Rolls-Royce wins multiple passenger ferry propulsion orders

17 February 2006

Color Line, Viking Line and Tallink have all specified Rolls-Royce CP propeller systems and tunnel thrusters for new vessels they have ordered to be be built in Finland. The value of the contract to Rolls-Royce is about 12 million Euros.

Color Line (SuperSpeed) has ordered two 1900 passenger ropax vessels capable of almost 30 knots for its services linking Kristiansand and Larvik in Norway with Hirtshals in Denmark.

Each vessel will have two 5.25m diameter Kamewa Ulstein ice class 1B controllable pitch propellers with 19.2MW per shaft line. Three tunnel thrusters per ship have also been specified; two rated at 2,400kW each at the bow and a single 1,200kW unit at the stern.

Both these 211m long vessels will be built at Aker Yards in Rauma and are scheduled for delivery in February and May 2008.

Viking Line has ordered a roro passenger ferry for the route between Helsinki and Tallinn. It will be 185m long, able to carry 2,500 passengers and will be built at Aker Yards in Helsinki for delivery in February 2008. The vessel will have two 5,3m diameter four-bladed CP propellers made of stainless steel and designed to ice class 1ASuper. Four engines (20 MW per shaft line) will give a maximum speed of 26.8 knots.

Three tunnel thrusters will be installed in each vessel. Two 1,500kW thrusters will be located at the bow and one unit of the same power at the stern.

A 212m long passenger cruise ferry for the Baltic Sea, capable of carrying 2,800 passengers, is to be built in Helsinki for Tallink. The vessel will have two 5.0m diameter four-bladed CP propellers made of stainless steel and designed to ice class 1ASuper. The four engines (16 MW per shaft line) give a maximum speed of 24.8 knots. Two 1,800kW bow tunnel thrusters will also be installed.

In each case the scope of supply includes shaft lines, shaft line bearings, tail shaft seals, shaft line calculations, bulkhead seals, hydraulics, CanMan control system and extensive performance guarantees. The high speed shafts are also included in the Viking Line contract.

“We have worked closely with Aker Yards on systems for these new ships,” says Hasse Ringquist, Technical Product Specialist in Rolls-Royce. “ Our hydrodynamics knowledge, which enables us to provide efficient and low noise solutions, allied to product quality, were key elements in winning this contract.”

Color Line and Tallink have chosen Rolls-Royce propulsion before, while Kamewa Ulstein propellers are installed in all the Viking Line fleet. Color Fantasy, delivered in 2005, was a good example of CP propellers applied to a high quality passenger ferry where the requirements for low noise and vibration in a range of operating conditions were very strict. Kamewa Ulstein CP propellers have also been specified for a sister ship, Color Magic, currently under construction in Finland.

Kamewa Ulstein CP propellers with ice class 1A Super were specified for two Tallink 2,500 passenger cruise ferries, Romantika and Victoria, which provide a year-round service on routes linking Tallinn with Helsinki and Stockholm. At present Tallink has another ship being built, this time with a larger passenger capacity (2,800), and propellers from Rolls-Royce have once again been chosen.