Discrete and Process Automation

Predictive maintenance for marine ships

02 February 2023
Source: Adobe stock

Preventive repairs can be scheduled before ships are out in the open ocean, where it is more challenging and expensive to make adjustments. Equipment and process failures can be prevented through the use of predictive maintenance, a strategy that uses data analysis tools and techniques to spot irregularities in operations and potential flaws in machinery and procedures in order to correct them before failure is evident.

Why there is a need for predictive maintenance for marine ships?

The shipping sector keeps the world's economy afloat. The majority of international trade — about 90%, according to the International Chamber of Shipping — occurs on the ocean. Since unexpected marine downtime would result in interruption of operations, it is crucial to maintain business as usual. It will be expensive for all parties involved in the supply chain, not just the shipowners. In addition, the marine sector suffers the same losses in income as the world's top companies due to unscheduled maintenance.

The breakdown of machinery is a common source of unscheduled downtime. The truth is that over 70% of businesses are in the dark about when their machinery needs servicing or replacement. This is worrisome because it portends unscheduled machine downtime and substantial delays in operations and can add up to a hefty bill. There is a need to take a more planned approach for ship maintenance and move toward the predictive maintenance approach.

How is predictive maintenance different from other marine ship maintenance systems?

Predictive maintenance aims to reduce the need for reactive maintenance by keeping the frequency of scheduled maintenance to a minimum without increasing the price of preventive measures. When a component breaks down and needs fixing, it's considered reactive maintenance. Efforts implemented to avoid an undesirable incident is called either predictive or preventive maintenance.

However, predictive maintenance, relative to preventive maintenance, is performed only when actually needed. A team inspects a ship and performs preventive actions in accordance with a conditional analysis and maintenance schedule in order to keep equipment in operating order. Let’s take an everyday example. Changing a car's tires every 30,000 miles equates to preventive maintenance. Using predictive maintenance is the modern equivalent of having software that tells you to change your tires at exactly 23,100 miles based on previous and projected driving habits. This estimate may shift as new data is analyzed using predictive maintenance techniques.

The basics of predictive maintenance

Predictive maintenance employs historical and real-time data from many operational components of marine ships to forecast impending issues. It is influenced by three primary factors:

  • Real-time asset status and performance monitoring
  • The investigation of work order data
  • Utilization of maintenance, repair and operations inventories

There are a number of essential components to predictive maintenance. Artificial intelligence (AI), the internet of things and integrated systems enable diverse assets and systems to connect, collaborate, exchange, analyze and act upon data. These technologies collect data using sensors for predictive maintenance, industrial controls and business. They then interpret the data and utilize it to find any problem areas.

[Learn more about maintenance management system software on GlobalSpec.com]

Advantages of predictive maintenance

The key advantage of predictive maintenance for marine ships is the capability to arrange corrective work before the vessels are on open ocean, when repairs are more difficult and costly. As the technologies are analogous to monitoring systems that forewarn of impending problems, they enable personnel to anticipate the maintenance cycle of equipment or machinery. Added benefits include knowing in advance what components to stock, decreased overhead expenses, energy savings, overall operating enhancements, reduced expenditures for maintenance and repairs, improved efficiency and reduced component failures.

It is worth mentioning that although preventive maintenance is essential and certain incidents are inevitable, predictive maintenance bridges the gaps left by preventive maintenance. Preventive maintenance is never performed outside of a predetermined timetable. Predictive maintenance systems are used to keep tabs on operational machinery, something humans can't perform all day long, and alert crews when a part is about to break down. Moreover, even if the ships are miles from land, they will still be able to get rapid alerts on the machinery's health via the system. In the event that emergency repairs are needed, the maintenance teams can respond more quickly.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the marine sector now conducts its business differently than it did before the internet of things and AI were widely adopted. Predictive maintenance is the beginning of a digital change in ship maintenance that will occur as technology progresses. Once the predictive maintenance test results are in, the team will know when it is ideal to plan maintenance and repairs, for example, on the paint job, before the coating breaks and severe corrosion sets in.

To contact the author of this article, email GlobalSpecEditors@globalspec.com


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