WHE holds ceremony to commemorate the new facilities opening

Wartsila Hyundai Engine Co. (WHE), a joint venture of Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Finland's Wärtsilä, completed facilities in South Korea that will be capable of producing 120 Dual-Fuel Engines for Liquefied Natural Gas Carriers.

Dual-Fuel Electric Propulsion Engines, which can use either gas or oil, are 30 percent more efficient and environmentally friendly than steam-turbine engines, the traditional LNG carrier engine.

WHE expects to deliver 12 engines this year. Next year the facilities will produce 100 engines ranging from 7,700kW to 23,200bhp.

“Korea is the main market, with a market share currently exceeding 70 percent of the global LNG shipbuilding market. The joint venture manufactures dual-fuel engines for the Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese shipbuilding markets,” said Mr. O.S. Kwon, CEO of the Wärtsilä Hyundai Engine Company.

In January of 2007, Wärtsilä and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. signed an agreement to become equal partners in a joint venture with an investment of KRW68 billion. In September of 2007, WHE held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new factory. In July of 2008, the company received an order from Samsung Heavy Industries to supply 16 engines for four ships. <Korea Shipping Gazette>