Passenger ship propulsion debut for HiMSEN

The 31,000gt ferry, being built at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, was named in July and will begin operations on the Incheon-Weihai route between Korea and China on 15 October. It will feature two 16,000hp engines with sulphur compliance achieved through an exhaust gas scrubber system.

Hyundia noted that its HiMSEN engines, first launched in 2000 (with the H46/V50 following in 2013) have been installed on more than 500 ships, although this is the first passenger vessel to use the plant. Including land-based units, over 11,500 HiMSEN engines have been sold, representing 20% of the global medium-speed engine market.

The engines – the largest in the HiMSEN range – feature a dual valve timing fuel injection system that is claimed to greatly limit NOx emissions as well as offering low noise and vibrations. Hyundai noted that the engine passed its fatigue and low-load tests in a rough seas and high waves on 5 July.

Hyundai is aiming to use the delivery to drive growth in the passenger ship engine market. To assist in this goal, the company revealed that it plans to develop a new dual-fuel engine with improved output compared to previous HiMSEN dual-fuel models. The design is expected to be completed this year.

Weidong Ferry’s new ship is also the first passenger ship to be built at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard and the first vessel for the owner that has not been built in China. The ship has a length of 196.1m and a beam of 27m. It can carry up to 724 passengers and 40 loaded trailers (325 teu).