Technology companies Wärtsilä (
www.wartsila.com) and Flender (a Siemens company) have reached an agreement regarding the manufacture of the former’s marine-gearbox portfolio.
With immediate effect, the assembly and testing of the gearboxes will be moved to the Siemens Mechanical Drives facilities in Voerde, Germany.
The design and technical specifications — as well as the delivery arrangements, project management and interfacing with shipyards and owners — will continue to be Wärtsilä’s responsibility.
The gearbox is a vital link between a ship’s main propulsion engine and the controllable-pitch propeller. Wärtsilä’s gearboxes come in both single-speed and two-speed variants, as well as a variety of configurations and sizes.
Arto Lehtinen, vice-president (propulsion) at Wärtsilä Marine Solutions, said: “We believe that we’ve found the best-possible partner for ensuring that our gearbox offering is of the expected quality, and for serving our customers in an efficient, reliable and on-time way.
“We wish to emphasise that it is only the production arrangements that are being revised; all the terms and conditions of our contracts with customers remain unchanged.”