Rolls Royce : to provide innovative propulsion system to yacht builder Benetti

Monday, 23 May 2016

Rolls-Royce has signed a contract with the Italian yacht builder Benetti to deliver a new generation of high performance, lightweight steerable thruster that makes comprehensive use of carbon fibre material for the first time.

'Efficient and lightweight propulsion is key to reducing the environmental impact of a modern yacht,' said Vincenzo Poerio, Benetti, CEO. 'We have been working closely with Rolls-Royceon a journey towards an excellent propulsion system for our new line of exclusive megayachts. The successful result of this collaboration has been confirmed by facts, indeed five units have already been sold and more units are already under construction to shorten delivery times and meet the increasing demand for this model.'

The new Azipull Carbon 65 (AZP C65) uses carbon fibre material for load carrying parts, resulting in a substantial reduction of the propulsion system's weight. The new thrusters also facilitate a better vessel lay out while maintaining high propulsion efficiency, excellent manoeuvring capabilities and easy maintenance.

Gary Nutter, Rolls-Royce, EVP Propulsion and Engines, said: 'This new development has greatly benefitted from the very good cooperation we have had with Azimut Benetti. Their skills as a yacht builder and their engagement with us in creating the perfect vessel is an inspiration.'

Designed initially for fast yachts, with further applications in passenger vessels and workboats, the Azipull Carbon brings to the market a lightweight, reliable and highly efficient propulsion system with very low noise and vibration levels.

The first thruster in the series, AZP C65, is designed for a power rating of 2 MW and fitted with a fixed pitch, pulling type propeller - meaning the propeller faces forward. The driveline is designed with two spiral bevel gear sets, installed in a supporting structure that ensures optimum load carrying capacity in all operating conditions. The thruster can be steered using a hydraulic system. An Automation and Control system, based on Rolls-Royce's Common Controls building blocks, has also been developed to match the new thrusters, which each weigh only 2,800 kg (dry).

The contract covers a number of thrusters, planned for delivery over the next three years and delivered to RINA Rules for Classification of Yachts. The first yacht, a 125 ft Fast Displacement called IRONMAN has already been delivered. Hulls two and three are under construction with delivery expected in the next few months.

About Rolls-RoyceHoldings PLC

1. Rolls-Royce's vision is to be the market-leader in high performance power systems where our engineering expertise, global reach and deep industry knowledge deliver outstanding customer relationships and solutions. We operate across five businesses: Civil Aerospace, Defence Aerospace, Marine, Nuclear and Power Systems.
2. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 120 countries, comprising more than 380 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces, 4,000 marine customers including 70 navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.
3. We have three common themes across all our businesses:
4. • Investing in and developing engineering excellence
   • Driving a manufacturing and supply chain transformation which will embed operational excellence in lean, lower-cost facilities and processes
   • Leveraging our installed base, product knowledge and engineering capabilities to provide customers with outstanding service through which we can capture aftermarket value long into the future.
5. Annual underlying revenue was £14.6 billion in 2014, around half of which came from the provision of aftermarket services. The firm and announced order book stood at £76.5 billion at 30 June 2015.
6. In 2014, Rolls-Royceinvested £1.2 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 31 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royceengineers at the forefront of scientific research.
7. Rolls-Royce employs over 54,000 people in more than 50 countries. Over 15,500 of these are engineers.
8. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills. In 2014 we employed 354 graduates and 357 apprentices through our worldwide training programmes. Globally we have over 1,000 Rolls-RoyceSTEM ambassadors who are actively involved in education programmes and activities; we have set ourselves a target to reach 6 million people through our STEM outreach activities by 2020

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