By
Rebecca Gibson |
This article was first published in the Autumn/Winter 2016 issue of International Cruise & Ferry Review. All information was correct at the time of printing, but may since have changed.
Maintaining engines and equipment onboard cruise ships and ferries is vital to ensure they operate safely and reliably.
“All equipment must be properly checked, upgraded or repaired at set intervals, so most operators pre-determine maintenance and drydock plans according to this, but problems can arise if vital equipment unexpectedly breaks while vessels are at sea,” says Stefan Nygård, general manager of portfolio management, digitalisation at Wärtsilä Services. “Sometimes crew can remedy minor problems at sea, but larger and more complex problems, such as engine failure, may need to be fixed onshore by specialist engineers, potentially leading to a cruise or ferry service being cancelled.”
According to Nygård, condition monitoring and condition-based maintenance provides an ideal solution. “Most onboard equipment now has sensors and we can remotely analyse this data to track the condition of this equipment and inform operators about minor issues so they can be repaired before they become a major problem,” he says. “For example, we could advise them that there is a minor issue with their HVAC system and although it’s currently working well, it’s likely to break within four months if they don’t fix it. This approach is much safer because it means equipment can be repaired or replaced when it starts to get worn out, which may be long before it’s expected to on the operator’s pre-planned maintenance schedule.”
Condition-based maintenance also helps operators to determine whether issues can be fixed while the vessel is at sea or in port, or whether they need to be carried out during drydock. “If an engine is broken, the shipowner may immediately assume they need to cancel planned sailings and head straight to a shipyard, but if we can see that they have excess engine power, we can inform them that they can simply shut down and mend the broken engine while continuing normal operations,” comments Nygård.
Although Wärtsilä has delivered condition-based maintenance solutions to marine operators for 20 years, Nygård says that shipowners are now looking to do more than just react quickly when equipment breaks. Instead, they want to predict when issues are likely to arise so they can align their maintenance schedules according to their overall business aims. Wärtsilä Genius services takes a three-pronged approach to helping operators achieve this goal: optimise, predict and solve.
“Our goal is to help shipowners optimise their operations in real time by analysing data from onboard sensors and other sources to predict the lifecycles of their various pieces of equipment so they can maximise availability and better plan for when issues occur,” explains Nygård. “Finally, we aim to help operators solve technical issues instantly to ensure they continue to provide a safe and reliable service to their customers, even when an unexpected problem occurs. We’re not quite there yet, but as the internet of things becomes widespread and more data analytics tools become available, we’ll be able to offer these remote, predictive services easily.”