Round the clock overhaul for engines

The 98m, 4,905 gt ship had been working in the Irish Sea area and was in Barrow-in-Furness for 18 days of scheduled maintenance.

The Rockwater 1 is powered by a diesel-electric propulsion system consisting of five 1,700kW Brons-MAN ASL25/30 diesel engines that each drive a 2,125kVA NEBB WAB 630 generator. These produce power for two 1,800kW azimuth thrusters and three 790kW tunnel thrusters. The service required the Royston engineers to completely dismantle three engines and overhaul their cylinder heads and liners, pistons and con rods, cam shafts, bearings, vibration dampers and injectors and two turbochargers.

A nine-man team worked day and night shifts aboard the ship while six engineers at the Royston workshop in Newcastle undertook the machining of components. This included servicing 27 cylinder heads and liners, fuel injectors and the complete overhaul of two turbochargers.

Because the diesel engines are used to power generators, the Rockwater 1’s engineering team benefits from being able to vary their running hours and control the service intervals. The Royston team will therefore be able to overhaul the remaining engines during the ship’s next maintenance interval.

Royston Limited was founded over 30 years ago and in addition to its engine maintenance and repair services, the company also designs and manufactures enginei, a fuel andengine monitoring system. This enables both onboard crew and ship operators ashore to monitor and manage the fuel consumption of every vessel in a fleet and to ensure that their engines are being used in the most efficient and economical way and play an important role in enabling a ship to meet its Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP).