Diagnose and manage a main engine cooling defect

What is going on

During a berthing assist on 9 September the port main engine on Bluewater Osprey rose to 98 degrees under load and was shut down. The tug finished the job on the starboard engine and the Marine Operations Manager has restricted her to single engine harbour work. Marco Vitale noticed low raw water flow at the overboard discharge. The engine has 6,200 hours since overhaul. The tug's survey is due on 20 November and the port has a busy fortnight of ship movements ahead. Soraya Petrakis needs a proper diagnosis, the defect managed through the planned maintenance system and a recommendation on whether Osprey can continue restricted or must come off the run.

Your brief

Work through the raw water and jacket water cooling systems on the port main engine to find the cause of the overheating, carry out the permitted servicing with isolation and records, update the defect in the Planned Maintenance and Defects system, and recommend to the Fleet Engineering Manager whether the vessel can continue in restricted service.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

• Read the Planned Maintenance and Defect Reporting Procedure and the defect record for Osprey's port engine in the Planned Maintenance and Defects system.
• Review the engine room log for the last two weeks and note the coolant temperature, raw water pressure and running hour trends before the overheating.
• Isolate and lock out the port engine and sea water system, then inspect the sea strainer, raw water pump impeller, heat exchanger tube stack and the exhaust injection elbow, recording findings for each.
• Check the jacket water system: coolant level and condition, thermostat, header tank cap and belt tension, and record the results.
• Carry out the servicing you are competent and authorised to do, such as strainer cleaning and impeller replacement, recording parts used, and identify any work that must go to the shore engineering team.
• Run the engine alongside under supervision, record temperatures and raw water flow at idle and at load, and compare them with the manufacturer's limits.
• Update the defect record with the diagnosis, work done, test results and classification, and set the status appropriately.
• Write a recommendation to Soraya Petrakis on whether Osprey can continue in restricted service, return to full service or must come off the run, with reasons and any survey implications.

What someone in this role would produce

• Diagnosis and inspection record
• Updated defect record in the Planned Maintenance and Defects system
• Engine test run log
• Written recommendation to the Fleet Engineering Manager