Buying a vessel is a major investment. However, your job doesn’t end with buying it! You have to ensure that the ship is kept in a top-notch state to make the deal profitable before you sell it off. Maintaining a ship is a prolonged mechanical process that ensures to keep the vessel in an excellent condition. A ship has numerous small, large and complex machinery that needs regular maintenance for its prolonged longevity. Investing in a properly functioning ship is pivotal to make the transaction profitable.
Essentially, maintaining the ship’s engines and the mechanical systems to ensure the smooth running condition is of utmost significance. Every vessel’s productivity is simply connected with the adequate plans prepared by the vessel’s classification society that conduct regular surveys and inspections to ensure proper functioning of the ship. The presence of the engineers on board ensures that there are annual inspections of the ship with a full survey undertaken every 4 to 5 years. The port authority contribute significantly by occasionally checking the mechanical condition of the ship. Be it cruise vessels or ships used for commercial purpose, the maintenance-schedule needs to be planned well by the owners so as to allow the maintenance-society to undertake the repair work as and when needed.
There are specialized ship management companies that sell ship maintenance programs that can be referred to in order to ensure that their vessel in top-notch condition.
What is the need for planned maintenance for ships?
- Ship-value can be protected and restored.
- Professional maintenance-services can be acquired.
- Ship’s life can be enhanced.
- Technical specifications of ships can be easily maintained.
- Unwanted accidents or emergencies can be avoided.
- A ship can be utilized at their optimum level.
- Ship’s productivity can be protected.
- Ship-parts can be managed, integrated and maintained well.
- Premium-cost on ship-protection insurance can be reduced.
- Repairing or replacement expenses can be minimized.
Types of Ship Maintenance
Efficient planning and proper use of the equipment is the key to maintaining a ship. There are different types of procedures undertaken by the engineers on board and on the port. These can be summarized as follows:
Scheduled or Preventive maintenance
This is a precaution measure to avoid probable damages and to adopt necessary precaution measures. Also known as Planned Maintenance System, a team from the maintenance-company schedules servicing of the vessel as per the running hours like 4000 hours, 8000 hours or more. You do not have to maintain any schedule or calendar, but the provider will send representatives after proper intervals for continuing the servicing in a consistent manner. In such a maintenance program, the parts have to be changed that are mentioned in the schedule even if they are fully functional.
Corrective maintenance
Sudden breakdowns can be dangerous and unfortunate. Corrective maintenance is mainly dedicated to preventing emergencies by ensuring proper functioning of the machines till its break down. This program can become costly especially if the breakdown severely impacts other parts of the ship. It is thus necessary to ensure that regular inspection is conducted.
Condition maintenance
Machinery-parts should be inspected on a regular basis to detect the underlying defects and errors. Issues need to be corrected as soon as possible to restore the ship’s functional capability. The condition of a machine can be accurately checked by using powerful sensors. Inspection-reports need to be sincerely followed by experienced specialists otherwise wrong interpretation might occur, leading to acute machinery-damage.
Make sure that the maintenance-procedure is safe and reliable. If you are planning to buy a ship, it is important that you understand the importance of ship maintenance and employ proper methods like hire the ship maintenance companies to take the responsibility of maintaining the vessels both for preserving aesthetic appeal and it’s functionality.
