Massive gas turbine loaded in the Port of Hamburg

Joint press release of Rickmers-Linie and Siemens AG

The second largest gas turbine ever manufactured by Siemens in Berlin was recently loaded onto the breakbulk vessel Rickmers Jakarta at the Wallmann-Terminal in Hamburg for shipment to Singapore. Weighing 310 tonnes, the turbine is able to generate electricity in an extremely efficient and therefore environmentally friendly manner. It is to be installed in a new gas and steam turbine power station in the island state, which is due to start operations in 2010 and can claim an energy efficiency of 80 per cent.

With an output of approximately 250 megawatts, equivalent to the power generated by about 3,500 medium-sized cars or 100 standard wind turbines, the 11 metre long and five metre high gas turbine would, in theory, be able to generate three quarters of the energy required by Hamburg's private households.

The pre-carriage of the gas turbine from the Siemens plant in Berlin to the Port of Hamburg was carried out by barge. Rickmers Jakarta, a multipurpose heavy lift ship owned by Rickmers-Linie, lifted the turbine directly off the barge with its own shipboard cranes while alongside at the Wallmann-Terminal, in which Rickmers has held a 25.1 per cent stake since 2008. The voyage from Hamburg to Singapore, where the vessel arrived on 24 April, took just 30 days.

Rickmers Jakarta is one of nine identical ships that were phased into service between 2002 and 2004. Operating in Rickmers-Linie's highly successful eastbound Round-the-World Pearl String service, these vessels connect the world's major industrial centres. The service offers sailings every 14 days from Hamburg, Antwerp and Genoa to Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and China. From there, the ships sail via Japan and South Korea to North America. In New Orleans, Houston and Philadelphia, they load cargo for both Europe and Asia.

The onboard cranes of Rickmers Jakarta and her sister vessels are able to lift indivisible pieces of cargo weighing up to 640 tonnes. The holds are fitted with adjustable tweendecks as well as air dehumidifying systems. The vessels are each 192 metres in length and have a service speed of 18 knots.

Hamburg-based Rickmers-Linie specialises in breakbulk, heavylift and project cargo. In addition to its Pearl String service, the company offers services from Europe to the Middle East and India, as well as from the US East Coast to North China, South Korea and Japan.

Power for Singapore

The gas turbine forms part of a contract for the construction of a gas and steam turbine power station featuring combined heat and power (CHP) technology and the conversion of existing gas and steam turbine power stations to CHP. The customer is PowerSeraya Ltd, a subsidiary of Singapore's state investor Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd. The total contract value, including a servicing agreement, amounts to about EUR 520 million of which Siemens's share is EUR 375 million.

Siemens is building the new 800 megawatt power station, consisting of two power plants, in partnership with Samsung Corporation. Siemens' total contribution to this project includes two SGT5-4000F gas turbines, two steam turbines, two hydrogen-cooled generators, the heat recovery steam generator as well as the complete electrical engineering and the systems control technology for the power station. The very effective CHP with an energy efficiency of more than 80 per cent will feed electricity into the public network of Singapore and at the same time will supply process steam for a neighbouring refinery owned by Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore Private Ltd.

PowerSeraya is one of the biggest electricity generators in Singapore and produces about 30 per cent of the total energy demand of the island state. The energy efficient CHP will make a significant contribution to meeting Singapore's rising energy demand in an economically and environmentally friendly way. The construction of the two new and the extension of the two existing power plants will leave PowerSeraya with four identical CHP plants on Jurong Island.

Weblinks:
www.rickmers-linie.com
www.siemens.com

Notes to Editor:

Downloadable photographs to accompany the press release are available at http://www.dunelmpr.co.uk/Rickmers-photogallery-NEW.html. The caption for the photograph reads:

"The 310 tonne heavy Siemens gas turbine is properly packed up for its journey to Singapore onboard Rickmers Jakarta."

Media enquiries:
Rickmers-Linie, Marko Stampehl, mobile:+49 (0)173 27 59 334; m.stampehl@rickmers.net
Siemens AG, Lars Kläschen, mobile +49 (1525) 4690423; lars.klaeschen@siemens.com

-ends-

More information about Rickmers-Linie is available at www.rickmers-linie.com. Information about the manifold activities of Rickmers Group are available at www.rickmers.com.