JF Mimic, part of James Fisher and Sons plc, announces it has signed an agreement to supply its specialist Mimic condition monitoring software to Stolt Tankers B.V (Stolt) - which operates the world's largest and most sophisticated fleet of chemical and parcel tankers, to enhance operational safety and improve the technical reliability of its assets.
The Mimic software will be installed on Stolt’s fleet of 75 vessels, as well as onshore at its head office, to provide instant condition status alerts along with detailed efficiency monitoring, as management and control of a 21st century maritime business demands unique solutions, designed to supplement the existing ship operating procedures along with the challenges of managing a complex fleet.
Aspects of the standard Mimic condition monitoring software suite have been further developed to satisfy these demands by enhancing the software to allow raw operating data from various sources, such as the main and generator engines, cargo pumps and other auxiliary machinery, to be collected onboard and sent automatically to the Mimic application at Stolt’s head office pushing alerts to users. Further analysis can also be conducted across machinery and vessel types allowing Stolt to make informed maintenance decisions.
Andres Casanova, Stolt’s Maintenance and Reliability Manager said: “Mimic was the ideal choice for collecting, validation and the visualisation of digitalised data. The company vision is to facilitate easy access for all relevant stakeholders, both at sea and ashore. It will empower the organisation to take the lead with regards to proactive intervention of in-/de-creasing trends or exceeding threshold values. This will further enhance our operational safety and improve the technical reliability of our key assets.”
Stolt’s version of Mimic allows it to have full oversight of its vessel operations combined with a condition statement for its critical machinery and assets. The installed Mimic system provides limitless possibilities to the maintenance and operations managers to incorporate various tasks, from typical maintenance routines, calculations and reports to use when assessing individual asset, system and vessel condition; and then, uniquely, use the efficiency statement as a trigger (threshold alert) for maintenance.
The system also integrates spectrographic oil analysis results, asset condition reports, such as feed water purity and cathodic protection reports, into one easy to view dashboard from which managers can extract a wealth of real time information.
Martin Briddon, Business Development Manager of James Fisher Mimic explains: “This Mimic software suite offers all the necessary tools for robust data manipulation and in depth analysis of every maintenance task. Connecting vessels to a central hub is now achievable, leading to full control of your fleet from one system.”
The collected data is always available on the vessel’s Mimic system, as well as on the shore Mimic system. Having the option to import data in the system either manually or electronically offers flexibility, and the automated procedures help to effectively reduce the time and effort spent.
The deployment of the system was implemented remotely, and all the databases creation, specifically for each vessel, is implemented from the shore. Data is flowing in both directions between the Mimic ship and the Mimic shore system, providing a perfect communication between shore and ship side.
