Datum Electronics’ shaft power measurement system allows RDA Shiptech to verify engine capacity of fishing vessels and fleet capacity.
To comply with current regulations and prevent overfishing, each member state of the European Union has to ensure fishing vessels in the country provide accurate information about the engine power of each vessel. As a rule, it is recorded in kilowatts as part of the vessel’s registration and licence.
Moreover, it’s against European law to provide incorrect information or fish with a fishing vessel with a power higher than the one stated in the license. Therefore, the EU has established the Common Fisheries Policy and verification measures, aimed at verifying the declared engine power of fishing vessels. These include physical tests of engine power of some of the fishing vessels in a fleet.
RDA Shiptech is a specialist in the analysis of marine diesel engines with a proven track record in troubleshooting and engine condition monitoring. Based in Drachten, the Netherlands, they work with leading companies within the shipping industry, including Stena Line, Holland America Line, Amasus Shipping and Vroon Ship Management.
RDA Shiptech delivers marine engine inspection and performance analysis services to a wide variety of clients within the marine industry. Although they deliver a wide range of services for marine engine analysis and optimisation, they mainly focus on remote visual inspection, engine performance testing, and shaft power measurement.
As the company is recognised by various authorities in member states, it was contracted out to verify the engine power output of fishing vessels on their behalf and ensure on-going compliance with relevant regulations.
As part of the verification process, the company is required to perform shaft power measurement on board newly built ships and existing installations. Previously, they have been outsourcing this to third-party providers. However, the team recognised the necessity of bringing this service in-house to guarantee the quality and the reliability of the measurements, as well as reduce costs.
RDA Shiptech was keen to bring shaft power measurement in house and carried out an extensive market analysis on existing systems and equipment. Fortunately, they had previous experience with using Datum Shaft Power Measurement kits in the past, and found them to be very robust and reliable.
For this new particular project, they decided to take advantage of three separate Shaft Power Measurement kits that have been proven to survive sometimes harsh propeller shaft environments.
Datum Shaft Power Measurement Kits can be easily installed on site in less than half an hour with minimal technical skills. It can also be reused for multiple tests on various shaft sizes, making it the ultimate shaft power measurement solution for sea trials.
Having three separate systems (with additional spare parts) allowed RDA Shiptech to standardise the power measurement results from multiple fishing vessels and exchange spare parts, if required, more easily. These two things alone improve the reliability and quality control of their services, while making their costs steadier and more predictable.
In addition, providing shaft power measurement in house ensured the company didn’t have to rely on the availability from third parties, which sped up the verification process itself.
Due to the high accuracy of shaft power measurement kits, the quality and reliability of shaft power measurement and reports have improved, making RDA ShipTech a reputable company for engine verification and compliance with current marine regulations.
RDA Shiptech said in a statement: “We did quite an extensive market analysis when we first entered the shaft power measurement business. The price to quality ratio for Datum Shaft Power Measurement Kits is really good, compared to competition. And the staff has always been very supportive as well.”