Niigata Engineering Co., Ltd. has completed the development of a small but powerful diesel engine, "Blue Marine 1100 (Niigata 6MG17HX)", introducing the new product to the market this past May.

Today, the market requires lighter and yet more powerful engines for small vessels; with a mass of less than 5kg/kW, this 800kW output class engine offers the performance features users have been anxiously looking forward to.

Harmonious technology, which simultaneously meets the shipowner, shipbuilder and consulting firm's common aspirations for minimized engine room space and maximized payload capacity while concerning both energy and labor, embodies the design development philosophy which commonly underlies all the marine propulsion engines supplied by Niigata.

Niigata's success in achieving in excess of 800kW output for an engine with a cylinder bore of 165 mm owes much to the company's development technology and experience with high-power high-speed engines for fast craft, such as the 16FX and 20FX, which have proven to be 30% more powerful than conventional small-size high-speed engines of the same class.

Intended as main engines for various fishing boats, coastal ships, work vessels and merchant ships, this new type engine is equipped with a state-of-the-art twin turbo system, the first such system for engines of this class. This system makes possible a big leap forward in performance under light load and compliance with load variations; moreover, it can maintain satisfactory performance across the complete load range from the lightest to the heaviest.

The engine uses fire rings that have proven effective in many of Niigata's engine series, and their ability to retard the depositing of hard carbon around the piston top has resulted in lowering both consumption and contamination of lubricating oil.

Greater ease and reduced maintenance cost have been achieved by thoroughly simplifying the structure and reducing the number of parts, resulting in facilitated disassembly, inspection and reassembly on board.

Niigata Engineering has established its own "Environmental Policy" and is committed to strict observance of environmental law based on the ISO 14001 standard. This new type engine also satisfies the IMO's requirement for controlling the nitrogen oxide (NOx) content in exhaust gas while keeping its specific fuel consumption, which has a direct relationship with NOx concentration, comparable to any existing engine of the same class.

The company expects the entry of the "Blue Marine 1100" to trigger a new race for even lighter and more powerful plant in the market for small marine engines.

Niigata expects to sell 50 units of "Blue Marine 1100" during its initial year in the market, and has a target for the following years to expand its share of the domestic market for small marine engines to 50% and to sell a total of 100 units, including 80 at home and 20 abroad.

　

　

　

　

　

　

The TRA-1000 Universal Automatic Identification System (UAIS) uses Saab TransponderTech's AIS transponder units, which has an established reputation documenting hundreds of units which have been delivered to vessels, pilot boats and shore base stations around the world. The transponder unit complies with the latest requirements, standards, recommendations and guidelines supporting AIS technology (lMO MSC.74 (69) Annex 3, ITU-R M.1371-1, IEC61993-2, etc.).The UAIS automatically broadcasts its ship's pertinent information (such as name, position, speed, destination. ETA etc.) at regular intervals and also receives the same information from other ships. Since it is mutually possible to get information (such as a ship's name) which is not obtained from radar or ARPA, a mariner can easily contact another ship using VHF radio. As a result, AIS plays an important role in collision avoidance and safety of navigation.