Wärtsilä: Shortcuts led to improper testing of ship engines

The commercial engine manufacturer said an internal audit has revealed fuel consumption tests for around 2 percent of its four-stroke marine engines understated consumption by about 1 percent.    Commercial engine manufacturer Wärtsilä said Monday an internal audit has revealed deviations in a limited number of fuel consumption tests of marine engines that overstated their fuel efficiency. The company said the deviation in the testing amounted to about 1 percent.
   “The investigation has brought forward deviations in certain fuel consumption measurement tests conducted for marine engines in Wärtsilä Delivery Centre Trieste in Italy before customer dispatches,” Wärtsilä said.
   Jaakko Eskola, the president and chief executive officer of Wärtsilä said the problems were caused by limited number of personnel “who have clearly acted against instructions and our code of conduct by influencing the test results” and were seeking to shortcut the testing process.
   About 200 four-stroke engines were involved, or about 2 percent of the marine engines made over a period of several years, according to Wärtsilä. It said different size engines were involved and that they were used on a variety of ships.
   Atte Palomäki, executive vice president, said the company could not comment on how much difference a one percent deviation in fuel consumption might make.
   “The vessel fuel consumption varies highly, and no average figure can thus be given,” he explained.
   The company said four-stroke engines for power plant customers are not impacted.
   The large Wärtsilä branded two-stroke engines — commonly used to power large ships — are manufactured and tested by licensees and are not involved.
   The engine maker said the higher fuel consumption would not compromise the safety and quality of the engines or affect regulatory and classification society requirements.
   Long a leader in the big two-stroke engines that propel most containerships, tankers, and bulkers, Wärtsilä in January 2015 formed a joint venture, Winterthur Gas & Diesel, through which China State Shipbuilding Corp. took over 70 percent of that business.
   The November 2015 American Shipper article, “An engine guy among software geeks,” noted that merchant ships account for about 80 percent of all the vessels ordered each year, and 85 percent are powered by two-stroke engines with the remainder having four-stroke engines.
   Four-stroke engines are used to make auxiliary power on large ships and for propulsion on everything from offshore-support vessels, like anchor-handling tugs, to drill ships, which require constant adjustment to remain in position.