Member Article

Sheffield's Bestobell delivers major order for Finnish gas power giant

Sheffield-based Bestobell Valves has delivered its first major order for Wärtsilä Gas Power Systems (GPS), the global leader in gas power solutions for the marine and energy markets, based in Finland.

The two companies announced a new partnership agreement in April, which saw Bestobell Valves become the preferred supplier of cryogenic valves for Wärtsilä’s market-leading LNGPac fuel system.

As part of the first order, Bestobell has manufactured 20 cryogenic valves – which are a combination of Class 150 manual and pneumatic actuated globe valves - for the fuel system onboard m/v Osfriesland.

The vessel is being converted to run on dual-fuel – LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) as well as oil.

m/v Ostfriesland is a car and passenger ferry, owned by Aktien-Gesellschaft “EMS”, which sails between Emden and Borkum Island on the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea National Park, an ecologically sensitive UNESCO World Heritage listed area in the North Sea.

The retrofit, which is being carried out by Wärtsilä, will significantly reduce the ship’s environmental impact, with the dual-fuel engines able to run on LNG as the main fuel, but with the capability to switch to conventional fuels, if necessary.

Mark Henley, managing director of President Engineering Group, parent company of Bestobell, said: “Wärtsilä is an important strategic partner and we look forward to this being the first of many important contracts over the next few years.

“We are seeing significant demand for our cryogenic valves for dual-fuel applications, as ship owners work to make their vessels more environmentally friendly.

“We were pleased to be able to assist Wärtsilä and our dedicated team worked hard to ensure we could turn this contract around within the short timeframe.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Mark Lane .