---

Leading ship power system integrator Wärtsilä has signed a five-year maintenance agreement with Finnish oil firm and bunker supplier Neste Oil. The agreement, which covers the main and auxiliary engines for eight vessels in the Neste Oil fleet, forms part of the company's strategy to improve its fuel economy by making its ships more eco-friendly and energy efficient.

According to the agreement, Wärtsilä offers maintenance operations, spare parts, including performance optimisation, as well as an annual visit of specialists to check the optimal operation of each vessel’s engines under running conditions.

“Our strategy is to use the original manufacturer’s spare parts in the diesel engines’ critical sections and the manufacturer’s service personnel in major overhaul works. Now with this maintenance agreement we can fulfil our strategy in the most cost efficient way. We do see additional value like annual performance tests and enhanced communication between our operational personnel and Wärtsilä’s technical support. This will improve engine reliability and fuel economy making our ships even safer, more environmentally-friendly and more efficient”, said Mr Sami Niemelä, Technical Manager, Neste Oil.

Neste Oil operates a fleet of about 30 vessels. It transports around 40 million tons of crude oil, petroleum products and chemicals annually, primarily in the Baltic Sea (a particularly sensitive sea area, (PSSA)), the North Sea and the North Atlantic. The company is also a leading bunker supplier in Finnish ports. All of the company’s vessels are ice-reinforced and they feature a double hull.

Performance optimisation

Wärtsilä has extensive experience in providing long-term operational and management services for about 1000 similar engines installed in ships and land-based power plants all over the world.br>
“Our maintenance agreements offer customers maximum reliability, even without an annual overhaul,” said Markus Nyström, Account Manager, Wärtsilä Finland. br>
“There are four elements. In addition to ensuring operational reliability, both spare parts and maintenance operations are provided in a cost-efficient manner. There is also what we call a “dedicated technical contact point”, which means weekly conversations between the chief engineer on each ship and Wärtsilä personnel to keep a close check on the condition of the engines. The fourth element is performance optimisation, an annual visit to each vessel by Wärtsilä specialists to ensure that everything is as it should be under running conditions.”