Rolls-Royce Gets Propulsion Contract for Grimaldi’s New RoRos

Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine has won a contract to deliver the propulsion system to nine vessels to be built for the Italian Grimaldi Group.

The roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessels will be constructed at Nanjing Jinling Shipyard in China.

As informed, the value of the contract is close to NOK 300 million (around USD 35 million). Delivery of the propulsion products are scheduled from 2019 and onwards to the completion of the last vessel in the series in 2021.

The delivery from Rolls-Royce includes steering gears and the Promas system, which integrates the propeller and the rudder into a single system to optimize hydrodynamic efficiency. A special hubcap is fitted to the propeller and streamlines the flow onto a bulb that is added to the rudder, 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.

The nine 238-meter-long vessels are designed to transport over 7,800 linear meters of rolling units, equivalent to about 500 trailers. They are known as 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 have been designed by Knud E. Hansen in Denmark.

Earlier this year, Norwegian maritime technology group Kongsberg Maritime received contracts to deliver power and hybrid systems to the nine RoRos.