Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability Tanker Power – the four RFA tankers to be built in Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering are to use GE drive technology, or rather the technology that GE acquired when it purchased Power Conversion (then known as Converteam) in September 2011.     When completed in 2016, the four, 37,000 dwt MARS tankers will be the next generation of large, fast fleet tankers that will deliver fuel and fresh water to Royal Navy vessels around the world.

The GE’s drive train will be installed as a key part of the ships’ hybrid propulsion configuration that is inherently more fuel efficient than conventional propulsion which combine electrical and mechanical propulsion technology to turn the ship’s propeller throughout its operating range of speeds.      When the ship operates at moderate and low speeds, the propeller shaft is turned using GE’s electric motor and variable speed drive controller system. Meanwhile, at high speeds, the diesel engine, or gas turbine is connected directly to the propeller through a gearbox.