Rolls-Royce develops world's most powerful waterjets to power Japanese super-ship

Friday, 31 January 2003

Rolls-Royce has developed the world's most powerful waterjets for a revolutionary Japanese super-ship. The jets will propel the 700-passenger and cargo-carrying Techno-Superliner between Tokyo and the Ogasawara Islands, 1,000km south, at 38 knots, cutting the journey time by ten hours to just 16 hours.

Two Rolls-Royce Kamewa VLWJ235 waterjets will absorb 27MW of power, 8 per cent more than currently available worldwide.

For a contract worth more than £5 million, the waterjets will be built at the Rolls-Royce facilities in Kristinehamn, Sweden, and delivered to shipbuilder Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding's Tamano works in 2004. The ship, which can carry 210 tons of cargo, is due to begin service in 2005.

Saul Lanyado, Rolls-Royce President - Marine, said: "This contract is another example of our technological excellence providing our customers with a competitive edge. We have committed to extensive waterjet research, studying powers of up to 50MW to understand the upper limits of power likely to be needed for fast vessels in the next few years."

The 14,500 grt Techno-Superliner will be constructed from aluminium and will be 140m long with a breadth of 29.8m. The ship will be owned by Techno-Seaways, a consortium of Japanese companies and chartered by the Tokyo based operator Ogasawara Kaiun.