A ship's engine room usually contains several engines for different purposes. The main engine, or the propulsion engine, is used to spin the ship's propeller and move the ship through the water. Certain sensors are fitted and connected as standard during construction of the engine and the vessel. However, these are not always sufficient or adequate to fully benefit from Vessel Performance Management systems or to predict preventive maintenance.

OEM vendors have developed several wireless sensors to obtain more and enhanced data from engines. Sealution provides an opportunity for a new onboard application of these sensors. With the internal network created through our solution, it is easy to connect existing and newly installed sensors with our Central Module for efficient data collection and instant onboard processing.

One of the more critical systems onboard is undoubtedly the stern tube with its bearings and seals. The function of the aft seal is twofold: preventing outward leakage of lubricating oil from the stern tube resulting in seawater contamination, and preventing seawater from entering the stern tube and contaminating the lubrication system.

It is therefore crucial to properly monitor the condition and functioning of stern tube seals. Until today this is quite a cumbersome process as stern tube seals are located at the deepest point aft of the ship. Connecting sensors by means of a cable from a seal’s position to the bridge is not the privileged solution to solve this challenge. Sealution offers the possibility to wirelessly connect such sensors to our Central Module installed on the bridge.