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Cat ships first MaK M 46DF dual fuel marine engine

Caterpillar Marine Power Systems shipped the first MaK M 46 DF dual fuel marine engine. The M 46 DF, Caterpillar’s first marine dual fuel solution, will power a newbuild ordered by Germany’s AIDA cruises. Three 12 M 43 C marine engines will also power the cruise liner. The engine left the MaK Rostock, Germany facility en route to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan. Upon arrival, it will immediately be placed in the ship’s hull.

Mak
MaK 46 DF. Click to enlarge.

Able to alternate from gas to diesel mode during operation, the M 46 DF offers the flexibility to operate vessels reliably in all geographical areas, whether the fuel in use is natural gas, marine diesel oil (MDO) or heavy fuel oil (HFO). In gas mode, the M 46 DF features industry-leading fuel consumption and will comply with IMO III as well as EPA Tier 4 regulations. The engine has been designed to allow retrofitting of current M 43 C engines.

With a bore of 460 millimeters and stroke of 610 mm, the engine was designed for electric drive propulsion systems as well as mechanical propulsion systems. Although designed for unlimited operation on LNG, marine diesel oil and heavy fuel oil, the M 46 DF will reach industry-leading efficiency in gas mode.

Comments

HarveyD

A smart solution to reduce air pollution in many major ports.

Jim McLaughlin

So it must be compression ignition, meaning they must use some diesel fuel during natural gas operation? Even if it is only a few percent? Then CAT might be licensing Westports patents.

Or did they actually put spark plugs in there only for natural gas operation?

Many ports are requiring shore power operation now, I suspect most new vessels are equipped for it. But it sure helps near the port.

I wonder what the price of nat gas is compared to bunker oil? Some operators might just use nat gas near shore.

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