Wärtsilä, CSIC and Mitsubishi inaugurate new ...
Wärtsilä Corporation, Press release 16 April 2009
Wärtsilä, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) today inaugurated their new,
jointly owned, low-speed marine engine factory QMD in Qingdao,
Shandong province. The state-of-the-art QMD factory is one of China's
most advanced engine factories, featuring a modern welding shop,
machine shop, assembly shop, and a testing shop, as well as
facilities for heat treatment, blasting and painting. The automated
equipment and processes, the flexible use of test beds, the
possibility to test two large engines at full load in parallel,
together with the efficient internal logistics, make this one of the
most efficient engine production factories in the world.
Civil construction of the factory started in May 2008. Within ten
months, most of the construction work, the equipment installation and
commissioning was completed. The factory became operational in March
2009. When totally completed, the factory will represent an overall
investment of approximately EUR 100 million with a production
capacity of 1 million BHP.
QMD has a very healthy orderbook worth some EUR 200 million. The
engines on order are mainly of the Wärtsilä RT-flex50, RT-flex60C and
RT-flex82C, and Mitsubishi UEC50 engine types. These engines are all
destined for Chinese shipyards.
"QMD is an important addition to the two-stroke engine building
capacity in China, and in close cooperation with other Chinese engine
builders, will contribute to increasing the supply of domestically
built engines to Chinese shipyards." says Rien Hoogerbrugge, CEO of
QMD.
The factory will have a total of around 500 employees by the end of
this year. Located near the Haixiwan area on the Bohai Sea, the QMD
factory is an important part of the CSIC Haixiwan shipbuilding and
repairing base, primarily serving China's growing shipbuilding
industry, but is also able to export engines to other shipbuilding
markets.
First engine completed
The first engine already produced at the new factory was a
seven-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex60C, which successfully passed its
factory acceptance test in March to the full satisfaction of
classification requirements, the shipyard, and the ship owner. The
factory offers the full range of low-speed engines, with bore sizes
from 50 cm upwards, of the Wärtsilä RTA and RT-flex engine types and
the Mitsubishi UE engine types. It has the capacity to build engines
of up to 96 cm bore. The manufactured engines will be branded as
QMD-Wärtsilä and QMD-MHI engines respectively.
QMD manufactures and services low-speed marine diesel engines under
licence from Wärtsilä and Mitsubishi. Additionally, QMD will also
focus on the research, development, and prototype manufacture of the
new generation of energy-saving and environmentally friendly
low-speed marine diesel engines, which use the advanced technologies
of Wärtsilä and Mitsubishi.
The joint venture company Qingdao Qiyao Wartsila MHI Linshan Marine
Diesel Co., Ltd. (QMD) is owned jointly by China Shipbuilding
Industry Corporation (50%), Wärtsilä Corporation (27%) and Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries Ltd (23%). The company was set up in 2006 to provide
a world-class supply of large marine engines, together with local
technological expertise and support within the same field. The joint
set up is unique in China, and provides a very good basis for
efficient production and high quality.
Link to pictures
Media contacts:
QMD
Mr Rien Hoogerbrugge
CEO
Qingdao Qiyao Wartsila MHI Linshan Marine Diesel Co., Ltd. (QMD)
501 Li Jiang East Road
Economic & Technological Development Zone
Qingdao 266520
China
Tel: +86-532-86708080-6000
e-mail: admin@qmdltd.com.cn
Wärtsilä
Ms Marit Holmlund-Sund
Senior Manager, PR and Marketing Communications
Wärtsilä Corporation
Direct tel: +358 10 709 1439
Direct fax: +358 10 709 1425
e-mail: marit.holmlund-sund@wartsila.com
CSIC
Ms Zhang Ling
Legal Affairs Office Director
Shanghai Marine Diesel Engine Research Institue
No.3111 Huaning Road, Shanghai 201108, China
Tel: +86-21-31310505
e-mail: zhangling@csic-711.com
MHI
Mr Fumihiro Okabe
Manager, Marine Diesel & Machinery Business Section
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Tel: +81-3-6716-3393
E-mail: fumihiro_okabe@mhi.co.jp
Wärtsilä in brief:
Wärtsilä enhances the business of its customers by providing them
with complete lifecycle power solutions. When creating better and
environmentally compatible technologies, Wärtsilä focuses on the
marine and energy markets with products and solutions as well as
services. Through innovative products and services, Wärtsilä sets out
to be the most valued business partner of all its customers. This is
achieved by the dedication of close to 19,000 professionals manning
160 locations in 70 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on
the Nordic Exchange in Helsinki, Finland.
www.wartsila.com
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