Rolls-Royce, the global power systems company, has won a prestigious 'Ship of the Year' industry award for its new wave piercing ship design. The Far Solitaire, a UT 754 WP platform supply vessel for the offshore oil and gas industry, has been named Skipsrevyen 'Ship of the Year' at the SMM marine industry trade show in Hamburg, Germany. Far Solitaire is the third Rolls-Royce designed vessel to win this award in the past five   years, and is the first to feature the new Rolls-Royce wave piercing bow, a striking design which, by cutting through waves rather than riding over them, reduces fuel consumption and greatly improves crew comfort and safety.
The ship is designed specifically for the safe transportation of hazardous chemicals and waste products to and from oil and gas platforms. It will enter service in the North Sea with Farstad Shipping, in October.
Tony Wood, Rolls-Royce, President - Marine, said: "We are delighted to have won this award, and look forward to seeing the Far Solitaire enter service with Farstad in the coming weeks."
"Rolls-Royce UT vessel designs are the benchmark for the offshore oil and gas industry and we are proud to again receive this award which recognises our cutting edge ship design.
"Far Solitaire represents a new era for our offshore vessel designs and combines a wide range of sophisticated marine technology and the latest hull design to deliver significant improvements in efficiency, both through fuel consumption and increased cargo capacity."
The Far Solitaire is equipped with a Rolls-Royce propulsion system, including main engines, azipull thrusters and a Dynamic Positioning system which uses satellite technology to enable the ship to automatically hold position, even in rough seas.
Previous Rolls-Royce designed ships to win the award are the Far Samson, the world's most powerful offshore vessel, and the Island Wellserver - a well intertervention vessel which carries out maintenance and construction work on oil wells located on the seabed.
Around 700 Rolls-Royce designed UT vessels are either in service or under construction around the world.
1. Rolls-Royce is a world-leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air, and has established a strong position in global markets - civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine and energy.
2. As a result of this strategy, Rolls-Royce has a broad customer base comprising more than 500 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed forces, more than 4,000 marine customers, including 70 navies, and energy customers in more than 80 countries.
3. Annual underlying revenue was £11.3 billion in 2011, of which more than half came from the provision of services. The firm and announced order book stood at £60.1 billion at 30 June 2012, providing visibility of future levels of activity.
4. Rolls-Royce employs over 40,000 people in offices, manufacturing and service facilities in over 50 countries. Over 11,000 of these employees are engineers.
5. In 2011, Rolls-Royce invested £908 million on research and development, two thirds of which had the objective of further improving the environmental performance of its products, in particular reducing emissions.
6. Rolls-Royce supports a global network of 28 University Technology Centres, which connect the company's engineers with the forefront of scientific research.
7. The Group has a strong commitment to apprentice and graduate recruitment and to further developing employee skills.
Source: Rolls-Royce