Two years after the launch of its latest engine, the Bergen B33:45, Rolls-Royce said it is closing in on the sale of its 50th B33:45 engine.
The medium speed engine has been chosen by a variety of owners and yards for a range of ship designs. These include fishing vessels, a number of specialist vessels including a new £200 million polar research vessel for the U.K. named RSS Sir David Attenborough, a seabed mining vessel and two unique cargo transfer vessels intended to transfer fluid between an offshore production facility and a tanker.
Orders have been received from all over the world, from Norway to New Zealand, and include the U.K., Spain, Canada, China and Singapore.
The first vessel equipped with the B33:45, the trawler Holmøy, entered service in Norwegian waters earlier this year.
“The B33:45 was defined by our customers and embodies 70 years engine experience in a modern package,” said Kjell Harloff, Rolls-Royce, Vice President, Engines – Marine. “Since our new engine was launched two years ago, it has been very well received by the market.”
The engine offers customers 20 percent increased power compared to its predecessor, delivering the same output with fewer cylinders, the manufacturer said. This lowers the costs through the engine’s lifecycle, and also allows for smaller machine rooms on board.
The engine meets the international environment requirements for IMO NOx Tier III with support from a SCR system. Specific fuel consumption is 175g/kWh at 85 per cent MCR and 177g/kWh at full load, and the engine is economical down to very low loads.
A modularized design makes servicing the engine easier. The engine is designed for up to 25,000 hours between major maintenance when operating at average loads within a specified window.
“One of the most important success factors for us today and throughout the years is the close relation to customers during the development process. The Norwegian maritime environment has played a key role,” said Rolls-Royce Bergen Engines AS, Managing Director, Jeff Elliott.
Rolls-Royce Bergen Engines AS is Norway’s last remaining manufacturer of large reciprocating engines and the largest industrial workplace within the Bergen region.
The company marked 70 years of engine production in the country on August 25. The company's first diesel engine was built in Solheimsviken in the spring of 1946. Since then more than 7,000 engines have been delivered from Bergen. More than 4,000 of these are still in operation.
The facility at Hordvikneset is Rolls-Royce’s centre of excellence for medium speed engines, with a large research and development area, alongside engine production and test beds for full scale testing. The facility also includes its own dock for shipping by sea and service overhauls on board ships.
Bergen Engines AS has more than 1,000 employees worldwide (about 800 at Hordvikneset). The site produces engines both for marine and power generation on land. Since the introduction of gas engines to the portfolio in 1991, Rolls-Royce engines have completed over 25 million hours of operation on land and at sea powered solely by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Bergen Engines AS is part of Rolls-Royce Power Systems.
