Wilhelmsen Inks Scrubber Maintenance Deal with Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä and Norwegian Wilhelmsen Ship Management, a Wilhelmsen group company, have signed a five-year agreement covering the maintenance of exhaust gas cleaning systems installed in three vessels managed by Wilhelmsen Ship Management.
All three vessels have a 25 MW Wärtsilä Hybrid Scrubber System, which can operate in both open and closed loop, using seawater to remove SOx from the exhaust gas. In closed loop mode additional reagent is used in combination with sea water.
The agreement between Wärtsilä and Wilhelmsen Ship Management was signed in December 2017. The services covered under this agreement include annual audits and safety tests to ensure ongoing MARPOL compliance, calibration of the Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) and water monitoring system as well as operational training courses for the vessels’ crew.
The agreement ensures that the vessels are fully compliant with the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) and can fulfill the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) new, stricter sulfur limits, coming into force on January 1, 2020.
“For Wilhelmsen Ship Management, operating sustainably and maintaining MARPOL compliance is absolutely crucial. This agreement with Wärtsilä ensures that we are doing it in a correct and documented way to fulfill authorities’ requirements. Additionally, it allows us to perform long term cost predictability and channel more focus into critical ship management operations,” said Jon Helge Ulstein, Vessel Manager at Wilhelmsen Ship Management.