Marlink subsidiary will bring planned, predictable maintenance and service of bridge electronics to fleet of port and ocean tugs over five years

Marlink subsidiary Telemar has signed a service maintenance deal with Fairplay Towage, one of the industry’s largest providers of port and ocean towage, to deliver bridge maintenance services across 50 of the company’s vessels.

The contracts will consolidate service of critical bridge navigation equipment to a single provider, saving time and manpower and reducing the risk of non-compliance as scheduled service will be planned to agreed timeframes rather than carried out on an ad hoc basis.

The contract includes managing GMDSS declarations, annual radio survey, annual radar inspection, exchange of reserve-power batteries for GMDSS and SART/EPIRB/GMDSS handheld batteries. Where vessels are equipped with a gyrocompass, Telemar will perform an annual inspection and gyro compass overhaul including GPS compass check-up where fitted.

Telemar will also perform an annual performance test for Voyage Data Recorders and provide Certificates of Compliance for the two largest offshore tugs Nordic and Baltic. All 50 vessels will benefit from access to Telemar’s due date management software which provides reminders of upcoming service dates and access to remote service via a 24x7x365 hotline. Telemar will work to align all annual service items for each vessel so that the service calls can be minimized, ideally to one service call per vessel per year.

The 50 vessels under contract to Telemar are located in Germany, Holland and Belgium and will benefit from dedicated service co-ordinators working in close contact with Fairplay’s fleet managers and technical superintendents in each port. To support delivery of the contract, Telemar plans to employ a new service technician located in Marlink’s Netherlands office to provide its own service engineer for calls in Dutch and Belgian ports.

“Fairplay Towage required a service partner that could provide a one-stop solution for bridge electronics across a mixed fleet of vessels with a planned and consistent approach to maintaining safety and compliance,” said Mr Andree Hessling, Manager, Nautical & Technical Department at Fairplay Towage. “Telemar’s ability to meet our needs with dedicated personnel across different port locations provides the level of confidence we need to meet our commitments to our customers.”

“Telemar has long experience in bringing a proactive and predictable approach to service and maintenance of bridge electronics, providing visibility on timelines and ensuring continuity of operations for our clients,” said Kai Sangkuhl, Managing Director, Telemar Electronics GmbH. “We are delighted to be working with Fairplay Towage which has set the standard for towage operations and continues to innovate across its fleet.”