Wärtsilä’s 15-year deal fortifying operational reliability of Chinese firm’s LNG vessel trio

September 18, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has won a multi-year lifecycle agreement for three liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers with China LNG Shipping (International) Co. Ltd. (CLSICO), which is perceived to be designed to ensure operational reliability, enable flexibility in maintenance scheduling, and optimize the time between overhauls (TBO) for each vessel.

Wärtsilä booked the 15-year agreement, which came into effect in August 2025, in Q3 2025, as part of CLSICO’s efforts to achieve optimal cost efficiency and operational reliability for its auxiliary engines. The deal with the Finnish player will allow the Chinese player to utilize engine data through Expert Insight, the European firm’s predictive maintenance solution.

While the company claims that its digital solution offers dynamic maintenance planning to streamline maintenance costs, the connectivity is deemed to enable 24/7 remote support for quicker issue resolution and improved asset availability. This tool is said to have the ability to predict potential problems before they occur, helping operators lower unscheduled maintenance costs.

Andrew Johnston, General Manager of CLSICO, commented: “With the LNG ship transportation industry chain entering a period of rapid development, we are committed to operating our LNG ships safely, reliably and efficiently. Wärtsilä’s lifecycle agreements play an important role here, ensuring we continue to optimise the operations and maintenance of our vessels more effectively.”

The agreement encompasses the Al Tuwar, Al Mas’Habiyyah, and Fat’h Al Khair LNG vessels, which are approximately 300 meters long, with a capacity of 174,000 cubic meters, and operate with two 8-cylinder and two 6-cylinder Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel engines. The latest deal follows the lifecycle agreement signed in 2023 with CLSICO covering the Dapeng Princess, which is considered the world’s largest shallow draft LNG carrier.

Henrik Wilhelms, Director of Agreement Sales at Wärtsilä Marine, remarked: “In today’s complex marine market, leveraging service agreements, digital tools and real-time data and analytics can maximise the lifecycle uptime and OPEX of a vessel – helping fleets to run optimally, stay competitive and comply with current and future decarbonisation targets.”

With LNG consumption and demand on the rise, Wärtsilä underlines that this fuel is solidifying its role as a leading environmentally friendly energy source; thus, LNG carriers are under greater pressure to deliver on tight schedules.

As a result, the firm believes the combination of increased demand and need for timely deliveries has made operational reliability more critical than ever for LNG carriers.

The deal with CLSICO comes months after the Finnish player secured an order for cargo handling and fuel supply systems for four new very large gas carriers (VLGCs).