Rise in demand for Royston fuel monitoring device shows acceptability in Nigeria
The growing demand for Enginei fuel management system, a product of Royston, by Nigerian ship owners, has gone a long way to confirm the efficiency and reliability of the product in monitoring fuel onboard ships. It also shows that ship owners are now paying attention to vessel performance issues especially as concerns accurate bunkering and fuel management.
Royston, a diesel power specialist confirmed in its market report that the company’s Enginei fuel management system is now successful in Nigeria, with the fuel monitoring system now being installed in 25 vessels and a similar number planned for installation in the coming months.
This is owing to the fact that the use of Enginei system for monitoring of bunkering and fuel consumption has helped to identify and overcome potential pilferage issues onboard vessels. The upgraded Enginei integrated fuel management system is compatible with all marine engine types and can be interfaced with new-build engine installations or retrofitted to operating vessels.
To meet demand in Nigeria, management of Royston says that it sells, installs and provides servicing back-up using its own factory trained engineers with local support where required.
“Access to reliable fuel consumption data has become important to a wide range of fleet management and fuel security issues, explains Damian McCann, product manager for fuel management systems at Royston, in statement issued by MHW PR and sent to BusinessDay.
According to him, the company’s upgraded Enginei fuel management system has attracted considerable interest from shipping operators in Nigeria, and ‘we have responded by setting up special arrangements to ensure that all installations are carried out by our own skilled and experienced engineers.’
“We take direct original equipment manufacturer (OEM) responsibility for the installation and performance of the system-giving ship owners and operators the reassurance that specialist support will be provided for the entirety of a vessel’s working life or operational time in Nigeria. In addition, our electrical engineers will work closely with local fabricators to keep system installation rates competitive,” McCann added.
McCann, who stated that the company also has installation coverage throughout Africa and working with many oil majors and fleet operators, further noted that the initial customer feedback, which the company is receiving, has confirmed that there are significant reduction in fuel consumption for ships using the product.
Upgraded Enginei capability
The Enginei system is an expanded on board flow-meter and sensor system that gives the upgraded system the ability to acquire comprehensive real time engine and vessel performance measurements beyond the usual diesel generator meter (GPS), RPM, and fuel inputs to take in a wide range of other engine control unit outputs.
Installation of the system onboard vessels also includes tamper proof armoured cable and a unique tamper prevention tape for flanges and electrical cabinets–which are also locked and robustly secured.
Enginei records the fuel consumption data which is presented onboard ships via touch-screen monitors installed on the bridge and in engine control rooms. In addition, the system remotely sends the information from ship to shore where it can be accessed through a simple web dashboard with computer generated graphs and Google mapping to show an operational profile of a vessel.
Also, the device enables shore staff to access live and historical data in order to analyse the performance of their vessels. With the knowledge that the data provided is accurate and free from human error, analysis work can be carried out and decisions made confidently.
Importantly, the new data options include the measurement of fuel consumption by individual engines to enable operators to accurately determine actual engine load for the scheduling of service and overhaul requirements.
In addition, specific fuel burn data can be provided for different vessel operational modes, as well as consumption measurements per passage and by different captains. This increased scope means the onboard monitoring system can be configured to meet precise operator requirements.
UZOAMAKA ANAGOR-Ewuzie