Latsco Inks LNG Carrier Maintenance Deal with Wärtsilä
Greece-based Latsco LNG Marine Management has signed a five-year maintenance agreement with Wärtsilä covering the main engines for two large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, the Hellas Diana and the Hellas Athina.
The deal signed in March 2021 covers two new vessels built at the Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) yard in South Korea. They are 297 meters in length and have a cargo capacity of 174,000 cubic meters. The Hellas Diana entered service at the end of March this year, and the Hellas Athina is scheduled to enter service in September. Both operate with WinGD X-DF dual-fuel engines.
Wärtsilä said its so-called "optimized maintenance" agreements offer asset diagnostics, maintenance planning, annual audits and spare parts in an effort to ensure operational certainty with maintenance cost predictability. Wärtsilä will also provide remote support and condition monitoring systems, including the company’s predictive maintenance service Expert Insight, which leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced diagnostics to monitor equipment and systems in real-time, spot anomalies, foresee potential problems, and enable rapid reaction accordingly.
“This agreement will ensure that these vessels can operate with maximum reliability, availability and performance,” says Kostas Vlachos, chief operating officer, Latsco LNG Marine Management.
“Our aim and strategy is to deliver higher levels of efficiency and safety to the shipping industry while minimizing the impact on the environment. For this, we apply smart technology and performance optimization services tailored to the needs of the customer. Expert Insight represents an important and very relevant advance in predictive maintenance, and we estimate that it can help cut unplanned maintenance by as much as 50%, while at the same time reducing fuel consumption and emissions by 3% to 4%,” said Rajeev Janardhan, sales manager, two-stroke engine lifecycle solutions, Wärtsilä Marine Power.
In August 2020, Wärtsilä signed similar optimized maintenance agreements with Latsco Marine Management for two of their large liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels.
Wärtsilä said it currently has more than 700 vessels under maintenance agreements.