Maintaining the marine equipment and machinery in good working condition is a crucial factor in running a cruise ship. This is due to the fact that no matter how latest and technologically advanced the machinery may be when it comes in contact with the saline water at sea, it becomes more susceptible to corrosion and breakdowns. This is why most cruise companies follow a periodic maintenance schedule for their ship vessels.
When looking at cruise vessels for sale, it is important to understand the different kinds of ship maintenance programs and take a closer look at why predictive maintenance is one of the best approaches.
Planned maintenance –
It is a time-based monitoring system that is carried out in periodic intervals. The process includes periodic inspection, overhauling, and replacing machine components, if required. The time and labor costs for this are significant.
Preventive maintenance –
In this, an inspection is carried out as per the conditional analysis and maintenance schedule of equipment. This includes periodic cleaning and lubrication of components, re-assembly, surface preparation using marine coatings, and so on. It helps to keep the equipment in a healthy condition, preventing any damages or corrosion.
Breakdown maintenance –
In case of a machinery breakdown or equipment failure, the corrective maintenance carried out to fix the problem is known as breakdown maintenance. This type should be avoided when the ship is at sea due to very few resources available.
Predictive maintenance –
This is a proactive approach to solving any equipment failures by analyzing all of the shipboard machinery and equipment. It helps determine what components need corrective maintenance and helps predict the next maintenance cycle for machinery and equipment.
Predictive Maintenance For Ships
Predictive maintenance uses various monitoring systems to analyze the working condition of all machinery and equipment. This helps to determine the components that would need corrective maintenance and the time to schedule the same. A proactive and non-intrusive analysis of equipment is carried out using technologies like infrared, corona detection, vibration analysis, oil analysis, and other such tests.
The monitoring systems act like a surveillance structure designed to detect the conditions of machinery and equipment, which issue warnings about any potential failure. This helps the crew plan or predict the next maintenance cycle. The biggest positive is the opportunity to plan corrective maintenance before a ship sets on sail, for otherwise any repairs can be more costly and troublesome.
Predictive maintenance is the best approach to take care of cruise vessels for sale. It has the following benefits.
Minimized inventory for spares –
Since the maintenance schedule will be known to all in advance, there is no need to stock extra spare parts, which would otherwise be needed in case of any machinery breakdown.
Diminishedoverhead costs –
The maintenance crew will be prepared with their maintenance schedule, eliminating any overhead costs due to equipment failure.
Energy savings –
A streamlined approach to maintenance will ensure that all machinery runs at an optimum level, which in turn would save energy consumption.
Increased efficiency–
The monitoring techniques let the crew know when a component needs maintenance before its imminent failure, thus ensuring fewer component failures. This leads to improved productivity.
Conclusion
Predictive maintenance for ships is the most cost-friendly approach when compared to planned or preventive maintenance methods. When it comes to authenticating the quality of cruise vessels for sale, a predictive maintenance system can be a reliable benchmark.
