Sperry Marine helps Color Line manage costs and compliance

Northrop Grumman subsidiary Sperry Marine is helping Norwegian operator Color Line manage costs and compliance by creating a maintenance programme and refit for the navigation systems on two of its cruise ferries. 

Sperry Marine boarded Color Fantasy while she was dry docked at Fayard shipyard in Odense, Denmark to test the ship’s navigation equipment. The team replaced Color Fantasy’s Speed Log, which provides data on the ship’s motion and speed through water. It also installed a new external weather station to provide more accurate readings of temperature and humidity via the VisionMaster navigation systems and replaced the echo sounder transducers. 

In addition, Sperry Marine created a five-year maintenance plan for Color Fantasy by working through the status of all the navigational equipment. It includes preventative replacement of elements of the radar system and the steering feedback potentiometers. 

“We have followed this ship closely since delivery and we know that the owner is very proactive on safety and on minimising any delays to its sailing schedule,” said Tom Withen, senior service engineer at Sperry Marine. “Color Line recognise that there is a real advantage to planning ahead on maintenance and refits instead of waiting until things break down.”

The Sperry Marine team will join Color Fantasy at sea for final adjustments and further testing of the updated systems and will then begin the comprehensive maintenance programme on Color Magic.

“More and more shipowners are moving towards a culture of preventative maintenance and we encourage them to think like this,” said Withen. “If they do so, they find that it is actually cheaper in the long run and also safer because vital components don’t break down at the worst possible time.”