Oil Condition News

Shell Marine has deployed a suite of enhancements to its LubeMonitor service, surfacing a wider range of technical and operational insights.While the features become more sophisticated, Shell Marine has taken strides to ensure that its LubeMonitor user interface and reports are now simpler to use and generate. New features include:Enhanced fleet and vessel insights that go beyond traditional reporting: allowing users to compare vessels from fleet level all the way down to its…

Nichols Brothers Boat Builders (NBBB) said it has delivered the final vessel in a series of four new tugs for Foss Maritime.The ASD-90 tractor tugs Jamie Ann, Sarah Avrick, Leisa Florence and Rachael Allen were completed and delivered between April 2020 and June 2021. Foss, a division of the Saltchuk company, will station two of the vessels in Los Angeles/Long Beach, while the other two vessels will be in the San Francisco Bay providing escort and assist services to large tankers and containerships calling on the California ports.The series' fourth vessel…

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…

Team Britannia, the organization behind the latest attempt to set the world-record for sailing around the world in the fastest time, has appointed Yorkshire-based Maktec Marine to provide technical support for its engine fuel and oil performance. Maktec Marine founder Mark Cornforth said the challenge is to beat the current world-record holder New Zealander Pete Bethune’s time of 60 days 23 hours 49 minutes for the 23,000 mile voyage. The attempt will be made in a specially designed 80ft powerboat called Excalibur…

The marine fuels testing company Veritas Petroleum Services (VPS) announced the latest expansion of the company’s lubricant oil condition monitoring (OCM) service. In the company’s continuous drive to offer its customers a widening range of technically advanced, value-added services, VPS have made a significant financial investment to equip their Rotterdam Laboratory with the very latest analytical technology, automation and robotics for the testing of lubricants. The introduction of such advanced equipment and systems, enables a significant increase in the laboratory’s capacity and efficiency and will further assist VPS clients’ effective condition monitoring and routine maintenance programmes.

Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) has appointed Shell Marine to provide its integrated marine solutions, which include lubricants and services for OOCL Hong Kong. OOCL Hong Kong, currently plying routes between Asia and Europe, is the latest vessel to claim the title of ‘world’s largest containership’, with a capacity of 21,413 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), measuring 400m in length and 59m in width. The ship is equipped with MAN Diesel & Turbo’s (MDT) G-type engines that represent the latest in two-stroke engine technology.

Shell Marine has shared an insight into the approach driving its work to protect modern ultra-efficient diesel engines against cold corrosion while still optimizing cylinder oil feed rates, across the entire range of vessel operating conditions. The company said it has been working closely with major OEMs and several ship owners who support this development. Following formulation and laboratory testing in 2015, the new Shell Alexia 140 has ondergoe over six months of shipboard trials with a Shell Marine customer. “We are responding rapidly to the changing needs of the industry, helping our customers to cope with their full range of operating conditions,” said Jan Toschka, General Manager of Shell Marine. “This latest development underpins our commitment to the industry and its future.

As of April 2016, Shell Marine Products (SMP) has analyzed more than 50,000 cylinder drain oils samples via its Shell Rapid Lubricants Analysis (RLA) oil condition monitoring service. By identifying potential oil or equipment issues before they become critical, many shipping companies use Shell RLA as part of their planned maintenance regime. Shell RLA helps to deliver greater equipment reliability and reduced downtime. Shell said this service has grown rapidly in recent years…

Intertek has enhanced its sample cylinders services with the aim of providing further cost savings for clients. Sample cylinders are used by offshore chemists to transport live crude, gas and water samples from offshore to onshore laboratories for testing. Intertek has invested £180,000 in 200 high-pressure cylinders to meet an increased demand from clients for analysis services. Fifty cylinders will be specially coated to allow the safe and effective transportation of samples containing mercury and hydrogen sulphide. Both elements can adhere to the internal surfaces of standard stainless steel cylinders, rendering analysis unreliable.

Intertek’s Farnborough laboratory is supporting P&O Cruises’ new flagship Britannia by providing independent oil condition monitoring (OCM) services which monitor the condition of Britannia’s engines and other oil lubricated systems. Britannia, the largest cruise ship designed exclusively for British holiday market, set sail from Southampton last month to fulfill a busy timetable of Mediterranean cruisers which does not allow for unexpected engine and machinery repairs or time out of service.

Since the implementation of Emission Control Areas (ECAs) on January 1, 2015, ships entering waters in the Baltic Sea; the North Sea; the North American ECA, including most of the U.S. and Canadian coast, as well as the French overseas collectivities of St. Pierre and Miquelon; and the U.S. Caribbean ECA, including Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands Sea had to use fuels with up to 0.1% sulphur content. Shell Marine Products (SMP) was the first to introduce a complete line of ECA-approved marine lubricants in September 2014.

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.

Darlington, UK-based Intertek has expanded their Darlington UK ShipCare Coordination Centre to better support their growing international marine services of fuel and lube testing, inspection and technical expertise. Intertek provides ShipCare services in 250 major ports, located in over 100 countries. The Darlington UK Centre coordinates and reports ShipCare work worldwide, providing clients with one single, convenient, point of contact for global services. Intertek’s ShipCare program provides a range of value-added services supporting the world’s seagoing vessels with testing, inspection, and technical expertise. Global capabilities include marine bunker fuel quality and quantity measurement and assurance…

ExxonMobil Marine Fuels and Lubricants upgraded its marine engine condition monitoring program. The MobilGard cylinder condition monitoring (CCM) program now has the functionality for onboard oil samples to be compared against ExxonMobil’s database of nearly 100,000 test results, helping operators to protect and optimize the performance of their engines, the company said.“The upgrade of the MobilGard CCM program comes at a time when engine builders continue to push the boundaries in developing next generation models…

The United States Naval Ship (USNS) Watson is one of the large, medium-speed, roll-on, roll-off (LMSR) ships that have significantly expanded the nation’s sealift capacity. The Watson has a considerable amount of machinery including main engines, generators and cranes that need oil tested on a regular basis to detect potential problems and eliminate the possibility of a catastrophic failure. The test kits used in the past were time-consuming and their accuracy was questionable. The (USNS) Watson is operated by Ocean Shipholdings, Inc. (OSI) under contract to Military Sealift Command.