Overcoming vulnerabilities with insurance claims

When a vessel is at sea and something goes bang, the marine engineer on board is expected to cope, often in the most stressful of circumstances. The vessel may have lost propulsion and the captain will definitely be demanding answers! Almost every marine engineer will have found themselves in a similar position at least once. Historically, there will have been another engineer to turn to for guidance. Today this might not be the case.

What can be done to mitigate this situation and improve ship engineers’ knowledge in the area so that they can confidently approach this type of incident in a logical and methodical fashion?

Wayne Ross, a former engineering manager and business development manager for Rolls-Royce Marine, has responded by setting up a new company called Whale Technologies that specialises in this area. He has assembled a team of former senior engineers from other major marine OEMs and is working with the University of Huddersfield, recognised as having one of the best diagnostic departments in the world, under the leadership of pro-vice-chancellor, Professor Andrew Ball.

“Our business is to help companies develop an overall company strategy on failure analysis and provide training programmes for engineers as part of their professional development,” says Mr Ross. The relationship with the university gives Whale Technologies access to world-class experts in several related fields, such as FMEAs, diagnostics and materials, as well as access to one of the best-equipped chemical and elemental analysis laboratories in the UK. “This gives Whale Technologies a major advantage when looking at complex failure models,” says Mr Ross.

Fault diagnosis and failure analysis are often seen as mysterious. They are in fact logical processes, but today they are typically ignored or, at most, paid only lip service during a marine engineer’s formal training.

The typical approach is a superficial investigation. According to Mr Ross, a detailed, systematic investigation is required not just to establish the mode or modes of failures but also to determine the root cause.

“Owners are reporting that even some senior engineers at sea have trouble with this step: machinery is becoming more reliable, so engineers are not picking up experience in this area as their careers develop.” This can be explained, at least in part, by the changing role of the marine engineer. Instead of being both a machinery operator and maintainer, more focus is now given on the operational side and less on the maintenance process, including fault finding and failure analysis.

“Let’s consider a genset failure,” says Mr Ross. “The gen set has stopped so we go through the logical process of looking at the logs, alarms and the observations of engineers. Nothing is apparent, so we then go through the steps of internal inspection and the freedom of rotation check. We find a piston has seized, but why? Glazing of liner, ring failure, lubrication failure, piston failure, problems with injection equipment or cooling are all potential causes. We must also consider whether the engine is still under the maker’s warranty. Has the engine just been overhauled by the crew or a third party, and was it being operated and maintained correctly?”

The next step in many instances is to call in a manufacturer’s representative to conduct an investigation: this is always the case if warranty is being claimed. The engine is stripped and samples of oil and fuel are sent off for laboratory analysis. The offending parts are removed and visually inspected, with the ship’s staff in attendance. “Do the ship’s engineers have an understanding of the way the piston has failed from looking at markings and stress points on the relevant parts?” asks Mr Ross. “Are they comfortable to dispute the observations that the maker’s representative is making?” The broken parts are usually then sent off for laboratory analysis and a report on the likely root cause of failure is written. In the case of a warranty, this report is usually written by the manufacturer. The same is true if the incident requires an insurance claim, except that the investigation will be carried out by the insurer’s engineer, sometimes in collaboration with the manufacturer. “Whale Technologies has no role in the warranty or insurance claim process, so brings a fresh and independent perspective,” says Mr Ross.

“Does this generation of ship engineers have the training or experience to manage the whole of this process in the best interests of the owner?” asks Mr Ross. “More and more owners are telling us that the answer is a resounding ‘no’.” MP