Wärtsilä, Finnish manufacturer for marine and energy industry equipment said it has signed up with Maersk Drilling for a 25-year maintenance strategy for Maersk’s three semi-submersible rigs and four drillships.
Wärtsilä, Finnish manufacturer for marine and energy industry equipment said it has signed up with Maersk Drilling for a 25-year maintenance strategy for Maersk’s three semi-submersible rigs and four drillships.
The companies have completed the strategy work on the D-rigs and has started the strategy work related to V-Drillships, Wärtsilä said in a statement.
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.
The collaboration between Wärtsilä and Maersk aims to exchange information and knowledge to improve perspective on maintenance needs for a fleet of vessels over an extended time period, which will optimise logistics and cost efficiency.
“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,” said Tamara de Gruyter, vice president, propulsion system services at Wärtsilä.
“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 Frederik Smidth, CTO at Maersk Drilling.
Wärtsilä’s scope of supply includes spare thrusters, and long-term storage maintenance. Maersk Drilling semi-submersible rigs Maersk Developer, Maersk Discoverer and Maersk Deliverer 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 it is possible to reduce the shutdown period 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.
Source: Pipeline ME
