PrimeServ Tier III upgrade for cruise ship

Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambience has undergone a MAN PrimeServ retrofit enabling the cruise vessel to meet Tier III emission regulations and operate in the Norwegian Heritage Fjord.

Managed by Bernard Schulte Cruise Services, the vessel has had selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems and new turbocharger installations. Two of the ship’s four MAN 8L58/64 engines have had turbochargers replaced with modern MAN TCA 66 units.

MAN, which claims that its SCR is the ‘greenest’ currently available on the market, revealed that the SCR will be available from just 15% engine load, enabling clean operation while sailing at low speeds in fjords, coastal, and port areas.

The modular system has been integrated into the ship’s engine control setup. With a closed-loop system and a weather station using environmental data, NOx reduction can be maximised and ammonia slip minimised to just 10 ppm, the company said, equivalent to that of a car. Low ammonia slip limits emissions of the greenhouse gas but also reduces urea consumption, enabling the footprint of the urea tank to be minimised.  

Head of PrimeServ Hamburg, Olaf Gunia, said: “This retrofit really establishes Ambassador’s green credentials within the cruise segment and the SCR solution is performing well with a NOx removal rate of 93%. Increasingly we are receiving similar requests from cruise and ferry operations that wish to become more sustainable without the need for mandated industry legislation.”

MAN PrimeServ’s head of Retrofits & Upgrades, Bernd Siebert, commented: “This entire project proved challenging owing to – among other factors – the long cold lay-up of the ship due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the tight timeframe for completion. Happily, our work on the Ambience has optimised the interaction between the newly installed SCR system, turbochargers and engines and the vessel is now Tier III-compatible and fit for service in one of the globe’s most pristine, natural environments.”