Wärtsilä has signed a 15-year lifecycle agreement covering three LNG carriers for China LNG Shipping (International) Co (CLSICO), designed to ensure operational reliability, enable flexibility in maintenance scheduling and optimise the time between overhaul (TBO) for each of the vessels.
LNG consumption and demand is said to be increasing, solidifying its role as a leading environmentally friendly energy source. Therefore, LNG carriers are under greater pressure to deliver on tight schedules. Due to this increased demand and need for timely deliveries, operational reliability has become more critical than ever for LNG carriers.
Andrew Johnston, GM CLSICO, said: “With the LNG ship transportation industry chain entering a period of rapid development, we are committed to operating our LNG ships safely, reliably and efficiently. Wärtsilä’s Lifecycle Agreements play an important role here, ensuring we continue to optimise the operations and maintenance of our vessels more effectively.”
CLSICO aims to achieve optimal cost efficiency and operational reliability for its auxiliary engines. Through the new lifecycle agreement with Wärtsilä, CLSICO will be able to use engine data through Expert Insight, Wärtsilä’s predictive maintenance solution. The digital solution offers dynamic maintenance planning to optimise maintenance costs, while its connectivity enables 24/7 remote support for quicker issue resolution and improved asset availability. Expert Insight can predict potential problems before they occur, helping operators reduce unscheduled maintenance costs.
Henrik Wilhelms, Director, Agreement Sales, Wärtsilä Marine, said: “In today’s complex marine market, leveraging service agreements, digital tools and real-time data and analytics can maximise the lifecycle uptime and Opex of a vessel – helping fleets to run optimally, stay competitive and comply with current and future decarbonisation targets.”
The three vessels that will be covered by the agreement are the Al Tuwar, the Al Mas’habiyyah, and the Fat’h Al Khair. They are approximately 300m in length and have a capacity of 174,000m3. All operate with two 8-cylinder and two 6-cylinder Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel engines. This new agreement follows a Wärtsilä Lifecycle Agreement signed in 2023 with CLSICO covering the Dapeng Princess, which is the world’s largest shallow-draught LNG carrier.
Image: Wärtsilä has signed a 15-year lifecycle agreement with CLSICO for three LNG carriers (credit: CLISCO)
