The Antigua Experience

What seemed like a normal day at Scania Assistance, Western Europe centre (Bradford U.K), changed when the Chief Engineer onboard a Luxury 55 metre Motor Yacht, “Achilles”, called for assistance with a problem on a marine generator engine.

The engine, which had previously been rebuilt by a non-Scania workshop, had various problems that needed urgent attention. Previously, to remove the engine for repair, a hole had been cut into the deck causing massive disruption to the Yacht. This time the customer wanted it done in situ and by qualified Scania technicians. There was only one problem; the work needed to be carried out during a planned maintenance visit to Antigua, West Indies.

The next step was to find out what was needed to complete a full engine rebuild. Scania Assistance contacted a Marine engine workshop; SGB Industrial and Marine department and the U.K Technical help desk who all suggested an engine rebuild kit would be the best course of action. This advice was offered to the customer, who then dangled the carrot that there could also be more work on the starboard engine as well as the port engine.

The search was on for a local Scania workshop to complete the work, the nearest Island workshop was on Martinique, but unfortunately there was no response from them. It was now time to find a technically minded person closer to home, who had worked a lot on Scania engines and put them in touch with the customer. This is when Aaron McGrath at West Pennine was contacted.

Aaron has worked his way through his apprenticeship, to breakdown technician, to Service Manager, and then to his latest position of Technical & Special Projects Manager for the West Pennine Group. His first reaction was to laugh when the job was first explained to him, but he quickly agreed when he realized that it was not a joke, Aaron made contact with the customer, and then everything began to snowball.

Aaron’s final brief (sounds like ‘Mission Impossible’) was to fully dismantle both Port & Starboard Scania D9 generator engines (2002 built engines) in situ, to produce a detailed report of engine component wear and, finally, to fully re-build both the engines, fitting new components as required, leaving the client with both generator engines in fully operational condition.

Just two weeks after Scania Assistance were first contacted, Aaron and his work colleague and fellow Master Technician, Mike Farmer, arrived at the Yacht, which was moored in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua. They had also flown over five toolboxes (120 kg) containing all the necessary tools required to complete the work on site. The parts required for the job were shipped out separately, and left the U.K. only hours before the Icelandic Volcanic ash cloud shut the U.K. airspace for 8 days!

It turned out to be an extremely challenging job, as it entailed working up to twelve hours a day below deck, in a confined, hot engine room, with the other generator engine running constantly as it was still supplying power to the Yacht, which meant all communication below deck were by sign language, as ear defenders were worn at all times.

The generator engines were both fully rebuilt in 12 days as planned, and during the rebuild the cause of the “Achilles” problems had been found, which where a corroded cylinder head core plug on the Starboard engine (which had started to leak coolant), and a blocked oil cooler core on the Port engine which was causing the engine to run hot when at full load.

Although it was a challenging job, Aaron and Mike were well looked after by the Yacht’s crew. The engine rebuilds were finished within budget and on schedule to the delight of the Yacht’s crew and Owners. Unfortunately for Aaron & Mike, the Icelandic volcanic dust cloud had also cleared, this meant an immediate return to the UK and very little time to enjoy the Caribbean sunshine!