Rolls-Royce Power Systems and the Constance public utility have signed a cooperation agreement which covers a two-year trial on Lake Constance of the propulsion system of the ‘Europe’s first inland waterway’ passenger vessel. The ferry is fuelled with LNG and scheduled for service from 2019. It is to be equipped with twin 8-cylinder Series 4000 gas engines from MTU, each delivering 746 kW.
“Gas engines for mobile applications form a core component of our Green and Hightech initiative. This flagship project is being realized on our local ferry service between the towns of Meersburg and Constance, which allows us to demonstrate the effectiveness of our new technology and set an international trend right on our doorstep. We firmly believe that in shipping, gas engines are set to play a pivotal role as a back-up to well-proven diesel engine technology,” said Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems.
Compared to a diesel engine without exhaust gas after treatment, a gas engine emits no soot, no sulphur oxides, 90% fewer nitric oxides and 10% fewer greenhouse gases. This enables it to comply with the IMO III emissions standard that came into force last year, without the need for additional exhaust after treatment. It is also equal to the diesel engine in terms of performance and dynamics.
“This cooperation agreement with Rolls-Royce Power Systems marks the continuation of our partnership which now spans over 30 years. During this time we have shared our commitment to reducing emissions harmful to the environment and to strengthening Lake Constance as a region,” underlined Norbert Reuter.
Under the agreement, RR and the Constance public utility will test the vessel’s propulsion system on the German lake under continuous servive conditions with both partners collating data.