STORY

Rolls-Royce modernizes ship automation system on Wightlink ferry St Faith

Posted on May 12, 2022 by Rhuddian Davies, Images by Wightlink

The ferry St Faith of the British shipping company Wightlink, built in 1990, is getting a new, modern automation system in the form of the Alarm & Monitoring System (AMS) of the type mtu NautIQ Core.
Rolls-Royce has equipped another vessel of UK shipping company Wightlink with an mtu NautIQ Core Alarm & Monitoring System (AMS), based on Servowatch technology. Servowatch is the supplier of integrated marine automation solutions which Rolls-Royce acquired in December 2020.

Rolls-Royce replaced the ageing legacy system on Wightlink’s Roll-on/roll-off passenger ferry St Faith to adapt the ship automation to the current requirements. St Faith is the third largest vessel in Wightlink’s fleet and was built in 1990. It operates on the route between Portsmouth and Fishbourne (Isle of Wight). Wightlink operates two more vessels with Servowatch systems, the high-speed passenger catamarans Wight Ryder I and Wight Ryder II.

Customized solution marks new era

“This project marks a new era in our relationship. The upgrade has future-proofed the ferry well beyond the vessel’s 5-year extended lifetime program and working with Grundon Marine Ltd, our sales and service partner in UK, again demonstrates our ability to serve customers successfully”, says Andrew Burns, Director for Sales and Marketing at Servowatch.  

Rolls-Royce designed, built, and commissioned a custom fitted replacement AMS and Grundon Marine removed the old system and installed the new mtu NautIQ Core system. Everything was completed on time and in budget. This allowed the vessel to return to operational service between Portsmouth and Fishbourne as scheduled. This life-extending upgrade will ensure the vessel has minimal complications, ease of operation and supportability for many years to come.  Functionality and features of the system installed on St Faith include local intelligent remote terminal units, graphical operator workstation and a remote alarm interrogation display panel all built to meet Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) requirements.

The mtu NautIQ Core AMS was delivered, installed, and commissioned efficiently with minimal disruption to our service. This new system has modernized our vessel and extended its operating life well into the future. The ships’ crew and I are very happy with the support and assistance that Grundon Marine and Rolls-Royce provided.

Andy Carmichael , Technical Superintendent Wightlink

Grundon Marine’s Managing Director, Toby Grundon, says: “It was a pleasure to work on the St Faith project to install the complete mtu NautIQ Core system as part of a turnkey solution for the customer.’’  

Rolls-Royce provides a comprehensive range of turnkey solutions as part of its mtu NautIQ ship automation portfolio, meeting customers’ needs for both mid-life upgrades and new build projects from basic AMS with the mtu NautIQ Core products to complex Integrated Platform Management (IPMS) capabilities with mtu NautIQ Master.  

  

About Wightlink

Wightlink is the leading cross-Solent ferry operator, carrying 4.6 million passengers to and from the Isle of Wight every year. Eight ferries on three routes complete more than 100 sailings a day across our three routes, giving Islanders an easy and frequent service to mainland Hampshire and visitors an easy way to enjoy a taste of Island life.

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