Rolls-Royce inks 10-year, 17-tug service deal with Svitzer

Rolls-Royce has signed a 10-year service agreement with leading global towage and marine services operator Svitzer A/S. The Global Frame Value Care Agreement (VCA) covers spare parts deliveries in six countries for a fleet of 17 tugs powered by MTU-brand Series 4000 engines

Rolls-Royce has signed a 10-year service agreement with global towage and marine services operator Svitzer A/S. Called a Global Frame Value Care Agreement (VCA) it covers spare parts deliveries in six countries for a fleet of 17 tugs powered by MTU Series 4000 engines.

In the agreement, the cost of maintenance services is being tied to the engine up-time. This is the first maintenance contract of its kind to be signed by Svitzer. The preventive maintenance arrangement preserves engine availability for Svitzer while contributing to optimal life-cycle costs.

Svitzer, a Maersk Group member, currently operates 17 vessels with MTU Series 4000 units on board. Among them are the world’s first harbor tugs with 90 tons bollard pull to be powered by high-speed diesel engines. These have been in service in the Tanger-Med cargo port in Morocco since 2018. Also included in the fleet is the tug Svitzer Hermod, the first commercial vessel to demonstrate remote operation, which is lpowered by twin MTU 16V4000 M63 diesel engines.

Other Svitzer vessels are deployed in Brazil, Costa-Rica, Denmark, Great Britain and Germany.

As part of the agreement, Rolls-Royce Power Systems will ensure that exactly the right spare parts for a vessel are made ready in the right place at the right time for each scheduled maintenance. This approach will allow Svitzer to focus on efficiency in the technical management and operation of the tugs, while spare parts planning, scheduling and deliveries are handled by Rolls-Royce.

“We are highly satisfied with the performance of the MTU engines in our day-to-day operation and with our cooperation with Rolls-Royce since 2016,” said Kasper Gottlieb, Head of Global Procurement at Svitzer. “The global frame agreement provides the basis for long-term collaboration and it will enable us to further optimize our vessel running costs while maintaining a smooth and reliable operation at the same time

“As part of the current Technical Operating Model within Svitzer we want to focus further on our main equipment performance and reliability,” “ said Evangelos Fragkoulis, Chief Technical Officer of Svitzer. “It is our belief that the maintenance agreement with Rolls-Royce will give a great support on the current journey of Svitzer on defining the actual life cycle costs of our main equipment components

Denise Kurtulus, Director Global Marine Business at Rolls-Royce says that the new agreement provides a basis for intensifying the two companies’ work together on other technologies such as hybrids and gas engines, as well as on digital services for real-time monitoring of operation.

DIGITALIZATION OPENS UP NEW MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT POSSIBILITIES

By enabling technical data to be captured and processed on an ongoing basis, digitalization has opened up a number of new possibilities in the field of proactive maintenance management. These are now being realized by Rolls-Royce as part of its Customer Service 4.0, with new digital products such as MTU-Go!Act and MTU-Go!Manage providing solution strategies especially suited to the needs of fleet operators, among others.

With a 4,000-strong workforce, Svitzer operates 440 vessels in 120 ports across 34 countries. In addition to towage services in ports and terminals, Svitzer provides a wide range of other marine services, including emergency response.