UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary Tankers to Use GE Drive Technology for Energy Efficient Hybrid Propulsion

With the global naval sector looking to deploy more energy efficient vessels, GE’s Power Conversion business (NYSE: GE) is supplying its electrical propulsion drive train technology for the U.K. Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s (RFA) new fleet of Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) tankers.

When completed, the four, 37,000-ton MARS tankers will be the United Kingdom’s next-generation class of large, fast-fleet tankers that will deliver fuel and fresh water to Royal Navy vessels around the world. GE’s drive train will be installed as a key part of the ships’ hybrid propulsion configuration that is inherently more fuel efficient than conventional propulsion. The next-generation MARS tankers are scheduled to enter service beginning in 2016.

The RFA is replacing its existing, single-hulled tankers to meet International Maritime Organization pollution regulations as well as more stringent European Commission environmental regulations. An amendment to MARPOL regulations (the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 and together with the Protocol of 1978) requires tankers to be double-hulled.

Read more about GE's hybrid propulsion technology on Maritime Executive.