Cummins Receives First Passenger-Ferry Order for QSK95 Engines

Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) announced today that Azam Marine has selected two QSK95 propulsion engines to provide main propulsion power for their next passenger ferry, making Kilimanjaro VII the first QSK95 powered passenger ferry in the world. 

“The QSK95 is a perfect fit for highly sophisticated vessels such as Kilimanjaro VII,” said Jim Schacht, Executive Director – Cummins Global Marine Business. “This product fully leverages Cummins unique experience with our in-house technologies such as turbo chargers, filtration and electronics delivering increased power and reliability, fast transient response and simple serviceability.”

The QSK95 is the newest and most powerful Cummins engine for the marine market offering a power output previously exclusive to medium-speed marine engines with power ratings from 3200 hp to 4200 hp for propulsion, auxiliary, generator and diesel electric applications. The QSK95 brings the advantage of a lower capital cost, a more compact installation and exceptional fuel efficiency when compared to other engines in this class. 

Extended service and more cost-effective rebuilds add a further economic advantage for high-hour, hardworking vessels such as passenger transport, tugs, inland waterway towboats, crew boats, dredges and government patrol vessels. 

“Cummins has supported us well in the past, leading us to select the QSK95 for our newest and largest addition to the fleet," said Abubakar Aziz Salim, Managing Director – Azam Marine, “The unique engine design, high power density and available continuous-use power has allowed us to use a vessel design we are familiar with but expand its capability to carry more passengers.” 

Azam Marine and Coastal Fast Ferries operate passenger ferry boats between the islands of Zanzibar, Pemba and mainland Tanzania. Kilimanjaro VII will be the largest of the seven vessel fleet measuring 45 meters in length. Using the QSK95 will allow Kilimanjaro VII to carry more passengers while maintaining similar top speeds as its smaller sister ship, the Kilimanjaro VI. 

The fast catamaran hull was designed by Incat Crowther and will be built by Australian company Richardson Devine Marine in Tasmania. The vessel will utilize water jet propulsion to reach its target top speed of 32 knots. Kilimanjaro VII will carry more than 500 passengers in total with four levels of comfort from Economy Class to Royal Class. Providing house load electrical power will be a pair of Cummins 6C-C Power marine generator sets producing 126 kWe power each. 

“We are constantly improving the reliability, maintainability and availability of our vessel designs to provide more valuable assets for our clients with less maintenance cost and higher uptime,” Daniel Mace, Technical Manager – Incat Crowther. “Cummins provides reliable and durable propulsion power to support this further evolution of the design. They are easy to do business with due to their responsive and knowledgeable staff, providing all the technical information we need when we need it.”