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Women in Maritime Today: Chevron Marine Lubricants’ Ayten Yavuz smooths the path to decarbonisation
As general manager of Chevron Marine Lubricants, Ayten Yavuz leads a team developing advanced lubricants for next-generation engines designed to operate on low- and zero-carbon fuels
Embrace change and adapt to new ways of working, advises Ayten Yavuz, general manager for Chevron Marine Lubricants. These skills have paid off during her three-decade career at Chevron, where she first joined in a junior role in 1991. Prior to being named general manager in 2024, she served as Chevron Marine Lubricants regional manager for northwest Europe and the Americas.
“As an organisation, Chevron has enabled me to follow my passion and contribute to addressing the world’s growing energy needs,” she tells us.
She now leads a dedicated team at the Chevron Corp subsidiary, driving innovation and business expansion in the marine sector. “I focus on developing solutions that support the maritime industry’s current and future challenges and ensure shipowners and fleet operators have access to high-performance lubricants suited for every scenario,” she says.
“We are in a time of change for our industry, with increasing regulations and the ever-evolving digitalisation of vessel and port operations. My focus is on continuing to support customers as they navigate these challenges and helping guide my team through this time of significant change,” adds Ms Yavuz.
“Chevron has enabled me to follow my passion”
Chevron Marine Lubricants is smoothing ship operators’ path to maritime decarbonisation by developing advanced main engine oils, as well as gear oils, coolants and transmission fluids. Shipowners continue to invest in newbuildings equipped with dual-fuel engine technologies at record levels. These two- and four-stroke engines are designed to operate on low- and zero-carbon fuels to meet global emissions reduction regulations. Ms Yavuz and her team have developed marine lubricants specifically formulated for slow-speed, two-stroke crosshead, medium-speed, four-stroke trunk piston and high-speed, four-stroke marine engines.
An example of this is Chevron Marine Lubricants’ Taro Ultra Advanced 40 formulation, which received ‘LNG validation’ status from Swiss engine designer WinGD in 2024. The validation covers all WinGD’s slow-speed, two-stroke LNG dual-fuel engines, and follows a previously granted ‘gas general use’ approval.
Taro Ultra Advanced 40 is designed to provide improved marine engine protection over previous generations of low Base Number (BN) formulations. It helps keep pistons clean at moderate BN and oil ash levels. Furthermore, it provides robust cylinder lubrication for the latest generation large, low-speed, marine diesel engines equipped with exhaust abatement technologies operating with a range of low and up to zero sulphur fuels, including VLSFO, ULSFO, LNG and methanol.
This latest validation of Taro Ultra Advanced 40 follows an earlier No Objection Letter from MAN Energy Solutions, further attesting to the oil’s effectiveness.
The company’s high-performance marine lubricants are backed by Chevron’s advanced technical service FAST fluid analysis that can check an engine’s performance and reliability and make recommendations for preventive maintenance to avoid costly downtime.
“Innovation and collaboration are keys to our success in marine lubricants,” says Ms Yavuz.
Expansion of global supply
“A key aspect of my role is bringing people together – within the Chevron team and across our partnerships – to work towards enhancing our available marine lubricant solutions and provide valuable services to help support our customers as the maritime industry continues to evolve,” she says.
Maritime’s evolution is being shaped not only by the transition to new fuels and engine technology, but also geopolitics. To better serve ship operators, Ms Yavuz and her team had to respond to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea that disrupted trade and shipping routes, and threatened ships sailing in the area. Last year, Chevron Marine Lubricants extended its global supply capacity to include Port Elizabeth, South Africa to serve ship operators that were diverting their vessels, taking the longer route via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid Middle East conflict areas.
“Stay true to yourself”
“This marks a significant milestone in the development of our distribution network in southern waters,” says Ms Yavuz.
Chevron’s current range of marine engine lubricants are available to ships calling at Port Elizabeth, a multi-cargo port located on the western perimeter of Algoa Bay.
Balancing life
Ms Yavuz says that one of the biggest challenges she has faced is striking a balance between her family and career. But, she explains, you can succeed at both.
“Balancing work and family life has always been a priority, and when I had my first child, I explained to the paediatrician that I had a busy job, and I was concerned about not being able to spend enough time with my son. Having four kids herself, she said that it is not the amount of time I spent with him, but the quality of the time we spent together. Now, looking at my two grown-up sons, I can proudly say that they have turned out pretty well.”
Ms Yavuz is quick to point out her successful career would not have been possible without an encouraging and dependable partner.
“Another important aspect of excelling in my position is the support I receive from my husband. Being in a job that requires me to travel about 40% of the time, I need to feel comfortable and secure that things at home will be well taken care of when I am away,” she says.
Asked what she would tell a young person considering a career in the maritime industry, Ms Yavuz says, “Whatever role you are in or working towards, stay true to yourself. At the same time, don’t hesitate to come out of your comfort zone. Believe in what you can achieve. Inevitably, you will make mistakes along the way. Learn from them. Do not try to be perfect in everything and balance your life; sometimes work will come first, sometimes family, and sometimes you yourself. Never feel guilty about how you wish to prioritise.”
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