Rolls-Royce has collaborated with China’s Zhenjiang Shipyard to improve their commercial marine offerings in tug and workboats powered by high-speed engines.

　　Under the strategic cooperation agreement， the companies will unify their technical strength and business insight to fortify their competitive hold in the market.

　　The shipyard and Rolls-Royce Power Systems will jointly explore business opportunities.

　　The partnership’s initial focus will be to work towards supporting the development of tugboats with MTU high-speed engines in China.

　　High-speed engines have a speed exceeding 1，000rpm.

　　With the installation of these engines， vessels can offer enhanced maneuverability and compactness. The engines will also reduce operating expenses， carbon emissions， and fuel consumption.

　　As a result， the ships featuring such engines become more suitable to operate in narrow and sheltered waters.

　　Zhenjiang Shipyard president Yan Guo said: “Zhenjiang Shipyard is a leading manufacturer of special vessels， especially of full-rotary tugboats， marine workboats and public vessels and has strong R&D capabilities. With the signing of the strategic cooperation agreement， we will promote the application of MTU high-speed engines in full-rotary tugboats and marine workboats.”

　　As of now， Rolls-Royce has so far supplied more than 480 MTU engines for tugs and workboats across the globe.

　　Rolls-Royce’s MTU marine engines fulfil the requirements of ‘high-performance’ tugboats for operability， speed， volume， and weight.

　　Apart from being compact， these provide additional maintenance space and high power.

　　In a statement， Rolls-Royce said: “In addition， thanks to the application of advanced industry-leading technologies such as high-pressure common-rail and electronic injection， MTU marine engines offer excellent low-load torque， low fuel consumption and maintenance convenience.”