The technology group Wärtsilä has signed a Wärtsilä Optimised Maintenance Agreement covering two offshore Well Intervention Vessels owned by Norway based Siem Offshore. The 5-year agreement will ensure the optimal maintenance required to reduce the vessels’ fuel consumption and emissions by utilising the latest digital technology to provide real-time monitoring and support. The agreement, which was signed in December 2020, also covers the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) emissions-abatement systems installed with the engines.

Included in the agreement is Wärtsilä’s Expert Insight predictive maintenance solution. Expert Insight is an innovative service that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced diagnostics to monitor equipment and systems in real-time, spot anomalies, foresee potential problems, and enable rapid reaction accordingly. Should anomalous behaviour be detected, it is flagged to specialists at Wärtsilä Expertise Centres, allowing them to support the customer proactively with an appropriate resolution to the issue. The combination of AI, advanced diagnostics, and the company’s extensive equipment expertise greatly enhances the reliability, efficiency, and safety of the installed equipment.

Also included is Wärtsilä’s Data Driven Maintenance  concept and the Lloyd class-approved Wärtsilä connectivity solution with enhanced cyber security. The Data Driven Maintenance enables the ships’ crews to conduct condition inspections using borescope optical instruments. The digital images provided will be sent to Wärtsilä’s technical experts for evaluation, and in most cases will lengthen the time required between engine overhauls. The connectivity solution is an enabler for onshore digital tools providing cloud based services such as remote monitoring, remote optimisation and support. With optimal maintenance procedures, safety is increased and exhaust emissions reduced. “We appreciate the easy access to remote operational support made possible by Wärtsilä’s leading-edge solutions. This allows us to do maintenance when needed rather than at fixed intervals. We are especially excited with Expert Insight, which allows us to monitor the condition of the engines from ashore, and thanks to artificial intelligence and anomality detection we expect to prevent unscheduled stops that cause loss of revenue” says Dag Honnemyr, Operational Director Siem-Helix.

“Lifecycle support is a key element of our strategy, and our advanced digital and data-based maintenance solutions are central to enabling optimal operational performance. The benefit of being able to efficiently monitor the equipment and support customers remotely is enhanced even more today, since due to Corona-related travel restrictions, in-person visits by service engineers can be difficult to arrange. Since our engineers need to travel less, their carbon footprint is reduced, while at the same time we can  optimise the performance of the asset, so it is really a double win,” says Henrik Wilhelms, Director Agreement Sales, Wärtsilä Marine Power.

The two vessels, the Siem Helix 1 and Siem Helix 2, each operate with eight Wärtsilä 32 engines. The ships are operating in Brazil’s offshore oil fields.