NYK Takes Delivery of 14,000 TEU Container Ship

Japan Marine United Corp. recently delivered the 14,000 TEU container ship NYK Blue Jay to shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK).

The vessel, which successfully completed sea trials on February 22, is the first of 10 ordered by NYK for operation on the Asia-European shipping lanes.

The new container ship series is designed to compete with new generation of ultra large container vessels carrying around 20,000 TEU in terms of operating economy. An advanced propulsion concept includes a narrow dimensioned engine room allowing a hull design with exceptional hydrodynamic efficiency. Another significant part of the operating economy comes from the latest Wärtsilä brand Generation X two-stroke diesel engine. The 9-cylinder Wärtsilä X82 is designed by Winterthur Gas & Diesel in Winterthur, Switzerland.

Winterthur Gas & Diesel designed the Generation X diesel and dual-fuel engines to meet ship owners’ demands for the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO). These are conceived for maximized vessel payloads combined with low fuel consumption and emissions and for rational, economic production by WinGD’s licensees.

“It is designed to enable total vessel efficiency to be optimized by a careful combination of main engine parameters and efficiency, the propulsion system and the ship hull. The capability to run lower engine speed fosters the higher efficiency of larger propellers. We took account of this in the engine design, like the Wärtsilä X82 used in the NYK Blue Jay, by employing higher stroke-to-bore ratios than in their predecessors. This not only facilitates the larger, slower turning propellers but also gives higher engine internal efficiency,” explained Rudolf Holtbecker, General Manager, Business and Application Development.

The dual-rating feature is a further TCO-saving aspect of the Wärtsilä X82. The basis of the dual-rating feature of the X engines is WinGD’s ‘flex’ system of electronically controlled fuel injection and exhaust valve actuation, combined with turbochargers with very wide compressor maps. The sophisticated fuel injection and valve timing systems developed by WinGD allows the engine to be optimized for two different vessel operating profiles based primarily on changes of engine system settings. The owner thus has a tool to easily adapt the vessel speed for different market conditions, always ensuring the operation with the best possible performance and economy.

“As we have seen in the recent past, ship owners wish to be able to respond to market conditions by having closer control over the fuel costs of their ships. In recent years this has led to owners operating their ships at lower speeds with engines running below their design ratings. With the X engines, the dual-rating option has been introduced to allow ship owners to use their engines either with a low or a high maximum power output, further improving fuel consumption in each operating mode without major modifications,” Mr. Holtbecker stated.

Ship Details:

Length: ca. 364 meters

Width: 50.6 m

Load draft: 15.79 m

Main engine: Wärtsilä 9X82

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