Wireless condition monitoring for ship applications

Wireless systems have proven to be robust and provide good quality of service for condition monitoring applications in industrial sector. These systems have proven to provide significant reductions in maintenance costs. Such a system is developed for ship applications. The methodology followed and the scope of recorded data for the purposes of condition monitoring of machinery and equipment onboard a vessel is presented. Off-line and real time measurements are combined allowing for incorporation of inspection data into the system. Additionally, the recorded data are processed and presented through a decision support system developed as part of the INCASS (Inspection Capabilities for Enhanced Ship Safety) project in order to assist crew members and onshore personnel in taking timely and effective maintenance actions. The result is a reliable user friendly graphical interface (GUI) developed in Java language. Data trends can be used to predict time to failure and allow for better maintenance planning and spare part scheduling.