(NASHVILLE, Tenn.) — An Ingram Barge Co. pilot lives on the water, pushing cargo while navigating the more than 4,500 miles of the U.S. inland waterways. When Ingram needed to repower its M/V Crystal D. Taylor, M/V Robert J. Barker and M/V Kim W. Nowell towboats, it looked to GE Transportation and distributor National Maintenance & Repair Inc.
GE’s eight-cylinder, 250 mm bore inline medium speed (1,000 rpm) Tier 4-compliant marine diesel engine provides Ingram with more power, faster response time, increased fuel efficiency and proven reliability, all with GE’s breakthrough Tier 4 technology which allows Ingram to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) stringent Tier 4 emissions standards without the use of a selective catalytic reduction system (SCR) after-treatment.
“GE’s 1,000 rpm non-urea engine solution drove our decision on which engines to choose for the repowers,” said David Sehrt, Ingram’s senior vice president and chief engineering officer.
Ingram used the Tier 2 version of the 250 series of marine diesel engines to repower M/V William P. Morelli and M/V Bill Berry in 2009 and 2011, respectively. Together, the two towboats have approximately 80,000 operating hours of proven reliability.
“We currently have GE engines on two of our repowers and they are reliable,” said Mark Duley, assistant vice president, motor vessel engineering. “We know we can count on GE.”
“We’re pleased Ingram chose GE again to help repower their three river towboats,” said Yuvbir Singh, vice president of locomotive, marine, stationary power and drill businesses at GE Transportation. “We’re proud to provide a marine engine that meets Tier 4 emission standards and superior engine performance.”
Two of Ingram’s towboats are currently being retrofitted with the new GE engines and are expected to be back on the river in August. The third vessel is planned to be completed in the spring of 2017.
For more information, visit www.gemarinesolutions.com.
