Machinery Repairs
KOTC’s Al Funtas is one of four KOTC VLCCs to be retrofitted with the Wärtsilä Fuel Efficiency Boost
Wärtsilä wins KOTC contract Finland’s Wärtsilä has been contracted to upgrade the performance of four vessels owned by Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) by retrofitting the Wärtsilä Fuel Efficiency Boost solution to the ships’ main engines. The modification, which will be carried out ‘in service’, will reduce fuel consumption, and correspondingly lessen the environmental impact by lowering greenhouse gas emission levels. KOTC and other major ship owners who have taken a proactive approach towards environmental protection have been actively looking for ways to reduce their fuel consumption and carbon footprint, thus paving the way for them to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, the Wärtsilä Fuel Efficiency Boost initiative has attracted considerable interest, and similar orders from other large shipping companies have been placed in recent months. The Wärtsilä solution is based on two-stroke engine optimisation technology for selected Wärtsilä RT-flex and earlier deliveries of X-type two-stroke engines. The four KOTC very large crude carriers (VLCCs) to be retrofitted operate with seven-cylinder Wärtsilä RT-flex82T twostroke main engines. The retrofitting of the vessels with the Wärtsilä Fuel Efficiency Boost will take place over the coming six months. “Our smart marine approach is dedicated towards raising efficiencies and improving the environmental sustainability of marine operations. The Wärtsilä Fuel Efficiency Boost is completely aligned with this philosophy, while at the same time lowering operating costs,” says Riad Belaid, Area Sales GM, Middle East & Asia, two-stroke & Specialised Services,
Wärtsilä Marine Business. “By modifying the main engines of these tankers, we are assured of operating with the latest technology and having the best operational efficiency. We know and trust Wärtsilä’s high quality products and systems, and we appreciate the excellent support they offer,” says KOTC’s Acting CEO, Ali Shehab. The Wärtsilä Fuel Efficiency Boost is a well-balanced combination of an increased compression ratio and modified injector nozzles. Together with optimised engine tuning parameters, it allows fuel savings of up to 4%. The pilot installation showed around 10~12 tons per day lower fuel consumption than a sister vessel operating the same route, and resulted in 1,195 tons of fuel savings over the nine months pilot period. In 2019, Wärtsilä successfully installed the company’s Intelligent Combustion Control and Fuel Activated Sacless Technology (FAST) upgrades on these same four vessels. Meanwhile, Wärtsilä, Stena, and Methanex Corporation have marked five years of successful operation of the methanol-fuelled ro/pax ferry Stena Germanica. This is the first ship in the world to run on methanol as a marine fuel, signifying a major milestone in the continued shift towards a more sustainable future for commercial shipping in line with the industry’s decarbonisation efforts. The Stena Germanica was converted to be capable of running on methanol fuel in early 2015 at Remontowa Shipyard in Poland. The 240 m long ferry, with a capacity for 1,500 passengers and 300 cars, was retrofitted with a first-of-its-kind fuel-flexible Wärtsilä 4-stroke engine that can run on methanol or traditional marine fuels. The ferry began the world’s first methanol-powered sailings between Gothenburg, Sweden and Kiel, Germany in late-March 2015.
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Stena Germanica’s conversion was a cooperation between Methanex Corporation, Stena Line, Wärtsilä, the Port of Gothenburg, and the Port of Kiel. The project was cofinanced by the European Union, and the classification of the conversion to methanol was conducted by Lloyd’s Register. In the five years since the Stena Germanica’s launch, the market for methanol-powered vessels has seen continued growth. Methanex Corporation, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, Waterfront Shipping, operates the world’s largest methanol ocean tanker fleet with 11 vessels. Stena Bulk recently announced a jointventure with Proman Shipping to build two methanol-powered vessels with delivery scheduled for the beginning of 2022.
Euronav signs up for LR’s MPMS CM UK’s Lloyd’s Register (LR) has signed an agreement with Belgium’s Euronav to approve its Machinery Planned Maintenance and Condition Monitoring Scheme (MPMS CM) for 25 LR-classed vessels. This will be performed in accordance with LR’s recently updated ShipRight procedures for MOMS (CM), helping Euronav optimise maintenance schemes and embrace available technology. To approve Euronav’s MPMS (CM), LR will conduct a remote audit of the planned maintenance scheme, which involves the review and approval of selected machinery on the basis of satisfactory Condition Monitoring data, and an implementation audit performed during the first annual survey. During September 2019, MPMS (CM) and the corresponding Rules, which enables operators to apply the most appropriate planned, condition-based, risk-based or predictive maintenance methodologies to each of their machinery items, in order to suit their specific needs. Euronav’s Fleet Technical Manager Theodore Mavraidis said, “Over the past five years, we have extensively applied conditionbased maintenance techniques throughout our fleet, supplementing the traditional ‘preventive maintenance’ and ‘condition monitoring’ routines. Within our organisation, we have built a strong technical knowledge base and valuable expertise enabling the next step. This next step encompasses as its main objectives - the use of our resources, people and equipment, even more effectively,
