By
Rebecca Gibson |
Wärtsilä is to provide optimised maintenance services for the Wärtsilä LNGPac complete gas handling system onboard Viking Line’s LNG-fuelled passenger ferry Viking Grace.
Extending its existing maintenance agreement which has been in place since Viking Grace’s 2013 debut, Wärtsilä will provide optimised maintenance for the ship’s gas system for the next five years. This will cover the onboard LNG bunkering system, two storage tanks, handling equipment and related safety and automation systems.
Wärtsilä will also use a Condition Based Maintenance system to gather data on the average gas flow, the temperatures of the heat exchangers, the use of energy, and the pressure of the LNG pumps. This will help it to plan and schedule maintenance procedures that improve long-term cost predictability, performance reliability and maximises the vessel’s uptime.
“Environmental considerations are, along with the need to optimise operational efficiency, high on the agenda of Viking Line,” said Ulf Hagström, senior vice president of Marine Operations and Newbuilds at Viking Line. “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.”
Viking Grace can accommodate 2,800 passengers and sails between Turku, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden in the Baltic Sea.