Oil Changes News

Marine propulsion systems company ZF has introduced an intelligent Condition Monitoring System for thrusters. The technology monitors the status of the thruster system and helps shipyards, shipping companies and fleet operators maintain the safety and efficiency of their ships as well as extend the service life of the propulsion system. In addition to that, a new oil cleaning system ensures oil quality and prolongs oil service life.ZF’s Condition Monitoring System is equipped with various sensors and an intelligent electronic evaluation unit.

With a motto of Always Ready, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has 11 missions specified by law including drug and migrant interdiction; ports, waterways and coastal security; fishery patrols; search and rescue; and national defense. The USCG’s newest ships including 22 Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) recently entered service with 36 more on order and six new National Security Cutters (NSCs) with two more in the process of being built. Oil analysis plays a critical role in the…

When you face various deck equipment challenges, making the right lubricant selection can help lower labor costs, extend the life of the equipment, improve safety and more. The key is to identify deck equipment stresses, then apply the optimum lubricant solution. A trained lubricant specialist has the knowledge to relieve problems and significantly lower your total operating costs. That’s because selecting a specialty lubricant that can maximize the performance of a given deck application brings many benefits…

A new worldwide distributor deal signed between Yorkshire-based maritime diesel engine specialist Maktec Marine and Midlands headquartered lubricant giant Exol aims to catapult the U.K. lubricants manufacturer into the maritime industry. “Exol is a sleeping giant in the maritime sector,” said Mark Cornforth, owner of Maktec, a brand with 20 years of maritime industry experience. “Exol is flourishing in the industrial, automotive, agriculture and transport sectors but wants to ramp up activity in the shipping industry, which is Maktec’s specialist area.

All operators worry about the same thing – the next outage that puts your vessel out of commission. Millions of dollars are invested every year into maintenance programs. State-of-the-art condition monitoring systems like the Windrock 6400 can predict and help prevent downtime and failures. Performance monitoring can be described as the process of gathering data from machinery to assess the overall operating capacity of the system it is a part of. Data is compared either against an existing database (trending), or a model (model-based), to diagnose existing issues and show the beginning of wear and tear on mechanical components. With a need to provide workboat operators with better forms of maintenance to forecast problems in an efficient and timely manner…

All operators worry about the same thing – the next outage that puts your vessel out of commission. Millions of dollars are invested every year into maintenance programs. State-of-the-art condition monitoring systems like the Windrock 6400 can predict and help prevent downtime and failures. Performance monitoring can be described as the process of gathering data from machinery to assess the overall operating capacity of the system it is a part of. Data is compared either against…

Lucas Marine is partnering with Harbor Breeze Corporation to help reduce the yacht charter and cruise company's fuel costs, maintenance and environmental impact in Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors. Harbor Breeze is one of the largest yacht charter and cruise companies operating within the two busiest ports in the United States. Lucas Marine is a division of Lucas Oil Products, Inc. - leader in the development of high performance lubricants and problem solving additives. Harbor Breeze CEO Dan Salas, has been operating his fleet of marine vessels for more than 20 years.

London Ship Managers (LSM) has made substantial savings across its fleet of 9000gt refrigerated cargo vessels following an extensive refrigerant plant optimisation programme carried out by Oceanic Technical Solutions. An engineering team from the Asia division of the UK-based refrigeration specialist carried out complete marine refrigeration inspections aboard the Cala Portese, Cala Piana, Cala Pevero and Cala Piccola. LSM Technical Fleet Manager Mike Seymour said: “We found we were spending substantial time and resources looking and checking for gas leaks which were still not being efficiently detected, in order to try and remove any environmental impact our vessels were making.

When she came into the Fred Wahl shipyard in Reedsport, Oregon, the Miss Berdie was a fine looking boat with a bright red hull. When she left the yard this summer she was still a fine looking red vessel but bigger and better. After taking the 77 by 27.8 by 11.5-foot boat apart, the crew at Fred Wahl’s, working with a design by Hockema & Whalen Associates, put her back together with a 39-foot beam, a 12.7-foot molded depth and an overall registered length of 80.8 feet. In order to keep regulatory requirements regarding the overall length…

Cummins Inc., a manufacturer of diesel engines for the commercial marine industry, announced the availability of the QSK50 marine engine for variable speed diesel electric (VSDE) applications. The 50-liter platform has been used in traditional fixed speed diesel electric applications, as well as traditional propulsion and power generation, since its launch in 2006. “Cummins will play a critical role in the advancement of this more efficient technology, supplying engines to system integrators for packaging into complete variable speed diesel electric packages…

When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the new Vessel General Permit (VGP) in December 2013, lubricant and fluid manufacturers were prepared to give vessel owners a number of environmentally acceptable lubricants (EAL) to work with. EAL usage is now essentially required for any application on vessels where incidental lubricant discharge could occur in the marine environment. Those applications include stern tubes, thrusters, stabilizers, CPP propellers, and wire rope and mechanical equipment immersed in water during normal operation.

The demand for effective solutions to monitor hydraulic and lubricant systems is constantly increasing. Oil condition – or the result of the natural aging of the substance, decomposition of additives and contamination by foreign particles – is therefore the significant factor in determining the optimal point in time for an oil change. Changing the fluid too early generates unnecessary costs; changing it too late increases wear within the system and can lead to component failures and therefore even higher costs.

James Fisher Renewables conducted an innovative trial of Ship-to-Turbine (STT), an oil change system set to significantly improve safety, efficiency and reduce down time in offshore wind turbine gearbox oil changes. James Fisher Renewables reports that it has successfully trialed an innovative oil transfer system for the direct extraction and refill of offshore wind gearbox oils from a conventional access vessel, a trial performed on an offshore wind farm off the Norfolk coast.

All operators, regardless of vessel type, size, location or function, are plagued by the same worries: “When will my next outage happen, and what is it going to cost me?”  In an effort to ease these concerns, millions of dollars are invested every year into commercial/workboat maintenance programs. But how can maintenance be maximized without blowing budgets? What’s the most thorough way to monitor equipment? How can all mechanical components be watched for possible issues and failures?

Nothing stirs the maritime pot like new regulation, and coming soon to you (in less than a month) is the new iteration of the Vessel General Permit (VGP). The VGP applies to vessels operating in a capacity as a means of transportation, that have discharges incidental to their normal operations into waters subject to this permit, except recreational vessels. Unless otherwise excluded from coverage, the waters subject to this permit means “territorial seas” of the U.S. The Clean Water Act (CWA) does not require NPDES permits for vessels or other floating craft operating as a means of transportation beyond the territorial seas, such as in the contiguous zone or ocean. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a replacement VGP permit under its authority from the CWA.

Klϋber Lubrication, a worldwide manufacturer of specialty lubricants, announces that its Klüberbio EG 2 gear oil for thrusters and Klüberbio RM 2 stern tube oil now carry the European Ecolabel, signifying compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) 2013 Vessel General Permit (VGP). The EU Ecolabel is a label of environmental excellence that is awarded to products and services meeting high environmental standards throughout their life-cycle: from raw material extraction, to production, distribution and disposal. Klüber’s gear oils for thruster and CPP propulsion units and its stern tube oils are approved for use by leading thruster and seal system OEMs and now have independent assurance, from the EU Ecolabel Program, that the products achieve the U.S.

With nearly 30 years experience in producing environmentally-considerate lubricants, PANOLIN offers its VGP-compliant Greenmarine products to help owners and operators meet the imminent EPA requirements. Unlike most trying to comply with the EPA VGP, PANOLIN say that their products are not a newcomers on the market. Some of the world's largest hydraulic equipment OEMs have relied on PANOLIN products for decades. PANOLIN Greenmarine lubricants use fully saturated synthetic esters and specially developed additives to achieve 100% VGP and sVGP compliance without sacrificing performance.

Patrol Boat-1 is really the first, the first ever electric powered patrol boat. MetalCraft Marine designed and built the boat for the City of Annapolis’ Harbormaster. The boat utilizes a Steyr hybrid diesel/electric engine that permits either electric power or for higher speeds, diesel power. The propulsion is a Hamilton 274 waterjet. The jet can propel the boat in electric patrol mode at 4.5 knots, as it approaches and checks boats in the harbor ensuring anchoring permits are valid.

Total Lubmarine has launched a new product designed to improve the performance and protection of medium-speed engines, while achieving savings on maintenance and operational costs. The new lubricant, Aurelia TI facilitates performance in terms of cleanliness, particularly for the engine piston under-crown, and thus offers enhanced protection of the engine itself. Aurelia TI has been tested on a wide variety of vessels and diesel power plant , including cruise ships, ferries, and tugs. The key to Aurelia TI’s performance is its high viscosity and BN control, which ensures that the lubricant’s quality is maintained for a longer period of time than is the case with other products.

Robert King, based in Paducah Kentucky, is the manager of Ingram Support Service a wholly owned subsidiary of Ingram Barge Lines charged with managing 20 vessels that operate on the Ohio, Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. These are among the smaller vessels in Ingram’s 137-vessel fleet and so operate without engineers. King’s job is to minimize down time and maximize efficient operational hours. He expects to do just that for 87x30-foot Charles M. Everhart now that he has pulled a pair of 900 HP two-cycle engines and replaced them with a pair of Cummins KTA38 1000 HP @ 1800 RPM main engines. The new engines are equipped with the Cummins Eliminator and Centinel options.

Patrol Boat-1 is really the first, the first ever electric powered patrol boat. MetalCraft Marine designed and built the boat for the City of Annapolis’ Harbormaster. The boat utilizes a Steyr hybrid diesel/electric engine that permits either electric power or for higher speeds, diesel power. The propulsor is a Hamilton 274 waterjet. The jet can propel the boat in electric patrol mode at 4.5 knots, as it approaches and checks boats in the harbor ensuring anchoring permits are valid.

Jaap van de Guchte Senior stands on the port side half way up the ship's 110-m length. With hand signals, two fingers pointing aft, he directs the helmsman to move the precise two meters for alignment of the tanker's cargo manifolds and those on the BP refinery dock. This will be the first cargo for the new motor tank ship Rosette. It is owned by Jaap Sr. and his two sons. In the elevated wheel house aft one of those sons and the captain for this trip, Jaap Jr., watches as one of his crew stands at the futuristically styled control console, working the jog stick controls of the powerful diesel electric bow thruster he moves the ship aft until Jaap Sr's crossed arms signals, "All stop". The boat's 2,000 hp Cummins QSK60 main engine has been showing 650 rpm idle on the digital read out.

A routine oil and filter change in the tight quarters of the engine room onboard a boat is normally a messy and awkward job. Buckets of used lube oil and filter cartridges must be lugged up the narrow galley stairs for disposal and new oil and filters must be carried down the stairs, all in the short time while the boat is in dock for maintenance. Boston Harbor Cruises found that Alfa Laval's Eliminator, an automatic self-cleaning filter system installed in combination with Cummins' Centinel system in its high-speed catamarans, saved $2,100 per engine per year in oil, filter and labor costs. With a total of three boats, each with four engines, equipped with the Eliminator, Boston Harbor Cruises save a total of $25,200 per year.