Rolls-Royce will supply two gas engines to Sembcorp Marine Integrated Yard for the construction of Singapore’s first LNG-hybrid powered tug, the company said on January 18. 

The harbour tug will be operated in Singapore by Jurong Marine Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sembcorp Marine. The new LNG-hybrid tug is the first of 12 tugs that Sembcorp Marine plans to design and build to replace the existing diesel-powered ones between now and 2025, Rolls Royce said. The tug is expected to be completed later this year. 

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“The mtu marine gas engines are part of Rolls-Royce's green and high-tech programme. Without exhaust gas after-treatment, they emit no sulphur oxides only very small quantities of nitrogen oxide, and particulate mass is below the verification limit,” said Chew Xiang Yu, head of Rolls-Royce Power Systems' commercial marine business in Asia. 

According to Rolls Royce, this is the first LNG-hybrid tug to be powered by mtu gas engines worldwide.  The main propulsion system of the tug comprises twin 16-cyclinder mtu Series 4000 gas units providing a combined total power of 2,984 kw at 1600 rpm.  

The new mtu gas engines are already powering ferries operated by the Dutch shipping company Doeksen in the specially protected Wadden Sea, Rolls Royce said. A Lake Constance ferry operated by Stadtwerke Konstanz will also start operating in 2021 with the new mtu gas engines. 

Banner image courtesy Rolls Royce