The cruise industry is moving more and more toward long-term partnerships after Wärtsilä and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd extended their long-term cooperation and service agreement to the year 2028.

The original agreement, signed in 2013, spanned 10 years. Under the agreement, Wärtsilä is optimising maintenance efficiency through improved Turbocharger maintenance, providing OEM spare parts, workshop services and preferred technical assistance for 46 Royal Caribbean Cruises’ ships.

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These include cruise ships in the Royal Caribbean International fleet, and its subsidiary brands Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises.

Royal Caribbean Cruises is the second-largest cruise company in the world and the reliability of the equipment installed on board RCL’s vessels is of the utmost importance.

The availability of Wärtsilä’s technical support at all times, everywhere in the world, helps ensure optimal operations for RCL’s vessels.

The partnership is to complement the RCL Global Marine in-house expertise with continuous improvement via various technical innovations and direct access to Wärtsilä’s technical expertise with continuous focus on safety and life cycle cost.

Celebrity Cruises is a fully-owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises.

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This new agreement between RCL and Wärtsilä, signed in June 2018, covers a total of 196 engines installed in 46 cruise ships, the majority of which sail in the Caribbean and Europe.

The largest portion of RCL fleet of vessels is equipped with Wärtsilä’s condition monitoring technology, which transmits real-time information about engine condition to a Wärtsilä Expertise Centre for analysis.

This allows for predictive maintenance planning and optimisation of operations.

“When it comes to maintenance planning and operations, the marine and cruise industry is moving more and more toward long-term partnerships,” said Sean Carey, service unit director, North America, Wärtsilä Services.

“This is a natural direction, as it enables a holistic approach to vessel maintenance,” he added. “A partner that understands the installation and optimises their condition throughout their lifecycle can help Royal Caribbean to enhance their business. Close cooperation is essential in such partnerships.”

Royal Caribbean International will be homeporting its Radiance-class cruise ship Jewel of the Seas in Dubai for the 2019/2020 Middle East cruise season, sailing roundtrip in the Arabian Gulf from November to March.