China: Rolls Royce Wins Order to Supply Azimuth Thrusters for 18 New Tugs

Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, today announced orders worth around £18 million for the supply of Azimuth thrusters to power 18 new tugs being built in China. Qingdao and Yingkou Ports will take delivery of 12 new tugs, four of which will be the most powerful operating in China.

Tangshan and Tangshan Cao Feidian Ports, located in the He Bei province of Northern China, have also placed orders for a total of six tugs. The 18 vessels will all be equipped with two Rolls-Royce Azimuth thrusters. The thrusters comprise an electric motor and a propeller which, as a combined unit can be rotated horizontally in any direction to manoeuvre the vessel without the need for a rudder.

John Zhang, Rolls-Royce, Manager – Merchant, Greater China, said: “The multiple orders received demonstrate how our cutting edge marine technology is applied to meet our customers’ evolving requirements. These exceptionally powerful and highly manoeuvrable thrusters are critical to supporting the continued growth of the Chinese tug market, and the important role tugs play in facilitating trade.”

Such highly powered tugs are new to Chinese ports and are a growing necessity to manoeuvre the largest ships now in operation around the globe. In recent years, vessels coming to port in China have increased in size and capacity, with Qingdao Port and Yingkou Port being amongst the earliest to respond to this demand.

About Rolls-Royce plc

Rolls-Royce is a world-leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air, and has established a strong position in global markets – civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy.

As a result of this strategy, Rolls-Royce has a broad customer base comprising more than 500 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces, more than 4,000 marine customers, including 70 navies, and energy customers in nearly 120 countries, with an installed base of 54,000 gas turbines.

Annual underlying revenues were £10.8 billion in 2010, of which more than half came from the provision of services. The firm and announced order book stood at £61.4 billion at 30 June 2011, providing visibility of future levels of activity.

Rolls-Royce employs over 39,000 skilled people in offices, manufacturing and service facilities in over 50 countries. Over 11,000 of these employees are engineers.

In 2010, Rolls-Royce invested £923 million on research and development, two thirds of which had the objective of further improving the environmental performance of its products, in particular reducing emissions.

(18 million British pounds = 28.3104 million U.S. dollars)

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Source: Rolls-Royce, October 17, 2011.