MTU Engines Powering New Tug

MTU engines from Rolls-Royce are powering the new Peter Wessels tug with 63 tons bollard pull.

Rolls-Royce supplied two MTU 12V 4000 engines with a total output of 3680 kW for the tug, which will operate in Germany’s westernmost seaport of Emden. The operator, Emdener Schlepp-Betriebe GmbH (ESB), purchased the vessel from the Hamburg-based shipping company Neue Schleppdampfschiffsreederei Louis Meyer GmbH & Co. KG and recently put it into operation. The special ship was built by the Damen Shipyards Group in the Netherlands.

With a bollard pull of 63 tons, the Peter Wessels is by far the strongest ship in the fleet of the operator ESB in Emden, which has now grown to five tugs, Rolls-Royce said. The strongest ESB tug to date can carry 32.4 tons. The seaport is primarily a base port for the Volkswagen Group and Europe’s third-largest automobile transhipment center, after Zeebrugge and Bremerhaven. Powerful port tugs play a key role in the smooth operation of the cargo ships.

Rolls-Royce also signed a VCA long-term maintenance contract (Value Care Agreement) with the Neue Schleppdampfschiffsreederei Louis Meyer GmbH & Co. KG for MTU engines with a term of 10 years.

“This covers all scheduled maintenance work that helps to avoid breakdowns as much as possible,” said Jacqueline Wünning of Rolls-Royce’s Hamburg sales department. A VCA manager is available to the shipping company as a contact person throughout the entire term of the contract, supported by the MTU Customer Care Center.