Page 15: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 1984)

The MIV VALIANT, a deep-notch tug operating with the barge BULKFLEET PENNSYLVANIA, is powered by two Krupp MaK 6MU 551 AK 6-cylinder heavy fuel engines. "When we designed the tug

M/V VALIANT, and her sister- ship M/V VICTORY as deep- notch vessels to work in combination with the barges

BULKFLEET PENNSYLVANIA and BULKFLEET TEXAS, we took a close look at the fuel sit- uation for the future," says

Barry Snyder, Presi- dent of Bulkfleet

Marine. "It didn't take a crystal ball to see that

No. 2 diesel was going to get more expensive, and tougher to find, in the not so distant future.

That's why we specified heavy-fuel engines. "Each tug is powered by two Krupp MaK 6MU 551 AK 6-cylinder engines, rated at 4,000 BHP at 420 RPM," he con- tinues. We mix 15% No. 2 die- sel with 85% bunker C to yield fuel of 1500 seconds Redwood 1 at 100°F, or 180 centistokes at 122°F. "The MaK 551 engines are designed to be able to operate with a maximum fuel viscosity of 380 cSt, sulfur up to 4.3%, vanadium up to 400 ppm, alumina/silica up to 30 ppm

At the 10,000 hour inspection the cylinders showed virtually zero wear, the rings were clean and free. Lubrication in these engines is provided by Gulf Marine engine oils. and sodium up to 40 ppm. All that's basically an involved way of saying these engines can save us a lot of money on fuel."

James R. Colman, Bulk- fleet's Engineering head supervised the recent engine inspection and says, "The se- cret to burning this low grade fuel is the right oil to protect the engines. You don't save any money if you're eating up engines. We get the protection we need from Gulf Marine engine oil. The results of our 10,000 hour inspection of the

VALIANT'S engines prove it.

Between the two engines, we looked into eight cylinder heads and piston assemblies.

The piston skirts were clean and smooth with zero wear.

Cylinder liner wear was mea- sured at 'nil' except for two liners which indicated one- tenth of a millimeter wear, well within acceptable bound- aries. The piston rings were clean and free; maximum ring wear was two-tenths of a mil- limeter. We opened four main bearings and found them in excellent condition. That's a remarkable inspection for engines running this kind of fuel, and I think it's directly attributable to the Gulf lubricant." "In fact,"

Colman con- cludes, "Gulf provides a com- plete range of lubricants for these vessels.

And we get pro- tection from every product, that makes for efficient opera- tion. I'm con- vinced, these heavy fuel engines are the way to save money in bulk transport, and

Gulf lubricants are the way to save these engines."

Ask your Gulf pro how

Gulftow'oils and other Gulf lubricants can help protect your investment. Or write,

Gulf Oil Corporation, P.O. Box 1563, Houston, Texas 77251.

Everything we do makes business better for you.

Bearing wear was minimal. Inspection of four main bearings showed them in excellent condition.

Gulf Oil Corporation Visit Gulf in Booth 425/426 at the New Orleans Work Boat Show. Circle 114 on Reader Service Card