New state-of-the-art controllable pitch propeller factory in China inaugurated

Wärtsilä CME Zhenjiang Propeller is the first company in China to manufacture Wärtsilä designed hydraulically operated CP propellers. The first deliveries from the new factory are planned to take place later this year.

Wärtsilä CP Propellers are said to be ideal solutions for ships requiring frequent port calls.  The new factory provides the capability to assemble and machine all sizes of controllable pitch propellers. The specialized in-house bronze castings are supplied from an existing foundry located in the company's fixed pitch propeller factory. The majority of the new factory's manufacturing equipment was transferred from the Wärtsilä factory in Drunen, the Netherlands, where production was closed in 2010.

Most of the propellers produced in the new factory will be sold to the rapidly growing Chinese markets, with some 30 percent of the production likely to be exported. As about 20 percent of the world's new build vessels use CP propellers of the type manufactured in the new factory, Wärtsilä foresees significant potential in all global markets in addition to the Chinese market.