Turbine builders hope for a fruitful future

摘要

Things have been slow over the past couple of years in the field of gas turbine propulsion for smaller tonnage ships. There have been few, if any, fast ferry orders, and not even the superyacht sector has borne fruit for the gas turbine builders. However the medium continues to more than hold its own in the large cruise ship sector, and remains a strong contender in the military vessel market, despite a move towards commercially-based solutions. The commercial approach, which takes advantage of the commercial market's economies of scale in both capital expenditure and spares provisioning, tends to favour diesel solutions. Warship propulsion, however, remains a strong market for the gas turbine sector, and the latest solutions such as the Rolls-Royce WR21 should reinforce that market.