Expedition Yacht

Scheduled maintenance of the machinery and equipment on yachts is not a topic you read very much about.  Ads for crew uniforms outrank those for  yacht maintenance services of software  a factor 100 to 1 it seems.  Given the expenses you will run into if there’s no regular servicing of your equipment on a yacht, this is surprising or maybe  telling about the way maintenance on yacht is planned - or not.

Being a former marine engineer I have no probleem seeing the advantages of scheduled maintenance and you can look at my earlier post on this topic where I discuss several software packages that make managing this process a lot easier.

One of these packages, Idea Yacht from Sprectra – my favorite - just got an new ‘light’ version.  For only Euro 490 (almost USD 750) you now get the basic but essential modules to run a solid planned maintenance software package. See the image below with the main menus of each package, illustrating the differences.

.
Still, this is a package that needs a lot of planning and a solid engineering background, not something common on many smaller yachts (60-100 ft. range) where often it’s just the skipper doing all the engineering besides running the boat.  For those captains and/or yacht owners that need practical, hands-on advice or a little more hand-holding to get properly schedule maintenance going, I found a very good alternative in Superyacht Support Inc., a Ft. Lauderdale-based company.   

Founded by John Vergo, a former Royal Navy engineer, an experienced megayacht captain and engineer and a former fleet manager for Camper & Nicholsons, he knows a thing or two about scheduled yacht maintenance.  This firm specializes in helping yacht owners setting up custom planned maintenance schedules, safety training manuals and mini ISM systems.

Check out his website or drop him a line. You’ll find him very helpful, friendly and his in-depth experience can potentially safe you a lot of money, headaches and avoid lost charters.

During the last year, I have been scouting the Internet for a well-developed software package to keep track of maintenance and spare parts and allows you to document maintenance and overhaul procedures.  Have the software be accepted as a planned maintenance tool by the class societies was also on my wish list.

It’s not a crowded market!    On the one end I found a product called NS 5, developed by ABS (American Bureau of Shipping)  affiliate ABS Nautical Systems LLC.   It looks very comprehensive and if you want an American product or are under ABS class, the choice is simple.    Another product out of the class society world is MsLS GL Shipmanager, a Germanischer Lloyd company product.   It seems very up to date and comprehensive and at least one engineer highly recommended it.  Documentation can be found on their website.  In the commercial sector I found a suite of programs by Consultas Maritime Software Solutions from Norway.  Their software runs under XP and has over the years been approved by the leading classification societies.  They claim  that now more than 2000 vessels have been equipped with a Consultas software. 

Bassnet, also from Norway offers a comprehensive suite of ‘future proof’ products and it has the approval of most class societies but it may be a little too much for one yacht.  German company Spectec offer its range of AMOS software and has a large installed base.  But they also offer a more suitable product for the yacht industry (see below).

In the yacht market I found Triton Administrator by Great Circle Systems.  Unfortunately, there’s nothing on their website that shows how the modules interface looks like.  The only pages that’s really comprehensive is their bug fix pages.  Nothing about number of installations or compliance with planned maintenance of class societies.  A little scary!

A new product but more geared towards the under 100 ft. market that looks very promising is Seakits. The SeaKits “Marine Maintenance System” is web-based and was named the Best New Boating Product at the 2007 Newport International Boat Show.  Being web based has some obvious advantages but unless you have a satellite broadband on board, you have to carry all data ashore.

Somebody on Yachtforums.com also mentioned a program called COGZ, “if you are looking for something a bit more simple and more engineer oriented.  I know of a couple of MCA compliant yachts using it”.   I had a look at it and while it looks capable enough, it’s certainly not geared towards the yacht market.

The only serious contender I have found in the yacht segment is a German product by Idea Vio software.  It looks up-to-date, has a comprehensive website with many screenshots so you can see what you’re planning to buy. You can even download a demo on your computer.  And I’ve received very good user feedback.

According to the company, Idea Vessel Management Software is installed today on more than 250 Super yachts, such as: Le Grand Bleu (12th largest yacht in the world), Indian Empress (17), Alfa Nero (29), Amevi (32), Constellation (33), Haida G (36), Princess Marianna (41), Ilona (46), just to name a few.

It’s also the only yacht-market product that has received the “Certificate of Operation of an approved Machinery Planned Maintenance Scheme” by Lloyds Register. The system allows the crew to carry out large parts of the class inspection themselves while operating the ship. This brings both a reducing in costs and downtimes related to inspections by the classification society.

Idea Vio was taken over by Spectec recently which suggests they will be well funded in the future to continue to develop their already impressive product.

Update October 21, 2009: Idea Yacht now offers a ’light’ version of it’s software for Euro 490.  It’s misses a few modules but it’s a great deal for the basics.  And of course you can migrate with all your data to the full package.

When reading reviews of trawlers in Passage Maker magazine the big issue is always the engineroom. Does it have standing room or not. Is there room to work.Well, my engine room is an engineer’s dream. It’s not just big, it’s huge. It even has a pretty big workshop in the back.

What you see is a 9 cylinder Deutz 628 engine that delivers full power at 750 rpm. Since we don’t need full power, we’ll run it at about 600 rpm and still go 10 knots. Engines like this are started with compressed air.

The oversized Reintjes 5:1 reduction gear moves a slow moving 3.6 m (11.6 ft). 4-blade Van Voorden prop.

It currently has two auxiliary engines, each driving AC and DC generators (DC for the bow truster). We plan to remove one and replace it with two smaller generators to have a more flexible power supply system.
Below the staterooms we’ll have space for more equipment such as watermakers, sewage treatment plant, SCUBA air compressors and toilet vacuum system. 

Why not put all of this equipment in the engineroom? Well, while some it might fit, it would required changing  piping, creating more support structures, etc.  Before you know it, you spend $ 20 K on that and make existing equipment less accessible. 

So, we’ll just keep them below the staterooms, easy to service, out of the way and close to where we need it.  Particulary in the case of the sewage plant, we’ll be able to use gravity for almost all grey water systems, saving money again.

One thing we’ve learned already: it’s sooooo easy to spend a lot of $$$ on these kind of projects.

This is an only 5 year old Deutz 1015 (370 hp) driven gen. set which we plan to keep.  It will be used during manoeuvring when using bow and stern trusters.  As you can see better in the picture of the port generator below, the auxiliary engine powers both an AC and DC gen. set.

We plan to replace the port set with two 50-65 KW gen. sets. This way, at night , we run only one generator. During day time or with more equipment running, we start the second one. If we are going to do maneuvring using the bow and stern thrusters, we put the big Deutz on line too.

Class rules requires that there is one spare generator to run all essential equipment. We can’t run everything on 65 KW but with the help of non-preferential switches, we can comply with the rules. The added advantage is that we’d have a double back up system: 2 spare generators.

We’re looking at Northern Lights and Onan and a wet exhaust system.  The NL’s have a smaller form factor and 2 of them will fit in the space that will be freed up when one old gen. set is removed. 

an

I started investigating the replacement options for our main engine even before I took delivery of the vessel.The current 2.000 HP Deutz 628, 9 cylinder is a ‘little oversized’. When trawling, a fishing vessel needs those 2.000 HP. When cruising as yacht, I can 10 knots using a 1/3 of that.

You can basically go to ways: keep the same mid-speed engine (750-900 rpm) or go to a high-speed engine (1800 rpm and up).

There’s a lot of choice in the latter market but one big problem: you need a new reduction gear and your engine mounting frame doesn’t fit anymore.

In our case this issue become even more of a problem because the reduction gear recommended for the MTU engine we had in mind (8V MTU 4000) would require lowering the engine mount. That was going to be very expen$ive ! Add the new prop shaft, prop shaft seal and bearings, cooling water systems….. Ohh, and did I mention they have a delivery time of at least 24 months?

And a new reduction gear would also be around $ 50+ K.

So, we looked into a putting in a remanufactured 6 cylinder version of the current engine. But running the numbers on this, considering our typical use as an expedition yacht and the number of miles we’d actually be under way, we realized it would take us between 10 and 20 years before this investment would pay itself back, even if it would require running the current engine at a higher RPM (more HP) to keep the engine from getting really dirty.

Spending a few $$ on fuel filters like those of CJC should keep this problem under control.

The blades of the 3.6 meter (11.6 ft) 4 blade van Voorden prop will be adjusted to provide higher speed with the same amount of required power (or equivalent fuel savings) . This is a relatively cheap adjustment that will mean at least 10% higher speed. We expect to cruise at 10.5 to 11.5 knots.