London Ship Managers (LSM) has used a new refrigerant plant optimisation programme, carried out by Oceanic Technical Solutions, to make environmental savings across its fleet.
The Asian division of the UK-based refrigeration specialist carried out complete marine refrigeration inspections aboard the Cala Portese, Cala Piana, Cala Pevero and Cala Piccola vessels.
Mike Seymour, LSM’s technical fleet manager, said: “We found we were spending substantial time and resources looking and checking for gas leaks which were still not being efficiently detected, in order to try and remove any environmental impact our vessels were making.”
“This, along with losses of refrigerant, obviously had a monetary impact, which we also wanted to reduce.”
It takes three days to inspect the entire plant on each ship and the Oceanic Technical Solutions team carried out a full system evaluation and performance test.
Finding substantial gas leaks from corroded pipe work in bulkhead penetrations, the plant was then shut down so that repairs could take place. Additional isolation valves were fitted in order to stop any further leaks and damage to the environment. Shipboard crews were also shown how best to carry out routine inspections.
Robert Chesters, Oceanic Technical Solutions’ managing director, added: “With vessel movement and vibration, it is inevitable that refrigerant leaks will occur, with seals breaking down and valves coming loose and so on; but the key is to carry out frequent performance tests and to keep on top of the maintenance.”
“Simple measures, such as regular oil changes, replacing filters and tightening valves and flanges, can make a huge difference.”
He concluded: “LSM has shown that even though their vessels do not fall under the F-Gas regulations for mandatory inspections they have taken control of refrigerant consumption and the overall impact of operations on the environment. This is responsible ship management.”
