Safe Bulkers extends Alfa Laval partnership

The extended partnership follows the retrofit in June 2018 of 20 Safe Bulkers vessels with Alfa Laval’s PureSOx scrubber systems for exhaust gas cleaning.

“Alfa Laval’s project management has really been first-rate,” said Dr Loukas Barmparis, president of Safe Bulkers. “Alfa Laval’s team worked with us proactively to solve issues as quickly as possible, and they brought additional resources to the yard whenever time or flexibility became a concern.”

Safe Bulkers ordered PureSOx retrofits for 12 Post-Panamax vessels, 6 Kamsarmax vessels and 2 Capesize vessels, with deliveries running until March 2020. Almost 15 of those systems, which comprise open-loop scrubbers configured for multiple inlet sources, have now been installed at COSCO retrofit yards with engineering design of Alpha Marine Consulting.

With the majority of the retrofits completed, Safe Bulkers is now looking ahead to secure trouble-free operation, signing a tailored Alfa Laval service agreement which will deliver connectivity and lifecycle-oriented services from the Alfa Laval PureSOx 360° Service Portfolio.

In addition to Alfa Laval spare parts, service kits and sensor calibration, the agreement includes services that will make maintenance more plannable and costs more predictable. As part of the agreement Safe Bulkers crew members will be trained at the recently opened Alfa Laval PureSOx Training Centre in Shanghai, China, where a full-size PureSOx system is installed.