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Five new 14,500-TEU container vessels being built for China Ocean Shipping Group (COSCO) are to be powered by twenty Wärtsilä Auxpac 32 generating sets, the Finnish firm has confirmed today in a statement.

The ships are under construction at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group yard in China, which is a subsidiary of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation. The order was placed in January, 2015 with Wärtsilä's joint venture company, Wärtsilä Yuchai Engine Co. Ltd (WYEC). The joint venture was established by Wärtsilä and Yuchai Marine Power Company at the end of 2012 and started production in the middle of 2014. It is the first order for generating sets placed with WYEC since the formation of the company. Delivery of the engines is scheduled to commence in mid-2016.

The customer's requirements for these container vessels were cited as being reliability, economic fuel consumption and high availability. The powerful Auxpac 32 engine was deemed to be the most suitable solution for meeting these requirements, according to Wärtsilä.

"This is a very important order that marks the re-establishment of Wärtsilä generating sets within the container vessel market. The Wärtsilä Auxpac 32 engine with its excellent reliability and fuel efficiency is highly suited to this application. We are also very pleased to be working with COSCO, a company with whom we have enjoyed a long and successful cooperation and a major player in the industry," commented Roger Holm, Senior Vice President, Wärtsilä Ship Power.

Wärtsilä commented: "The deal is in line with Wärtsilä's strong support of the important and world-leading Chinese shipbuilding market. WYEC serves this market with Wärtsilä's well proven products and solutions, as well as with full service project management capabilities.

"The joint venture company is fully aligned with China's central government's plan to significantly increase the locally produced content for marine equipment. The Wärtsilä Auxpac 32 engine is produced at the WYEC joint venture facilities."

The Wärtsilä Auxpac 32 engine

The Wärtsilä Auxpac 32 is the auxiliary engine version of the Wärtsilä 32 family, of which more than 1200 engines are in operation worldwide. It is Wärtsilä's most powerful Auxpac generating set and is aimed at the upper end of the merchant shipping market, notably large container vessels with an auxiliary power need of from 2500 kWe to 4500 kWe per generating set.

The Auxpac 32 is available as 6, 7, 8 or 9 cylinder configuration. It is designed to be able to operate on different fuels, ranging from the lowest light fuel oil (LFO) viscosity of 2.0 centistoke (cSt) to a heavy fuel oil (HFO) viscosity of 700 cSt (at 50 degrees centigrade). The engine is also able to use low and ultra low sulphur fuel oils (less than 0.01% sulphur) as per the standards set by authorities for fuel oil used in emission controlled areas. The engine is fully compliant with IMO Tier II requirements, and when fitted with exhaust gas after treatment solutions reaches Tier III compliance, according to Wärtsilä.

"This powerful output, together with its compact design, gives it a power-to-space ratio that is outstanding compared to alternatives on the market," Wärtsilä claimed in the statement.

"The pre-commissioned standard package offers excellent reliability to ensure the availability of electrical power in sufficient quantity as and when needed. Wärtsilä's energy efficient engine technology minimizes emissions to make environmental compliance easier," the Finnish firm added.