MAN B&W Capitalizes Offshore

MAN B&W Diesel has positioned itself on the offshore market, having sold more than 80 engines to the sector so far this year. The leading supplier of large-bore diesel engines has been receiving a particularly high number of orders from Norway and Singapore. The engines ordered are destined for use in nearly all areas of offshore oil and gas extraction, including FPSO, research vessels, platform supply vessels (PSV), anchor handling tug supply vessels (AHTS), pipelay vessels, remote operated vehicle vessels (ROV) and drilling vessels. Some of the engines are from the 27/38 and the 21/31 series, which are produced in Frederikshavn, Denmark, while others are from the 32/40 series, which are manufactured by MAN B&W’s Augsburg plant and also by its Korean licensee STX Engines. For MAN B&W Diesel, this sales success is proof that its efforts to meet the specific needs of the offshore market are paying off. The company has set up a dedicated International Offshore Group (IOG) headed by Steve Birdsall to boost its involvement in the sector. Engines from MAN B&W Diesel fulfil the technical specifications of the oil and gas industry. Rapid dynamic load response is achieved with the use of a narrow exhaust pipe (which works in a similar way to pulse charging) and the Jet Assist system (air is blown into the turbocharger to start it up when load increases). The engines are very flexible in their fuel requirements, and can even run on crude oil direct from the borehole. Moreover, they boast low fuel consumption and long maintenance intervals.