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You are here: Home > Marine > Marine news > 2005 > Spain orders pollution control vessels designed by Rolls-Royce
SASEMAR, the Spanish marine safety agency, has ordered two advanced pollution prevention and control vessels designed and equipped by Rolls-Royce in a contract worth around £16 million.
The two 80m-long ships, to be built by Astilleros Zamakona shipyard in northern Spain, are to the Rolls-Royce UT Design and incorporate a full package of the company's power, propulsion and deck machinery equipment. Delivery is scheduled for May and October/November 2006.
Serious marine pollution incidents in recent years have alerted European governments to the need for better defences. In particular, the sinking of the tanker Prestige resulted in the contamination of several hundred kilometres of the coastline of Spain in 2002.
Two primary roles have been identified for the new SASEMAR vessels - towing and pollution control. They will have a bollard pull of more than 220 tonnes, sufficient towing force to prevent a stricken vessel drifting ashore. Should an oil spill occur, they are equipped to skim floating oil and transfer it to tanks on board.
The vessels will have other capabilities, including rescue, firefighting, salvage and support for divers.
Rolls-Royce ship designer Nils Arne Scheide said: “A well-proven UT- Design hull, the UT 722L, was selected as the starting point in the design of the SASEMAR vessels, since its characteristics closely matched the customer's requirements, but the deck layout and winch reflect the primary focus on emergency towing and oil recovery.”
In each vessel, four Bergen diesel engines produce a total of 16,000kW and are coupled to two controllable pitch propellers. A high standard of dynamic positioning, IMO DP2, has been specified, and to achieve this the main propellers are assisted by high-lift rudders, a supersilent tunnel thruster and a swing-up azimuth thruster, all manufactured by Rolls-Royce.
Rolls-Royce operates in four global markets - civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy. It is investing in technology and capability that can be exploited in each of these sectors to create a competitive range of products.
The success of these products is demonstrated by the company's rapid and substantial gains in market share over recent years. The company now has a total of 54,000 gas turbines in service worldwide. The investments in product, capability and infrastructure to gain this market position create high barriers to entry.
Rolls-Royce has a broad customer base comprising more than 500 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces and more than 2,000 marine customers, including 70 navies. The company has energy customers in nearly 120 countries. Rolls-Royce employs around 35,000 people, of which 21,000 are in the UK. Forty per cent of its employees are based outside the UK - including 5,000 in the rest of Europe and 8,000 in North America.
The large installed base of engines generates demand for the provision of services. A key element of the company's strategy is to maximize services revenues, which have increased by 60 per cent over the past five years, by the provision of a comprehensive portfolio of services.
Annual sales total nearly £6 billion, of which 55 per cent are services revenues. The order book is more than £21 billion, which, together with demand for services, provides visibility as to future activity levels.
