Wärtsilä closes record-breaking year with scrubber order at JMU

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä saw a record-breaking amount of scrubber deliveries in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The company highlights the continued interest in exhaust gas abatement systems as long-term solutions for the global fleet.

A significant order was booked in November 2020 with a Japanese shipyard, Japan Marine United (JMU), to install a 25MW scrubber on a new Japanese-owned very large crude carrier (VLCC) set to be delivered in 2022.

The order is said to reinforce the long-term position of exhaust gas treatment technologies. The system will run in an open-loop configuration.

The 2022 delivery date for the vessel proves that scrubbers are seen as a full lifecycle asset, according to Wärtsilä. The company’s scrubbers take a modular approach and can be upgraded over time, with the potential to mitigate nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM).

The order comes as the latest milestone in Wärtsilä’s longstanding relationship with JMU. In all, Wärtsilä has installed 35 scrubbers on vessels being built at the yard.

“We were delighted to end the record-breaking last year with this order for a scrubber on a newbuild VLCC being built by our friends and partners at JMU,” Scott Oh, Director, Wärtsilä Exhaust Treatment Asia, said.

“This installation is a clear indication of how important scrubbers are becoming for newbuild vessels, as they aim to keep up with shipping’s tightening environmental regulatory landscape. We are confident that the industry understands both the power of exhaust gas cleaning technologies as compliance solutions for today, but also to meet a range of challenges beyond sulphur.”