Fixed MCSA Condition-Monitoring — Installation Feasibility

A feasibility study for retrofitting a fixed Motor Current Signature Analysis (MCSA) system across 30 rotating machines on a 15,000 TEU dual-fuel LNG container ship — covering panel installability, sensing, hazardous-area compliance, network integration, and satellite bandwidth.

MCSA detects incipient faults — bearing degradation, eccentricity, and rotor anomalies — by analysing motor current waveforms, enabling early predictive maintenance before failures develop.

A 15,000 TEU dual-fuel container ship of the surveyed series, alongside in Busan.

01Scope & approach

The survey was carried out onboard the lead vessel, with a follow-up onboard a sister vessel. The work combined on-site panel inspections, review of maker manuals and electrical drawings (Artesis e-MCM, Faraday S200, single-line diagrams, hazardous-area plan, and the satellite connectivity guide), and a connectivity analysis across the Engine Control Room, Forward Switchboard Room, Steering Gear Room, and the floor / 4th deck.

30 rotating machines assessed for installability
~50 GB / month estimated data volume
~5% of the 1 TB/month satellite allocation

Engine Control Room — main switchboard and the network rack used as the data aggregation point.

02Installability across 30 machines

Across all 30 surveyed machines — from main air compressors and cooling-water pumps to FGSS fuel-gas pumps, BOG compressors, steering-gear units, and main-engine blowers — internal panel space, voltage taps, power sources, and current-transformer (CT) placement were each confirmed feasible. Equipment was grouped by type, with machines fed from the Emergency Switchboard treated as a separate case.

Faraday Predictive S200 acquisition unit (left) with its in-cabinet power supply (right).

03Sensing & network integration

The Faraday Predictive S200 acquisition units integrate with in-cabinet power supplies; for high-voltage machines, integration with the switchboard’s protection system was reviewed per the maker’s guidance. Acquired data is aggregated at the ECR network rack and routed shoreward over the vessel’s satellite link, comfortably within the available bandwidth.

04Outcome

The study confirmed that a fixed MCSA installation is feasible across the surveyed machines, with a clear basis for panel mounting, sensing, hazardous-area compliance, and connectivity — giving the owner an actionable foundation for a fleet predictive-maintenance programme.