Internal combustion engine having an improved oil pan structure for a personal watercraft, and personal watercraft including same

An internal combustion engine for a personal watercraft, the personal watercraft comprising:

• a vessel body which includes a hull and deck, the deck provided for supporting a crew thereon;
• a jet propulsion pump housed within the vessel body;
• the internal combustion engine being mounted in the vessel body of the personal watercraft within an interior space formed between the hull and the deck, and provided for driving the jet propulsion pump;
• wherein the internal combustion engine comprises a crankcase, an oil pump and an oil pan, the oil pan connected to a lower surface of the crankcase at a lower portion of said engine, and arranged along a boat bottom of said hull;
• the oil pan comprising a floor portion and a frame wall, the frame wall protruding upwardly in a substantially vertical direction from the floor portion, the frame wall defining a cavity therein which communicates with the oil pump;
• the frame wall comprising a long side extending in a forward-and-rearward direction of the vessel body, the frame wall having an opening formed in the long side, and
• the oil pan further comprising an oil strainer arranged within said opening and oriented substantially vertically therein.