The technology group Wärtsilä has been contracted to supply the exhaust gas cleaning systems for two new 56,000 DWT Handymax bulk carriers. The ships are being built at Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. in Japan for Tokyo based NYK Bulk & Projects Carriers Ltd. (NYK BP), a wholly owned subsidiary of Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, one of Japan’s largest shipping companies. Wärtsilä will also provide project management and commissioning of the systems. The order with Wärtsilä was booked in June.

Wärtsilä scrubber systems to clean the exhaust from two new Japanese bulk carriers
Caption: The NYK BP Handymax Bulk Carriers which will be equipped with Wärtsilä scrubbers to be built at Oshima Shipyard – image courtesy of NYK BP

These are the first vessels owned or chartered by NYK Group having exhaust gas cleaning systems installed. This is also Wärtsilä’s first supply order of this equipment from any Japanese company. By fitting the Wärtsilä system, the ships will be compliant with the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) SOx regulations, which come into force in 2020.

“We are pleased and proud to be the supplier of choice for these two new ships, especially as it gives us an inroad into the Japanese market for exhaust gas cleaning solutions. The value proposition that Wärtsilä presented was clearly the deciding factor in the award of this contract,” says Sigurd Jenssen, Director, Exhaust Gas Cleaning, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.

“Together with Oshima Shipbuilding, we compared performance, price and fuel costs of similar products developed by other companies before choosing Wärtsilä’s scrubber system,” said a representative from NYK BP.

The Wärtsilä equipment is scheduled for delivery to the yard commencing in July 2018. The first vessel is due to be delivered to NYK in the 4th quarter of 2018, and the second in the 1st quarter 2019.

Source: Wärtsilä