Rolls-Royce to install MTU engines on Qatar Coastguard’s new vessels

Rolls-Royce has been awarded a contract to deliver its MTU high-speed engines and a suite of waterjet propulsion systems to power 17 fast patrol vessels for the Qatar Coastguard.

Under the £15.8m contract, Rolls-Royce will supply and install a total of 46 engines and waterjets across for different sizes of vessels.

The company will install MTU 12V2000M84 diesel engines and Kamewa 50A3 series waterjets on five 24m-long ARES 75 Hercules patrol boats and ten of the 34m-long ARES 110 Hercules crafts.

Additionally, Rolls-Royce will equip three MTU Series 4000 diesels and twin 71S4 water jets with B4 boosters on the two 47m-long ARES 150 Hercules crafts.

Rolls-Royce Naval president Don Roussinos said: "The ARES HERCULES series patrol boats will be the first Qatar Coastguard craft to feature Rolls-Royce Kamewa waterjets, so we’re delighted to welcome them as our latest customer.

"For optimum fuel economy at high-speeds the combination of Rolls-Royce MTU diesels and Kamewa waterjets are major contributors to the enhanced efficiency and performance of these highly capable craft. In particular our A3 model of waterjet offers high performance up to speeds of around 45 knots."

Used for military and homeland security services as well as for civil applications, all the 17 vessels are under construction at ARES Shipyard located in Antalya on the South Coast of Turkey.

ARES Shipyard chairman and executive director Kerim Kalafatoglu said: "This contract for seventeen craft for the Qatar Coastguard is the largest single naval export order for a Turkish shipyard.

"It is one of the most significant for fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) patrol boats ever signed, and all will be built from advanced composite materials."