Finnish Patrol Class Will Boast Wärtsilä Power

Wärtsilä Corporation has received the contract to deliver four Wärtsilä 12V200 diesel engines for two patrol vessels of a new class for the Finnish Frontier Guard. These new Telkkä-class vessels are being built as part of the fleet renewal program.

They are multi-purpose vessels capable of carrying out search and rescue, and oil leak anti-pollution missions in the Baltic, in addition to the traditional maritime surveillance function.

The two Telkkä-class vessels were recently ordered from the Finnish shipyard UKI Workboat Ltd. They are due to be commissioned in 2002 and 2004. The order, which represents a major breakthrough for the Wärtsilä 200 engine to the naval and governmental ship market, is comprised of a pair of Wärtsilä 12V200 diesel engines - with a combined maximum continuous output of 5,000 kW at 1,500 rpm - on each of the vessels.

The size of the vessels, which measure 164 ft., (50 m) and can displace 400 tons, sets restrictions on the weight and size of the engines hence high speed engines such as the Wärtsilä 200 were specified.

Since speed requirements called for a relatively large installed power, several particular features of the Wärtsilä 200 engines were in favor of their selection.