German customs chooses mtu gas engines from Rolls-Royce for four new vessels

The new customs ship “Rügen” was officially christened and put into service today in Stralsund. Aboard the largest ship in the German customs fleet, four mtu gas engines from Rolls-Royce provide propulsion and two more generate electricity.

The President of the Generalzolldirektion (German Customs Administration), Dr. Armin Rolfink, emphasized, “With the commissioning of the ‘Rügen’, we are setting an important milestone for the strengthening and, at the same time, sustainable modernization of our customs fleet. This state-of-the-art customs vessel combines high performance with innovative and environmentally conscious technology, which will enable us to carry out our important customs duties at sea even more efficiently in the future.”

Rolls-Royce is currently equipping four new German customs vessels with a total of 15 mtu gas engines, which provide propulsion and, in some cases, on-board power. They are part of a modernization program to upgrade the customs fleet in the North Sea and Baltic Sea, the majority of which also relies on mtu power. The advantages of mtu gas engines are their low exhaust and noise emissions and their dynamic performance. Rolls-Royce ensures the reliable operation of the eleven vessels in the customs fleet powered by mtu engines through a long-term service agreement.

The new 67-meter customs vessel “Rügen”, which is designed for operations at sea lasting several weeks and was built at the Fassmer shipyard in northern Germany, is powered by four 16-cylinder mtu Series 4000 gas engines and two controllable pitch propellers. Together with electric motors and two on-board power generators (also 16V4000 mtu gas engines), the ship can be operated in different modes as required: purely gas-electric, purely gas-mechanical and in booster mode. When in booster mode, all four main engines, each with an output of 1,492 kW, and the electric engines, which receive the power from the on-board units, can take the “Rügen” up to a maximum speed of 23 knots.

Three further 55-meter customs vessels are currently being built at Peene-Werft in Wolgast in northern Germany, which belongs to the shipyard group NVL. Each vessel will be equipped with three 16-cylinder mtu Series 4000 gas engines, each driving a fixed-pitch propeller. To achieve a maximum speed of around 26 knots, their power has been increased by ten percent to 1,641 kW each.

“We congratulate the German customs authorities on the commissioning of their new operational ship “Rügen” and the three other new ships. Reliability, user-friendly operation, dynamic engine performance and low emissions play a major role in the demanding tasks of the coast guard. These advantages of mtu gas engines help us to further expand our market share in our strategic marine business,” explained Denise Kurtulus, Senior Vice President Global Marine at Rolls-Royce Power Systems.

mtu gas engines already fall well below the limits of current emissions guidelines (such as IMO III) without exhaust gas aftertreatment. The particulate mass is below the detection limit and they only emit small amounts of nitrogen oxides. Thanks to the double-walled design of the gas system, the engine room can be designed similarly to a diesel drive.

mtu gas engines are already powering tugs and ferries in Europe and Asia. Ferry operators such as Rederij Doeksen in the Netherlands particularly appreciate the fact that mtu gas engines are quiet, produce little vibration, no unpleasant odors and no black smoke. The municipal utility in Constance has been operating its newest Lake Constance ferry with mtu gas engines in a climate-neutral way using biogas since July 2024. The world's first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered hybrid tug from Sembcorp Marine Integrated Yard in Singapore also has two mtu gas engines on board.

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