MAN diesel engines move around 50% of the world’s trade, with every second seagoing ship powered by an MAN marine diesel engine. MAN is currently building the most powerful diesel engine of all time; the two-stroke colossus will deliver 115,000 hp, weigh 2,219 tons, be 26 meters long, 15 meters high and 4 meters deep, and power a huge container ship.

A future-oriented approach, because today far more countries participate in international trade than ever before. 124 million TEU containers (20-foot standard container) are transported around the globe each year. The world’s largest container ships can carry around 14,000 TEUs.

The opening of the Iron Curtain created a huge dynamic and since then the leading emerging nations — especially China — have become economic giants of the first order. Imports and exports of finished products form a large part of the trade volume but, above all, the processing of semi-finished goods has led to a large increase in the volume of worldwide transport. Within the framework of globalization, operations can be moved offshore and economically integrated into the production chain despite transport costs.

A large part of trade within Europe also moves by ship, and ferry traffic together with increasingly popular cruise ships — carrying more than 16 million travelers and double-digit growth year-on-year — contribute to the global traffic volume.

In order that not just the economy but also ecology is cared for, MAN Diesel works on newer and newer technology for marine engines that use less fuel and, importantly, give off fewer emissions. Because ships are mostly powered by unclean heavy oil, these technologies take on a special meaning.

Milestones in previous years on the way to these goals have included the introduction of heavy-oil compatible common rail technology, electronically-controlled fuel injection, a completely new turbocharger technology with variable power output and exhaust gas treatment.

With exhaust gas recirculation, waste heat recovery and scrubbing (i.e. removal of SOx particles from the exhaust gases), MAN is a global technology leader. Here, reductions in selected particles of 80 to 90 can be achieved. MAN diesel engines are, without question, among the most efficient energy producers of their kind – on water and on land.

All of which shows how the diesel engine still moves an incredible amount — 114 years after its invention — not least because MAN engineers continually find new facets in the technology: for some, the biggest demands of today and tomorrow.

MAN. Engineering the Future — since 1758.