Nuclebrás Equipamentos Pesados

On December 16, 2005, NUCLEP and Wärtsilä Switzerland Ltd. signed a licensing agreement (industrial-technical cooperation) by which NUCLEP could manufacture and market, from its premises in Itaguaí-RJ, a cutting edge two-stroke engines for naval propulsion, for supersize vessels such as the Suezmax, Aframax, Panamax and Products, based on Wärtsilä engineering and know-how, a company which possesses the most advanced technology in this Industrial segment.<br><br>NUCLEP\s intention is to guide the manufacturing to primarily serve the domestic market, but may also the international market demand for marine propulsion engines which is growing. Since 1996, these engines have not been manufactured in Brazil and this initiative will help increase the number of domestic vessels built in Brazilian shipyards, particularly those contracted by TRANSPETRO. In addition to this benefit for the country, NUCLEP is planning to hire the expertise of professionals who worked in the past with the construction of naval engines, in addition to signing a cooperation contract with a technological core University in this segment. The agreement provides training, technical assistance for the construction of the first engine, and sales and marketing assistance to obtain the first contracts.<br><br>The development plan for the construction of the propulsion engine at NUCLEP is divided into two phases. In the first phase, NUCLEP will assemble the engines from parts produced by other Wärtsila licensees. In the second phase, NUCLEP will manufacture the engine block, as well as other parts that are economically viable to be manufactured at NUCLEP. <br>