Wärtsilä Chosen for RCL Cruise Ship

Wärtsilä Corporation was chosen to supply diesel engines to Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, for the new post-Panamax cruise ship contracted there by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCL) and to be operated by Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of RCL. The ship is due for delivery in autumn 2008.

Wärtsilä will deliver four 16-cylinder Wärtsilä 46 engines having a combined power of 67,200 kW. The engines will be arranged in a diesel-electric power plant supplying all propulsion and electrical requirements of the vessel.

The Wärtsilä engines will be equipped with common-rail fuel injection systems. The common-rail systems ensure that the engines have no visible smoke at any power level while also meeting international regulations for NOx emissions.

The ship is the first of a new class of 117,000 GRT cruise ships which are able to carry 2850 passengers in 1425 cabins. It will be both the first ship operated by Celebrity and the first built at Papenburg that exceeds 100,000 GRT. It will have overall dimensions of 315 m long by 36.8 m wide.

Although these are the first Wärtsilä medium speed engines for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd at Meyer Werft, Wärtsilä has supplied engines for a number of other RCL cruise ships, including the Voyager and the Freedom classes.