Marine engines

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and the Finnish firm of Wärtsilä are to jointly design and develop new small, low-speed marine diesel engines.

The engines would be targeted at a variety of small ship types such as bulk carriers, product tankers, chemical tankers, and container vessels.

Details of the engines will be announced in a few months time after initial design studies have been completed.

The agreement between the two companies is an extension of a strategic alliance created by MHI and Wärtsilä in September 2005. The alliance was formed after the successful joint development  of the Wärtsilä RT-flex50 and Mitsubishi UEC50LSE low-speed engine types.

Today, Wärtsilä and MHI both offer their own low-speed marine diesel engines. Wärtsilä's ranges in power from 5,650kW to 84,420kW, while MHI ranges from 1,120kW to 46,800kW.

Any new engines developed as a result of the collaboration would be built by Wärtsilä’s and Mistubishi’s licensees worldwide.