MAN Energy Solutions has won a contract from Dutch dredging and marine services company Royal Boskalis to supply three MAN 49/60 engines for a 31,000 m³ Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD).
Each engine will feature a MAN Low-Pressure Selective Catalytic Reduction (LP-SCR) exhaust-gas after-treatment system, that ensures IMO Tier III compliance. The newbuilding will be built at Dutch shipbuilding company, Royal IHC, at its Krimpen aan den IJssel yard and is expected to enter service in mid-2026.
Lex Nijsen, VP Marine, MAN Energy Solutions, said: “This entire project has special requirements in all aspects – it is absolutely a customised solution and a notable feather in our cap to have been selected as propulsion system supplier for this unique dredger.”
Marita Krems, SVP and Head of Four-Stroke Marine and License, said: “This first order by a well-established customer in a demanding application is a significant next step towards becoming a widely applied marine engine. The 49/60 will help pave the decarbonisation path towards meeting future legislation by its ability to switch to renewable fuels such as e-methanol and biofuels.”
Christian Kamm, Sales Manager Marine Europe, MAN Energy Solutions, added: “The solution we are delivering is reliable, efficient, flexible and meets the highest emission standards. It combines green shipping of the future with innovative technologies to make shipping more environmentally friendly. This vessel marks a significant step in making Boskalis’ dredging fleet more sustainable.”
The TSHD will be diesel-electric powered with two Azipods to allow vessel operation even at shallow draught. All major drives (thrusters, dredge pump, etc) will be electrically driven and controlled by frequency converters, enabling each system to operate at optimal speed and power. The asymmetric load-sharing results in optimal load distribution over the diesel generating sets with low fuel-consumption and high manoeuvrability.
The BV-classed main diesel engines will be capable of running on either conventional fuels – like HFO and/or MDO/MGO – or on sustainable fuels, such as biodiesel (HVO and/or FAME). Furthermore, the dual-fuel engines will be delivered as (green) methanol-ready. As such, the MAN 49/60 will always be capable of meeting NOx Tier III emission limits. MAN Energy Solutions states that the engines maintain their high efficiency at all times and that there is no fuel penalty when operating the SCR system – especially with HFO – in great part due to the lower temperatures at which MAN SCR solutions operate.
In close cooperation with Royal IHC and Boskalis , the engines have been fitted into an engine-room design similar to those used in previous Royal IHC dredger projects.
The MAN 49/60 successfully passed its type approval test in March 2023 and is rated at 1300kW per cylinder, reducing the number of installed cylinders necessary to meet customer power demands. While in this particular project six-cylinder engines are applied, the L-type of the engine can accommodate up to 10 cylinders, which make it capable of propelling ships typically powered by V-engines. The 49/60 is available in 12V and 14V engine variants. A key determinant in the choosing of the 49/60 engine was its ability to fulfil the load-acceptance requirements demanded by the TSHD’s diesel-electric propulsion system in diesel mode. The next-generation MAN common-rail system 2.2, in combination with the two-stage turbocharging system used by the engine, enables it to compromise between load acceptance and efficiency.
