KOREA MARINE TRANSPORT CO. LTD - Experts & Thought Leaders

Technology group - Wärtsilä has signed a five-year Lifecycle Agreement with Korea Maritime Transport Co (KMTC). The agreement covers two post-Panamax container vessels, each powered by Wärtsilä 12RT-flex96C-B two-stroke main engines, and became effective from January 2024. This agreement follows a similar five-year agreement signed a year earlier to cover four KMTC Panamax container vessels operating with Wärtsilä 7RT-flex96C-B main engines. The technical support provided by Wärtsilä, together with the security of supply for key components and other benefits under the terms of the contract, ensures the vessels’ operational reliability and delivers significant maintenance cost savings. Scope of the agreement Wärtsilä provides dedicated agreement management and technical support by local experts “We have been very happy with the earlier Wärtsilä agreement and are pleased to renew it for these two ships. It allows us to save time and resources on maintenance issues, as well as enable efficient engine management with reliability,” says Mr. Woo Y.O, General Manager, Repair & Supply Team, KMTC Ship Management Co. Ltd. In addition to the secured availability of contracted key components, the scope of the agreement includes the Wärtsilä Health check, which is an annual main engine condition assessment by two-stroke technical engine experts. This ensures that the engines operate within design boundaries, whilst providing maximised operation intervals for the key components. The scope also includes some specific component services and overhauls. Furthermore, Wärtsilä provides dedicated agreement management and technical support by local experts. Wärtsilä’s Lifecycle Agreements “The signing of a new agreement with KMTC demonstrates the value that our agreements can offer to our customers, especially at a time where the industry is so heavily focused on the decarbonisation transition. We appreciate the strong relationship between our companies and look forward to continuing our operational support for their fleet,” comments Do Hyun Kim, Sales Manager/Owner Account, Wärtsilä Marine Business Sales for Korea. Wärtsilä’s Lifecycle Agreements provide long-term cost predictability and availability by using data-driven technical support and maintenance at every step from planning to execution. The customer benefits from proactive support and recommendations by experts at Wärtsilä Expertise Centres, who help to optimise maintenance intervals according to actual needs, while preventing unexpected downtime.

Korea Marine Transport Company Ship Management (KMTC SM) has reported annual fuel savings worth approximately US$540,000 in total after installing Accelleron’s digital engine optimisation solution Tekomar XPERT on 12 Panamax vessels. The fuel savings enabled KMTC SM to reduce its CO2 emissions by about 4,200 tons. Tekomar XPERT delivers engine optimisation recommendations based on thermodynamic insights that aim to bring engines back to the operating performance achieved at “new” conditions. The solution can be applied to any engine and turbocharger make. KMTC SM followed the advisory from Tekomar XPERT, tracked engine performance and benchmarked engines and vessels through Tekomar XPERT’s web portal (Loreka).  Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) ratings The reduced emissions will translate to better CII ratings and lower exposure to carbon pricing KMTC Ship Management General Manager of Environmental Technology, Jin-Seob Lee, said: “Based on the big savings on fuel cost and emission reduction, we aim to install Tekomar XPERT on our remaining 16 self-managed vessels, and will be recommending its installation on 22 other vessels managed by third parties.” Accelleron anticipates that KMTC’s fuel bill will be reduced by around US$1.3 million a year when Tekomar XPERT is deployed across all 50 vessels. The reduced emissions will translate to better Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) ratings and lower exposure to carbon pricing, including the EU Emissions Trading System, which will apply to shipping from 2024. KMTC SM’s own measurements KMTC SM was able to track improvements in performance thanks to intuitive indicators and actionable insight from Tekomar XPERT. The reduced fuel consumption at the end of the 12-month period highlighted a significant increase in vessel performance over the year. This was verified by KMTC SM’s own measurements. Accelleron Global Head of Sales & Operations, Shailesh Shirsekar, said: “Efficient engines are one of the keys to reducing fuel costs, emissions and carbon price exposure, enabling optimisation without impact on vessel operation. With simple guidance from Tekomar XPERT, ship operators can ensure that the engines are running at their very best, laying the foundation for lower lifecycle costs as well as regulatory compliance.”

T.S. Lines LTD., KMTC (Korea Marine Transport Co., Ltd.) and X-Press Feeders will launch in late October 2020, a weekly service connecting China, the Straits, Western India and Pakistan. The China - Western India - Pakistan Loop will return to East Asia via a way port call at Colombo, Sri Lanka. China - Western India - Pakistan Loop T.S. Lines and X-Press Feeders will market the new offer as ‘China India West Coast X-Press’ (CWX), while KMTC will market it as ‘AIS4’. The ‘CWX / AIS4’ service will call at Shanghai, Ningbo, Shekou (CCT), Singapore, Port Kelang (N), Nhava Sheva, Karachi, Mundra, Colombo, Port Kelang (N), Hong Kong, and Shanghai. At Port Kelang, T.S. Lines and X-Press Feeders will handle their cargoes only at the North Port terminal, while KMTC will only use the West Port. The new loop will turn in six weeks, using six ships of 4,200 to 5,000 teu. X-Press Feeders will contribute four vessels, while KMTC and T.S. Lines will contribute one vessel each. The first sailing is scheduled from Shanghai for 27 October with the 4,255 teu HARRIER HUNTER.