The Finnish ferry company, Viking Line, has signed an Optimised Maintenance agreement for the Wärtsilä LNGPac system on their passenger ferry Viking Grace, which is fuelled by liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The Optimised Maintenance agreement for the Wärtsilä LNGPac on the 2013-built Viking Grace is the first ever. The Wärtsilä LNGPac is a complete gas handling system for LNG fuelled ships. “In addition, we have also extended our
existing Optimised Maintenance agreement to cover all four Wärtsilä 50DF engines on Viking Grace for another five years, comprising both Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) and online support,” Hagström adds.
The Wärtsilä
LNGPac on Viking Grace comprises onboard liquid natural gas bunkering, two storage tanks as well as handling equipment with related safety and automation systems developed by Wärtsilä.
The CBM system included in the Optimised
Maintenance agreement for the Wärtsilä LNGPac gathers information on the average gas flow, the temperatures of the heat exchangers, the use of energy, and the pressure of the LNG pumps. The agreement enables the planning and scheduling of
the dynamic maintenance procedures according to the vessel’s schedule. This improves the long-term cost predictability, increases performance reliability and maximises the vessel’s uptime.
Since Viking Grace’s maiden voyage, Wärtsilä has overseen the vessel’s maintenance. Viking Line’s good experiences led to the five-year extension of the optimised maintenance agreement including all normal maintenance, such
as overhauls for the four engines, dynamic maintenance planning and all the necessary spare parts. “If we can postpone the maintenance from 20,000 running hours to 24,000 hours, that means clear savings for us in maintenance costs,” says
Hagström.
High-class engine maintenance is vital. If Viking Grace would be out of service for any longer period, the financial impact for Viking Line would be enormous. “Grace is in traffic every day of the week and she is fully
booked on several days,” says Hagström.
An important feature is having a good contact person for service-related matters. The new and the extended agreement encourage close co-operation between Viking Line and Wärtsilä.
“Wärtsilä is a forerunner in dual-fuel and other environmentally sound technology and has repeatedly shown its excellence in technical assistance and service for Viking Line and Viking Grace. With this agreement, we will be able to
utilise the full potential of Wärtsilä’s knowledge and know-how,” concludes Ulf Hagström.
Environmental considerations are, along with the need to optimise operational efficiency, high on the agenda for us.
