Three major South Korean shipyards Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries have shown a big interest in Wärtsilä’s upgraded 34DF engine.
The shipbuilding giants are supporting the use of this engine for auxiliary applications in the LNG carrier segment where dual-fuel engines are favoured, Wärtsilä said in a statement on Thursday.
South Korea currently has more than 80% of the total order book for LNG tankers, while the Wärtsilä 34DF engine has achieved an auxiliary application market share of approximately 70% in this sector, the company said.
During the first half of this year Wärtsilä has been awarded contracts for 56 Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel auxiliary engines for 14 new LNG carriers being built for four different owners. This means that Wärtsilä has already received orders for nearly 100 such engines from these three yards since it was re-launched with a higher MCR (maximum continuous rating) in 2013.
All these orders were placed by South Korea’s three leading shipyards and the ships are being built for European, American, and Asian owners.
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Image: Wärtsilä