Ship maintenance is an essential component of operations, intended to keep your vessel in good working order at all times without restricting routine operations. A properly maintained ship is more reliable and provides more service before the need to be retired. Typically, a significant amount of money is invested by shipowners in the acquisition of their vessels; hence, appropriate maintenance of the same is always expected to pay off.
Maintaining a ship can be a laborious task. Only qualified professionals can undertake such tasks with extensive technical precision and operational knowledge of marine ecosystems, in order to quickly as well as accurately sift through the intricate ship inspection processes.
Protect your assets by applying effective ship maintenance tips, as suggested below for your reference.
Create a Log
The best way to ensure a ship receives the maintenance it requires is to keep thorough, accurate logs. Activities recorded in a ship’s maintenance logbook are just as important to the vessel as the activities themselves. Logs always provide the necessary proof that a ship has been meticulously and consistently maintained, thus increasing its value on the secondary market.
CLEANING OF THE HULL
A vessel is typically in constant contact with salty, corrosive water, except when suspended in a dry dock.
Modern ship hulls benefit from special treatments that protect the steel surface of the hull and – to a certain extent – prevent the rise of biofouling due to the presence of barnacles, mussels and other living organisms. The latter has a direct effect also to fuel consumption which is strongly related with CO2 emissions
A hull that has been thoroughly cleaned will be in a better position to withstand the corrosive impact of marine water. Cleaning a ship’s hull provides also the benefit from having barnacles, mussels and other living organisms removed.
RINSE AND DRY THE INTERIOR
Corrosion can also be seen in parts of a sea travelling vessel that are not in direct contact with the water. The interior of a ship should be washed and dried as thoroughly as possible, even more frequently than the hull.
This also applies to surfaces that have been treated to resist salt and the corrosion that it causes. Although chrome-plated metal usually withstands saltwater reasonably well, it still needs to be rinsed and dried frequently.
TIMELY LUBRICATION
Friction occurs when two parts come into contact resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. It results in wear directly proportional to the amount of force applied as well as other factors such as the material the component is made of.
The best way to maintain the condition of any part is by always lubricating such moving parts as directed. Some vessels have hundreds of lubrication points, all of which should be regularly serviced.
Whether an engine piece or a winch, any part is vulnerable to accelerated wear if it’s not properly lubricated. Essential components of any vessel could eventually become less dependable and cause issues.
Different ships have different maintenance costs. The cost of maintaining a ship can increase significantly if unexpected repairs become necessary due to equipment failure while at sea. For these unplanned repairs to not end up being expensive over the long run, we advise to keep your ship’s maintenance up to date.
A well-maintained ship will have a cost-effective life cycle. Additionally, for vessels that are already in use, the most practical way to reduce maintenance costs is to apply management techniques to the vessel life cycle and support this management with a sound team that can predict problems and look for reliable, affordable solutions.
Kynosoura Dockyard, considered one of the finest marine services companies, covers all your ship maintenance needs. Discover more about our services, from inspection tasks and keeping vessels clean to protecting surfaces of corrosion while reducing slip hazards applied as directed. Our expert marine engineers and ship inspectors, handpicked with the best knowledge on vessel condition assessment and along with many other ship technical aspects, are here to help you with the process.
At Kynosoura Dockyard, we provide ship repair and construction services in Salamis, Greece for over 50 years. We work to provide you with high quality and safety standards that are created to meet the demands of the shipping industry on the most cost-effective basis through our shipyard and large pool of experienced labor strategically located in the heart of the Mediterranean.
