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Wärtsilä, Maersk Drilling tie up on thruster maintenance programme

Wärtsilä, Maersk Drilling tie up on thruster maintenance programme
Technology group Wärtsilä and Maersk Drilling have joined forces in a unique co-operation to create a 25-year thruster maintenance strategy for Maersk’s three semisubmersible rigs and four drillships.

Wärtsilä said in a press release that the agreement will enable the companies to adopt a holistic view of the maintenance needs for a fleet of vessels over an extended time period, and thus optimise logistics and cost efficiency.

By reducing the thruster exchange time, the deep-sea rigs and drillships will spend less time in sheltered waters for thruster maintenance. The joint strategy defines the planning procedures for scheduled maintenance as well as thruster services and equipment exchange in emergency scenarios.

Wärtsilä and Maersk have already completed the planning work on the D series rigs Maersk Developer, Maersk Discoverer and Maersk Deliverer, and commenced the strategy work related to V series drillships.

The new, close collaboration reflects the long-established partnership and mutual trust between the two companies as the open exchange of information and knowledge boosts understanding of their respective operations and demand and aids planning and further development of the best and most efficient ways of carrying out thruster maintenance.

“This is an important step for us: Wärtsilä and Maersk Drilling are taking co-operation to a new level, working as one team to ensure that operations on Maersk’s drilling rigs can proceed without unnecessary interruptions. We are proud to partner with Maersk Drilling and look forward to a long and fruitful relationship,” said Wärtsilä Propulsion System Services vp Tamara de Gruyter.

“Our fleet operates in remote locations and very demanding weather conditions, which poses a challenge to maintenance. Together with Wärtsilä, we have created a comprehensive strategy that takes into account a variety of realistic scenarios and provides detailed responses. It is clear to us that this kind of intensive collaboration produces tangible results and benefits for both companies and our customers,” said Maersk Drilling cto Frederik Smidth.

Wärtsilä’s scope of supply includes spare thrusters, and long-term storage maintenance. Maersk Drilling’s three semi-submersible rigs are equipped with eight LMT-FS3501 thrusters each. Four new spare thrusters will be delivered during 2018 and added to the four existing spare units. By having a full set of eight spare thrusters, shutdown periods can be reduced significantly by hot swopping all eight thrusters with the spare units. This provides additional flexibility to planning shutdowns in collaboration with clients to ensure minimal impact on operations, Wärtsilä said.