Wärtsilä in 1997. Since 1950, the number of engines produced under co-operation between these companies has exceeded 2,900, amounting to more than 38m bhp.
“Wärtsilä and Diesel United have a long common history in introducing new technologies to the Japanese and international shipbuilding industry,” said Wärtsilä Ship Power vp 2-stroke Martin Wernli. “The extension of our licence co-operation agreement for a period of ten years will enable us to strengthen our presence in the important Japanese shipbuilding market and to make sure that our customers will also in the years to come be able to benefit from the availability of competitive, high quality fuel efficient and environmentally friendly main propulsion engines for large merchant vessels built by Diesel United."
Co-operation between the two companies recently led to installation of a 6-cylinder Wärtsilä X72DF test engine, a demonstrator of Wärtsilä's low-pressure dual-fuel technology, at Diesel United's Aioi works in Japan. Testing of the new engine is expected to begin in the first quarter 2015.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
