Stockport, 28 August 2004. MAN B&W Diesel Ltd have received an order to supply 4 x 20RK280 engines to Italian ship builder Fincantieri. The Italian company, the largest and one of the most diversified shipbuilding companies in Europe, with over 200 years of shipbuilding history has secured a contract to build a 122 metre monohull fast ferry at its Riva Trigoso facility East of Genoa.
The vessel has been ordered by the largest Swedish ferry operators, Rederi AB Gotland, and will enter into service between the Swedish mainland and Gotland Island in the Baltic sea. The ferry will have caüacity for 800 passengers and over 160 cars.
The MAN B&W Diesel Ltd 20RK280 engines are the world’s most powerful 1000r/min diesel engines, and are continuously rated with classification society type approval at 9000 kWb and 1000r/min. The order has been won with the requirement for low fuel consumption, reliability and high power output, without sacrificing accessibility for routine maintenance.
The engines will be built in the UK at the Stockport plant of MAN B&W Diesel Ltd and are scheduled for delivery during March and April 2005.
The new fast ferry will have an approximate speed of 40 knots and an operating speed of 36 knots, which will be achieved at 85% engine power. It has the capacity for 800 passengers and over 160 cars. Each engine will drive through a ZF 6000 NRH gearbox to Rolls Royce Ka Me Wa S140 II waterjets.
Rederi AB Gotland was established in 1865 by five businessmen from Visby on the island of Gotland under the name of the Gotland Steamship Company. Today, under an agreement with the Swedish government, Rederi AB Gotland operate the island service through a wholly-owned subsidiary - Destination Gotland AB.