Marine Automation Retrofit & Auxiliary Engine Control System
Case Study: Project 03
A Strategic Maritime Engineering Intervention executed Over One 20-day continuous voyage.
CLIENT
Leading Global Fleet Operator
DURATION
Estimated 4–5 Days per Auxiliary Engine (Executed during active trading with zero downtime).
The Commercial Challenge
For a 23-year-old Handy-sized Chemical tanker, a critical retrofit of the Auxiliary Engine Control System was required to safely manage the operation, monitoring, and protection of the ship's auxiliary engines.
The vessel's existing Wartsila Electronic Control System (WECS) suffered from severe obsolescence, leading to limited service support availability and massive CapEx costs for a direct retrofit from the original makers.
The upgraded, type-approved alternative system had to seamlessly regulate vital parameters—including lubrication oil pressure, cooling water temperature, fuel control, and engine speed—while perfectly integrating with the vessel's existing alarm monitoring system (Lyngso Marine) and Power management system (Deif)
OPERATIONAL PRECISION
Execution and technical standards
OPERATIONAL PRECISION
Execution and technical standards
Aquanav engineered a deployment strategy utilizing a specialized automation squad of three electrical engineers to execute the onboard installation and commissioning for the auxiliary engines, tackling them one at a time to maintain continuous operational safety. The entire operation was mapped out for the vessel's normal active trading to ensure zero commercial downtime
Procured, configured, and assembled all high-performance, German-origin components prior to vessel deployment.
Conducted a comprehensive Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) at the Aquanav UAE facility to validate system integrity.
Secured Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) approval for the entire system architecture and technical drawings, with IRS actively witnessing the FAT performance testing to secure pre-installation approval.
To guarantee flawless integration, the execution adhered to the following rigorous benchmarks:
System Architecture & Integration
Following the pre-deployment validation, the team integrated a robust, modernized architectural network, incorporating addressable and programmable Modbus units with custom network configuration to interface seamlessly with the vessel's existing systems.
Advanced Processing
Installed high-speed CPUs, network switches, and Bus Couplers to drive the main control unit.
Precision Monitoring
Integrated 32-channel digital input and output modules, alongside 8-channel Analog and RTD modules, and 15 thermocouple modules for highly sensitive data capture.
Operator Interface
Commissioned 9 universal converters and three 10-inch high-resolution operation displays for real-time tracking, local control, and immediate alarm activation.
The Aquanav Advantage
(Pre-Deployment Validation)
project completion
Traditional automation retrofits often suffer from extended commissioning delays and software troubleshooting onboard, especially the integration between different makes of obsolete equipment.
To compress the aggressive project turnaround, Aquanav utilized their UAE facility to completely pre-assemble the hardware and mandate rigorous, IRS-approved Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) before the materials were shipped.
This proactive methodology vastly accelerated the active-transit commissioning, successfully delivering a highly reliable, type-approved alternative system backed by an unconditional 3-year warranty for a 23-year-old asset.