Rolls-Royce wins Propulsion contract for nine Ro-Ro vessels

Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine has won a significant contract to deliver the propulsion system to nine vessels to be built by Nanjing Jinling Shipyard Co in China for the Italian Grimaldi Group.

The nine 238 meter long vessels are so called Ro-Ro vessels (Roll-on-Roll-off) designed to transport over 7,800 linear meters of rolling units, equivalent to about 500 trailers. They are named the Grimaldi Green 5th Generation, and will be hybrid powered by combining use of traditional fossil fuels during operation and battery power when in port. The vessels are being designed by Knud E. Hansen in Denmark.

Ottar Ristesund, Rolls-Royce, SVP Propulsion Sales – Commercial Marine, said: “We are very much looking forward to working together with the customer to deliver this large order in a timely manner. So far the cooperation between the yard, the owner and our involved team members in China, Italy and the Nordic countries has been excellent, a pivotal factor in both securing the deal and for the future success of the project.”

The delivery from Rolls-Royce includes steering gears and the Promas system, which integrates the propeller and the rudder into a single system to optimise hydrodynamic efficiency. A special hubcap is fitted to the propeller and streamlines the flow onto a bulb that is added to the rudder, effectively reducing flow separation immediately after the propeller. The result is an increase in propeller thrust as previously wasted energy is recovered from the flow. The addition of the bulb on the rudder also streamlines the flow aft of the rudder, further reducing drag.

Promas is a well proven a product developed and tested at the Rolls-Royce facility in Kristinehamn in Sweden. While the steering gear is produced at the company’s facility in Brattvåg, Norway.

The contract value to Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine is close to 300 MNOK. Delivery of the propulsion products are scheduled from 2019 and onwards to the completion of the last vessel in the series in 2021.

About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc

  1. Rolls-Royce pioneers cutting-edge technologies that deliver the cleanest, safest and most competitive solutions to meet our planet’s vital power needs.
  2. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 150 countries, comprising more than 400 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces, 4,000 marine customers including 70 navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.
  3. Annual underlying revenue was £15 billion in 2017, around half of which came from the provision of aftermarket services. The firm and announced gross order book stood at £78.5 billion at the end of December 2017.
  4. In 2017, Rolls-Royce invested £1.4 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 31 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.
  5. Rolls-Royce employs 55,000 people in 50 countries. Approximately 19,400 of these are engineers.
  6. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills. In 2017 we recruited 313 graduates and 339 apprentices through our worldwide training programmes.

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