We recently offered a free engine survey to critical engine operatives in the UK (click here if you missed it).
I’m delighted to say that we’ve had several people take us up on the offer, and this week we attended a vessel in Dover to discuss possible service support with the upcoming 24000-hour service on their Wartsila 6L 26A Port engine.
During the visit, the tech super advised the following work and the timings around it:
- Port Main Engine – 24000-hour service
- The maintenance should be carried out during the docking period, (time frame provided)
- Spare Parts should be included in the maintenance plan
- Turbocharger to be overhauled
- Automation system to be checked and measuring devices calibrated
- Governor will need to be overhauled
After the initial discussion, the following visual inspections were carried out:
- W26 OEM special tools
- Port Main Engine, in standby and on load at 60%
- Engine room layout
- Engine room hatch
These inspections highlighted several areas where special consideration and in some cases adaptations will need to be made during the planning stages of the work scope:
Special Tools
Tools have not been put back to their original places inside their Wartsila boxes after use, they will need to be identified and returned to their respective locations. – This will either need to be done before attendance or time allowed for our engineers to carry this out upon arrival.
Port Main Engine
The inspection carried out confirmed that the Portside engine is working within Wartsila’s parameters and based on what was possible to inspect, we do not expect any particular issues during the upcoming maintenance.
Engine Room Layout
The engine is surrounded by the exhaust main pipe and silencer, and the working area on the cam side of the engine is 50% restricted by the silencer – this must be taken into consideration before planning the service.
Another consideration is the lifting points on and around the engines.
It will not be possible to remove the complete power units in one go, the cylinder head must be removed as a single component to allow the liner/piston to be pulled out.
There are no lifting points from the Turbocharger to the other side of the bulkhead, which provides access to the workshop / E.R. hatch.
Moving heavy engine components with the current lifting points will result in unsafe lifting and slinging operations, moreover, it will be impossible to not damage the aluminium heat protectors installed on the engine exhaust system.
Engine Room Hatch
The engine room hatch area will require some additional lifting points to safely move the components in and out of the tug.
As you can see, this survey has proved invaluable, we can now plan (and quote) accurately based on our findings, and the operator can have the additional lifting points in place before our arrival to prevent increased downtime – something that would have been unavoidable had we just quoted based on the required service alone, without this extra information.
