Wärtsilä and BELCO ink scrubber orders as SOx cap begins to bite

BELCO has been contracted for installation of four single-stream, open-loop scrubbers aboard Condor Ferries vessels Commodore Clipper and Commodore Goodwill, which operate between the UK, France, and the Channel Islands. A scrubber will be fitted to each of the vessels’ two 4.5 MW main engines.

Condor Ferries’ executive director Captain Frances Collins said: “By fitting Commodore Clipper and Commodore Goodwill with these scrubbers, we will minimize sulphur oxide and particulate emissions whilst keeping prices as low as possible for freight transport to and from the islands.”

Meanwhile Dutch shipowner and operator Royal Wagenborg has ordered Wärtsilä scrubber systems for two ro-ro vessels, Balticborg and Bothniaborg, chartered to Smurfit Kappa. The installation will  allow the vessels to travel between Haraholmen, Bremen, Sheerness and Terneuzen without having to switch from HFO.

Crucially, the scrubbers, fitted to Balticborg and Bothniaborg’s Wärtsilä 46 main engines, are able to operate in temperatures as low as -25°C, matching the carriers’ 1A super Ice Class classification.

Egbert Vuursteen, ceo of Royal Wagenborg, said: "We have enjoyed a successful business relationship with Wärtsilä for many years and have selected Wärtsilä solutions for many vessels in our fleet. This relationship was one of the reasons that we decided that Wärtsilä would be the supplier for these scrubber systems.”