Svitzer has signed its first preventative maintenance agreement with Rolls-Royce to ensure reliability and cost-effective maintenance on MTU engines on tugs operating worldwide
The agreement covers a fleet of 17 tugs powered by MTU-brand Series 4000 engines operating in six countries and should increase the lifecycle of MTU engines, while reducing operating costs through optimisation.
Rolls-Royce’s agreement covers maintenance support and ensures spare parts are available in the countries these vessels operate in.
These tugs include 2018-delivered vessels employed in Morocco at the Tanger-Med cargo port and vessels deployed in Brazil, Costa-Rica, Denmark, Germany and the UK.
This agreement includes vessels with high-speed diesel engines, including the world’s first harbour tugs (operating in Tanger-Med) with bollard pulls of more than 90 tonnes and the world’s first harbour tug remotely controlled from shore in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2017, Svitzer Hermod.
Svitzer chief technical officer Evangelos Fragkoulis said this agreement will support Svitzer’s programme for controlling the lifecycle costs of the main equipment components on tugs.
“As part of the current technical operating model within Svitzer we want to focus further on our main equipment performance and reliability,” he said.
Svitzer head of global procurement Kasper Gottlieb expects additional cost savings from preventative maintenance and optimisation.
“The global frame agreement will enable us to further optimise our vessel running costs while maintaining a smooth and reliable operation,” Mr Gottlieb said.
Rolls-Royce will handle spare parts planning, scheduling and deliveries, allowing Svitzer to focus on efficiency in the technical management and operation of the vessels.
There are also advantages for Rolls-Royce, according to director of global marine business, Denise Kurtulus.
“This new agreement provides us with a basis for intensifying our work together on other technologies,” she said, “such as hybrids and gas engines, and digital services for real-time operations monitoring.”
This form of marine digitalisation has opened several new possibilities in the field of proactive maintenance management by enabling technical data to be captured and processed on an ongoing basis.
These digitalisation applications are being realised by Rolls-Royce as part of its customer service 4.0 programme which includes new digital products such as MTU-Go!Act and MTU-Go!Manage, providing solution strategies especially suited to the needs of fleet operators.
Svitzer employs more than 4,000 people and operates 440 vessels in 120 ports across 34 countries. It provides towage services in ports and terminals, marine services and emergency response.
Vessel operators and managers will discuss methods of reducing operating costs through smart maintenance technology at Riviera Maritime Media’s Optimised Ship Forum in London on 10 December.
Riviera Maritime Media is planning to hold multiple Smart Tug Operation events worldwide in 2020.
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.