Page 158 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΜΑΙΟΣ 2024

MARINE EQUIPMENT

One major challenge that ship management faces today is the lack of proper support
by makers. The majority of machinery and marine equipment makers, including the well-
established ones, struggle to offer adequate after-sales support for their products.

MAKERS’ AFTER-SALES

SUPPORT IS VITAL FOR

SHIPPING COMPANIES

The primary issue revolves around the availability of spare parts
and service engineers. Any minor technical problem escalates into a
major one when spare parts or service engineers are not available to
rectify it. Very often, requests for service engineer attendance, even
in major hubs such as Singapore or Rotterdam, cannot be fulfilled.
Spare parts that are considered critical for the vessel’s operation
or essential for routine periodic maintenance are ordered well in
advance, and ships typically carry an adequate stock onboard. How-
ever, delivery times can take months in the event of an incident or
unusual or accelerated wear and tear that requires an urgent supply
of the usual spare parts.
Moreover, the availability of parts not required in routine mainte-
nance is virtually nonexistent. While this unavailability of genuine
spares was the norm for ships older than 15 years, it is now also
experienced for equipment installed on much newer ships.
Recently, a MARTECMA member reported that just four months
after delivery from the yard, a ship experienced a failure of its wind-
lass motor. Although the equipment is still under guarantee and
the maker has agreed to supply the new motor at their expense,
the spare will not be available for another six months. For a tanker,
this kind of damage puts the vessel out of service, as no oil major
is willing to charter a ship with such a defect and Class condition.
A significant challenge worth mentioning is that, as new marine
equipment increasingly relies on new technologies and electronic
systems, it becomes more vulnerable than ever before. A single
by Panos Kourkountis, virus or bug can disrupt the entire system, necessitating the inter-
Chairman of MARTECMA vention of a specialist on board to erase the infected or defective
and Technical Director at Sea Traders SA.
programme and reinstall an updated version. In certain instances,

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