The MAN 21/31 engine (photo: MAN Diesel & Turbo)

MAN Diesel & Turbo and AKA have received an order in connection with the building of a multi-purpose supply vessel for a federal Russian agency.

Delivery is scheduled for March 2018 in St. Petersburg and marks the first successful collaboration between the two partners since MAN Diesel & Turbo bought a 40% share in AKA – the electric-and-hybrid-systems company – in June 2017. The order comprises 4 × MAN 7L21/31 GenSets, including alternators, with AKA’s scope of supply for the order covering:

• Complete 690 V main switchboard.
• 690V-to-400 V transformers.
• Electric motors for main props and thrusters.
• Frequency converters for electric motors.
• The drive control and power-management systems.

Wayne Jones, Chief Sales Officer – MAN Diesel & Turbo, says, “This specialist vessel, with its unique operational demands, showcases MAN Diesel & Turbo’s competence as a solution provider and the broader capability we now possess with AKA’s energy-management expertise. Encouragingly for our new partnership, the previous vessel in this series was equipped with an identical propulsion package, but from a different supplier.”

AKA’s CEO, Jason Aspin, says, “We are excited to deliver on this first order together with our new partner, MAN Diesel & Turbo. Our expertise in energy management, and electrical-system integration, combined with MAN’s vast experience in power-train solutions, allows us to deliver a completely integrated power and propulsion system for this vessel, making it a WIN-WIN-WIN between our partnership and this client.”

The partnership with AKA represents part of MAN Diesel & Turbo’s strategic development programme, Basecamp 3000+, launched in 2016 when the company announced strategic acquisitions and partnerships to expand its product range with respect to the global trends of decarbonisation and digitisation.

Tags: AKA, MAN Diesel & Turbo