Preventative Maintenance News

The currents in Singapore can be so strong that divers cleaning fouling from a ship’s hull can feel like they are swimming in a river. There’s times when it’s just not safe for them to be there.The currents can be a problem for robotic cleaners as well, but for ship operators, the bigger problem is having to wait long after cargo operations have concluded while the hull is cleaned by either method.And yet, many of the pressures they face for keeping the hull clean – invasive species…

A steering system failure led to a bulk carrier’s contact with a navigational aid in the St. Marys River near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.The bulk carrier American Mariner struck the Munuscong Channel Junction Light on March 28, 2024, as it was transiting upbound in the St. Marys River. The Munuscong Channel Junction Light is comprised of a navigational light and signal mounted on a concrete, fixed structure.After the contact the vessel began taking on water but was stabilized using pumps.

In an industry first, ABS has published guidance to enable internal examination of tanks beyond the typical five-year requirements to once every 10 years with options to have additional expanded survey intervals.The new guidance has the potential to maximize operational uptime for site-dependent assets such as floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), floating production and storage and offloading vessels (FPSOs), floating storage and offloading vessels (FSOs) and floating…

EDGE, a global technology and defense group, and CMN NAVAL, a naval shipbuilding group specializing in the design, engineering, and construction of naval and commercial vessels and mega yachts, agreed to create a new Abu Dhabi-based shipbuilding joint venture (JV) named AD NAVAL (ADN). Leveraging an existing order pipeline worth approximately EUR 7 billion, the JV will bring together both companies under an exclusivity agreement on the segment of high value small to mid-size naval vessels including Corvettes…

A new tugboat is slated to enter service for Bisso Towboat this Spring.The Luling, La. based marine towage provider has been working with Main Iron Works to update its fleet, replacing a conventional tug with a tractor tug about every 18 months. In late 2022, the Houma, La. shipbuilder began building a new tractor tug Mr. Brian—the sixth azimuth stern drive (ASD) tractor tug built by Main Iron Works for Bisso in the past eight years.Named after Bisso’s vice president of operations Brian Cyprowski…

C-Innovation, an affiliate of Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) and its family of companies, announced the opening of its new facility in Port Fourchon, La. The expansion provides an additional dock facility for subsea inspection, maintenance and repair (IMR) and riserless light well intervention (RLWI) services.The new facility offers vessel loading, project system integration testing (SIT), mobilization and demobilization services for the subsea market. With 1,500-square feet of linear dock space and 400…

The Great Lakes' 2023 shipping season will commence on March 25 with the opening of the Poe Lock at 12:01 a.m., the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District announced.The operating season is fixed by federal regulation and driven in part by the feasibility of vessels operating in typical Great Lakes ice conditions.The Poe Lock closed January 16 to undergo critical repairs and maintenance during the 10 week-long winter shutdown. Maintenance crews performed a variety of critical tasks on the Poe Lock…

Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. That’s the simple explanation. It does not encompass the complexities of what needs to be done to assure the all-important continued conditioning of the air in your vessel.The systems installed in vessels today can run the gamut from static vent scoops that force air into an area to a raw water chiller system whose workings take up the same amount of space as a 40-foot cargo container. The equipment is there to meet the need of the end user.

MAN PrimeServ, the after-sales service brand of MAN Energy Solutions, signed a long-term service agreement (LTSA) with GIE Dragages-Ports, which includes inspection kits and preventative maintenance services as well as remote assistance (PrimeServ Assist) and engine-fluid analysis (PrimeServ LAB).The Samuel de Champlain dredger (117 m, 8,500 cu. m.) belongs to GIE Dragages-Ports, headquartered in Rouen, and is fitted out and operated by the Grand Port Maritime de Nantes Saint-Nazaire (Nantes Saint-Nazaire Port).Three years ago…

Wind power pioneer Henrik Stiesdal built his first wind turbine in 1978. It was one of Denmark’s first step towards becoming a wind energy powerhouse, with Stiesdal regularly at the helm. He’s now got wider climate initiatives in his sights, including industrializing floating offshore wind. He reflected with OE’s Elaine Maslin.By 2021, a total of 35 GW of offshore wind had been installed across the world. To meet global climate targets, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that another 80 GW of it needs to be built per year by 2030.

Antonio Ferrando,Provision Store Expert at ALMACO Group, explains the key factors behind creating optimal provision stores and layouts.What are the three most important things to consider when creating provision stores and layouts?Let me start by emphasizing these three things: flow, maximum food preservation, and customization. These three are really the key when we are taking about creating an optimal layout of provision stores and galleys for a customer.Flow: The layout has a direct and major impact on the flow in an area.

Digitalization is expediting and maximizing the safety and economics of structural stress and fatigue measurement technologies. Terje Sannerud, Chief Commercial Officer at Norwegian fiber optic condition monitoring system developer Light Structures explains.Yet to be mandated by the IMO or included in any SOLAS regulations, structural stress and fatigue monitoring systems have in fact been used for providing real-time safety warnings on large and specialist vessels for more than two decades.

SAAM Towage and Caterpillar Marine signed a global services agreement aiming to help boost the efficiency of the fleet of tugs operated by the Americas towage services provider. This will be accomplished using digital solutions for planned and preventative maintenance.According to SAAM’s Technical Manager, Pablo Cáceres, “This partnership will let us continue to focus on providing safe, efficient and more environmentally friendly services. It will also strengthen our digital transformation strategy.”The agreement calls for ongoing review of more than 200 Cat engines…

Wärtsilä signed a seven-year optimized maintenance agreement to support the operations of two river pusher tugs owned by Hidrovias do Brasil and operating in Northern Brazil. Both boats operate with Wärtsilä 20 engines, often in shallow waters and remote locations: challenging operating conditions make the planning and execution of maintenance difficult. Included in the agreement are Wärtsilä’s Data-Driven Dynamic Maintenance Planning and Expert Insight innovations to deliver remote operational and technical support…

Ben Reed is a mechanical engineer from the U.K. now leading New Zealand-based waterjet manufacturer HamiltonJet as managing director.Raised in Shropshire, Reed graduated from Loughborough University of Technology in 1995 and later became a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering. He’s worked for a U.K. gas utility company developing natural-gas-powered engines; Ford Motor Company as a Systems Analyst, and 17 years for Caterpillar UK in diesel engine and transmission development for off-highway machinery and military products…

Commercial vessel operators are increasingly leveraging high-tech sensors and the data they provide to achieve greater efficiency and better their bottom line. A condition-based monitoring system offered by Fincantieri Marine Systems N.A. (FMSNA) is engineered to contribute toward both objectives.“FMSNA decided to develop and launch the SOLID because we wanted to help customers save money by avoiding unnecessary maintenance and repair costs,” said Simone Scafetti, technical director and business development manager at FMSNA.

AST said it has secured an order to supply its iRAMS monitoring systems for Norfolk, U.K. boat builder Goodchild Marine Services, to install on nine new ORC fast pilot vessels being built for British ports.The Pantocarene-designed launches were ordered in November by Associated British Ports in a £9 million deal. Construction of the first vessel has already begun and it is expected to be delivered to ABP’s Humber region in 2021. In total, ABP has commissioned five vessels to serve its Humber ports…

Tip #4: Oil Temperature - Assume that "running hot" is normalDuring warm summer months, with reasonable certainty, high machine temperatures will follow. This is especially true if using air oil heat exchangers. Dismissing this expectation may allow operators to prevent down time, as heat generation is a leading indicator of a failing part. Knowing how to recognize the difference can be the difference between reactive and preventative maintenance.Learn more about the importance…

ABS and Chevron Shipping Company LLC have embarked on a digital fleet management journey.As a first step, the Suezmax lightering vessel Pegasus Voyager has become the first vessel in Chevron’s fleet to qualify for the ABS maintenance optimization notation SMART-MHM (Machinery Health Monitoring), with more vessels expected to follow. The ship is also the first ABS-classed to receive the notation.ABS says this is just the beginning of the journey to condition-based maintenance for the Chevron’s fleet of 28 vessels.

Damen Shipyards Group has signed a contract with Forth Ports Limited for an ASD Tug 2312. The new vessel will operate as part of the Forth Estuary Towage operation, conducting towage work at various Forth Ports locations as well as providing towage services to other external customers in Scotland.Forth Ports has a range of existing operations in the Forth and Tay Estuaries that will benefit from the acquisition of this new vessel, however, the new vessel will also provide opportunities to service new emerging markets such as decommissioning and offshore wind.

Connecticut-based ballast water treatment solutions provider Ecochlor announced a contract to supply seven Euronav Suezmax and VLCC tankers with a ballast water management system (BWMS).According to Ecochlor, the agreement comes with an option for Euronav to purchase an additional 30 Ecochlor systems for their vessels between 2020 – 2024.The fleet of Euronav, the owner, operator and manager of tankers transporting crude oil worldwide,  consists of ULCCs, VLCCs and Suezmaxes with some of these vessels having the highest ballast water flow rates in the tanker sector.Three of the Euronav ships to be retrofit with the Ecochlor BWMS have flow rates at 8,000 m3/hr., but will still only require one treatment system.

In a collective call to action for the decarbonization of shipping last year, 34 signatory CEOs from the industry made clear that efforts to significantly lower the carbon footprint of shipping presented “biggest technology challenge in the past 100 years”.This statement was not an exaggeration. In fact, the transition to a low-carbon future will take more than an unprecedented commitment to the research and development that traditionally underpins technological advance. Finding complex solutions that are at once commercially viable…

The landmark ABS condition-based class program with the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) was the focus of a keynote presentation at Mega Rust 2019.Rear Admiral Dee Mewbourne detailed progress on the pioneering project in a presentation to the American Society of Naval Engineers’ annual conference focusing on Navy corrosion issues.As part of the condition-based class program, ABS has defined a digital asset framework that encompasses everything from data collection and pre-processing, to a digital twin that maintains and analyzes the data, to visualizations and outputs that support risk-based decision making.“Condition-based classification will enable Operational Commanders to objectively assess risk and…