Emergency turbo repair highlights importance of monitoring

The crew of a bulk carrier noticed an unusual noise from its VTR564 turbocharger on August 11, and called Turbomed to assist with repairs. Two engineers were dispatched from the company’s Piraeus headquarters and Turbo Algeciras, arriving at the ship within twelve hours.

“I have been working as a mechanical engineer in repair and maintenance for the last 20 years and have never seen a turbocharger in this condition, especially the oil,” Dimitris Korovesis, country manager at Turbo Algeciras told Ship Repair and Offshore Journal.

The ship’s crew had been forced to keep the engine running for a few hours with a stuck turbo as the vessel moved to safe waters; the resulting high exhaust temperature and high temperature of the lube oil around the turbo had left the oil looking like a spider’s web, he said.

Extensive internal damage meant the turbocharger required a complete overhaul, replacing almost every part of the unit except for the casing. The extensive repair included a seven-day delay waiting on the delivery of new parts, dramatically increasing the overall cost to the shipowner, said Korovesis.

A standard overhaul of this type of turbocharger takes around 24 hours, with parts on-hand for routine work. Disassembly of the heavily damaged unit took 30 hours, plus an additional twelve hours for reassembly, and the seven-day parts delay.

“Mainly, costs did not increase because of our quotation… ships have daily rates, and if they are off-hire it increases costs to the owner,” said Korovesis.

While the final report on the project is still being written, Korovesis said it was clear that maintenance and monitoring schedules for the turbocharger had not been followed, and it was unclear when the unit had last been overhauled.

Around 20% of Turbomed’s inquiries relate to damage caused by maintenance and monitoring neglect, or the use of cheap replacement parts, said Korovesis.

“We know that original spare parts can be quite expensive, but aftermarket spares range from good to very bad quality. I've seen turbochargers that were overhauled, and not even 20 hours later were broken because of bad quality spare parts.

“The way to prevent these emergencies is to overhaul as per the maker’s instructions and buy good quality spare parts. The money lost in hire here for the owner is more than the 24 hour pit stop for normal maintenance,” said Korovesis.