World’s first LNG-hybrid tugboat equipped with Rolls-Royce engines
Rolls-Royce is supplying two mtu 16V 4000 M55RN gas engines to Sembcorp Marine Integrated Yard for the construction of the world’s first LNG-powered tug with hybrid system. The harbor tug will be operated in Singapore by Jurong Marine Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine. It is the first of 12 tugs that Sembcorp Marine plans to design and build to replace the existing diesel-powered ones between now and 2025.
“We are very happy to be part of Sembcorp Marine’s efforts in environmental protection and adopting new green technologies in their operations. The mtu marine gas engines are part of Rolls-Royce’s Green and High-Tech program. Without exhaust gas aftertreatment, they emit no sulfur oxides only very small quantities of nitrogen oxide, and particulate mass is below the verification limit”, said Chew Xiang Yu, Head of Rolls-Royce Power Systems’ commercial marine business in Asia.
This is the first LNG-hybrid tug to be powered by mtu gas engines worldwide. Designed by LMG Marin (Norway), part of the Sembcorp Marine group, to deliver 65T Bollard Pull (BP) with ABS Class, the tug is estimated to be completed in the later part of 2021. The main propulsion system of the tug comprises twin 16-cyclinder mtu Series 4000 gas units, which will provide a combined total power of 2,984 kilowatts at 1,600 RPM (revolutions per minute).
The new gas engines are able to deliver performance comparable to a high-speed diesel engine. Equipped with multipoint fuel injection, dynamic engine control and enhanced turbocharging, the engines cater for dynamic acceleration capabilities, high power output and reduced emissions considerably below the current IMO III limits without the need for exhaust aftertreatment. The LNG-hybrid propulsion system will be able to provide flexibility to cater for various operational modes and is able to switch between low emission LNG engines and zero-emission battery power.
