MAN PrimeServ gets 10 year EMC contract for Nakilat LNG fleet

Shell Trading and Shipping Company (STASCO) has signed an EMC (engine management concept) contract with MAN PrimeServ covering Nakilat’s wholly-owned fleet of LNG ships. STASCO manages the ships for Qatari-owned Nakilat, which operates one of the world’s largest LNG tanker fleets. The contract with MAN PrimeServ, MAN Diesel & Turbo’s after-sales division, is for a period of 10 years. It covers maintenance management/planning, assistance from PrimeServ superintendent engineers and fitters, as well as spare-parts for 25 LNG carriers (14 Q-Max and 11 Q-Flex).

Each LNG carrier is equipped with two type MAN B&W 7S70ME-C or 6S70ME-C main-engines, and four type 9L32/40 or 8L32/40 auxiliary engines, and turbochargers. The ships were delivered to Nakilat between October 2008 and August 2010.  

The EMC agreement partners have entered an agreement with the Nakilat – Keppel Offshore & Marine (N-KOM) shipyard for some services, such as the supply of fitters and the handling of specific overhaul tasks.  N-KOM is situated in Ras Laffan, Qatar’s main site for LNG production and one of the largest LNG export facilities in the world.  

MAN PrimeServ, in a joint venture with Qatar Navigation, is establishing a 6,000-sq.m service center close to the N-KOM shipyard. Headed by Ole S. Jensen, it will specialize in fuel equipment, turbochargers, governors and all kind of overhauls as well as retrofits.  

MAN Diesel & Turbo says its Engine Management Concept “is less a contract and more a partnership with much emphasis placed on building a long-term relationship with customers.”

Essentially, the EMC fixes customers’ maintenance costs at a set level, normally a steady monthly outlay that facilitates the advance setting of budgets with any excessive maintenance costs covered by MAN Diesel & Turbo.

The EMC enables customers to outsource operation support, and the maintenance and technical management of diesel engines and turbochargers to MAN Diesel & Turbo. Under such an agreement, MAN Diesel & Turbo is responsible for:  

maintenance planning and management, the provision of regular inspections, qualified labour, the training of operational staff, all spare-parts, and planned and unplanned maintenance

the responsibility for fulfilling all contractual obligations for a fixed monthly fee

the nomination of a dedicated Key Account Manager (Superintendent) to coordinate the timely delivery, fulfilment and communication of agreed maintenance projects

the preparation and implementation of the EMC agreement as an efficiently managed project

the coordination of all activities in accordance with MAN Diesel & Turbo procedures and safety standards.

“The possibilities for optimizing an engine’s life-cycle costs today are many. but require an increased focus on operation profiles and, in particular, maintenance over the engine’s lifetime,” says Michael Petersen, Head of EMC Copenhagen. “The optimization of engine maintenance can be executed in different ways and considerable savings can be made in extending times between overhaul, depending on the chosen maintenance strategy.”

January 27, 2011