Wärtsilä to convert diesel engines to tri-fuel methanol for cruise line

Engine maker Wärtsilä will supply tri-fuel engines with methanol options to a new cruise ship being built by Celebrity Cruises, a unit of cruise operator Royal Caribbean.

PHOTO: Wärtsilä will convert one of its diesel engine types to have a methanol option. Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä added the order to its books in January and the vessel is scheduled for delivery from the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France in 2025.

Wärtsilä will convert two existing diesel engines to also be able to use methanol as a fuel at some point in the future. Until then, the engine can run on two types of conventional fuels.

The order marks Wärtsilä's second conversion project for diesel engines to methanol, and the company plans to repurpose more ships in Celebrity Cruises' Edge series, a spokesperson told ENGINE.

Shipbuilders and operators have increasingly turned to methanol-ready or dual-fuel methanol engines, as they give them the flexibility of using conventional fuels until methanol becomes more commercially attractive as a bunker fuel.

By Debarati Bhattacharjee

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