Image: Shell

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Shell Marine is launching Shell Marine 40 - an engine oil for use in high-speed diesel engines in the fishing and tug boat segments, to support and help enhance the performance of engines.

Shell Marine 40 has been formulated to react to the combustion processes that take place in high-speed engines, and is designed to give added protection and extended machinery life to vessels whose unavailability can have disproportionate cost consequences further along the supply chain.

Marcus Schaerer, Shell Marine Global Marketing Manager, points out that fuel is one of the largest vessel operating costs, so ensuring clean combustion protects both a vessel's engine and its operator's bottom line.

Shell Marine 40's additive system controls piston deposits and helps to maintain good standards of engine cleanliness to ensure more efficient burning and higher reliability, he says.

"Poorer-quality oils can thicken or break down. Either way, the engine can become dirty and less efficient than its designers intended. The change is typically very gradual - almost imperceptible, in fact - so it is hard to detect on a day-to-day basis, but over time the degradation accumulates."

Whether used to sustain a tug manoeuvring large cargo ships to facilitate the just-in-time port operations, or a fishing vessel chasing shoals to leverage fluctuations in market prices and consumer tastes, selecting the wrong lubricant can result in premature engine corrosion and wear, Shell Marine points out.

The lube supplier also notes that unplanned maintenance or, in more serious cases, outright downtime spent on repair can jeopardise the chances of contracts being renewed, so Shell Marine 40 is designed to help lower maintenance outlay and improve vessel availability.

Schaerer remarked: "Recent successes in commercial shipping have been built around the development of innovative solutions, and our expectations in the fishing and tug markets are based on the same marriage between product R&D and deep understanding of the requirements of a specific market.

"The high-speed engines that power tugs and fishing boats face a vastly different operational profile to a containership or a dredger. We deliver lubricants that recognise and match the differing needs to help ensure that vessel engine can perform their jobs reliably and efficiently."