In this interview, ­Marita Krems, Head of Four-Stroke Marine & ­License, talks about different customer requirements and her highlight projects.

MAN People: From cruise ships, through workboats, to naval vessels, the Marine Four-Stroke segment serves very different customers. How are the individual areas evolving?

Marita Krems: 2023 was an absolute record year for us, and demand remains strong this year. The cruise business is recovering after the caution shown during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. The navy business is also strong owing to the international political situation, which is benefiting our High Speed segment with the 175D, as well as Medium Speed and Licensing. Demand for LNG carriers is also on the rise because of the need to safeguard gas supplies. Not least, activity is strong in the offshore business, an example being propulsion systems for workboats used to install offshore windfarms.

Are customer requirements as varied as the customers themselves?

Key issues like quality and reliability, our service offering and, of course, the retrofit options for our engines are important to all our customers, as we are talking about long-term capital goods. Beyond that, there are definitely differences: Just now, cruise lines and offshore customers are mainly interested in propulsion systems that boost their green credentials. That makes the methanol readiness of our engines, that is to say the ability to convert them to run on methanol, extremely important. For navy customers, reliability and robustness are crucial. We are currently working intensively on the individual applications and developing strategies for the market segments. In this way, we are defining our contribution to ‘Move to Triple Ten⁺’ and gearing up for the future.

What, in your opinion, is the biggest task facing you right now?

We won the first customer for our new engine model, the 49/60, last year. We now have to keep pushing forward with the market launch. With both the 49/60 and other engine models, it is vital to ensure methanol readiness. At the same time, we need to hold our own against the competition and convincingly demonstrate our technical expertise in future fuels to our customers.

Right at the start of the interview, you used catchwords like ‘record year’ and ‘strong demand’. Which successes are you especially proud of? And what can we expect during the remainder of the year?

One of my highlight projects is the order from the UK’s Royal Navy for a total of 18 type 32/44CR engines plus propellers for three supply vessels, as it shows our teams working with great success across segments and countries. The engines for the first vessel are being produced entirely in Augsburg, while in the case of the propulsion systems for the other two vessels we will be supplying the parts from Augsburg for assembly and commissioning by Spanish licensee Navantia. Meanwhile, ­Frederikshavn is supplying the propellers for all three vessels. Teamwork is our superpower! We want to chalk up even more successes by the end of the year: Activity on the navy market remains strong, we are pursuing exciting cruise ship, ferry and FSRU projects, we’ve got our hands full with our in-house and license orders, and – fingers crossed everybody – we hope to sell our first 175D methanol engine.