Wärtsilä Receives Order for 50 Propellers in China

At the beginning of September the joint-venture company Wärtsilä CME Zhenjiang Propeller Co. Ltd. in China received an order for 50 fixed pitch propellers (FPP) to be delivered to two shipyards, New Century Shipyard and New Times Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., in Jiangsu Province, China. The order is worth $21.5m .The propellers will be manufactured at the Wärtsilä CME propeller factory in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, China. With weights ranging from 28 - 73 tons, the propellers are designated for the propulsion of a large series of vessels including 46 tankers and 4 container vessels, all being built at New Century Shipyard and New Times Shipbuilding for various customers. The vessels will be delivered between 2007 and 2009.

This order comes at a time when Wärtsilä CME is investing $10.1m in a new propeller foundry in Zhenjiang. The investment will enable Wärtsilä CME to supply complete FPP and shaft line packages, as well as blades and hubs for controllable pitch propeller installations. The foundry will have an annual output capacity of more than 4000 tons and will be able to produce FPPs with a weight of up to 140 tons. The new plant will be ready in June 2007.