Performance Mechanism and Maintenance Quality of the Main Engine Cooling System on Board KMP. Merak, PT. ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero)

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-793-4_26How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Cooling System Performance; Maintenance Quality; Main Engine; KMP. Merak; PT. ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero)

Abstract

The main engine cooling system is designed to maintain the operating temperature of the main engine within the manufacturer’s recommended limits, thereby preventing overheating, maintaining thermal efficiency, and ensuring reliable engine performance during ship operation. On board KMP. Merak, PT. ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero), cooling system performance is frequently compromised by fouling in the Fresh Water Cooler’s capillary pipes and by insufficient seawater cooling capacity, both of which reduce heat absorption, as well as by decreasing freshwater pump pressure caused by bearing damage and packing leakage. This study aims to determine the performance mechanism and maintenance quality of the main engine’s closed cooling system, and to identify the root causes of, and corrective actions for, unstable cooling water temperature and pressure. The research uses a descriptive quantitative approach combined with qualitative observation and interviews; data were obtained from the ship’s engine room daily log book, direct observation, documentation, and interviews during a three-day observation period on board KMP. Merak. The results show that the average maintenance effectiveness of the six main cooling system components increased from 72.50% before maintenance to 89.67% after maintenance, an average gain of 17.17 percentage points, with the Fresh Water Pump showing the largest improvement (from 65% to 93%) following bearing replacement and packing repair. The root causes identified were capillary-pipe fouling, reduced seawater cooling capacity, and mechanical wear of the pump bearing and packing. Corrective actions — regular cleaning of the Fresh Water Cooler, inspection of the seawater filter and impeller, and scheduled bearing and packing replacement — restored cooling system performance, keeping KMP. Merak’s main engine cooling system within normal operating limits and the vessel in a consistently seaworthy condition.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Baso Achmat
AU  - Muhammad Saleh
AU  - Sufriyadi Sufriyadi
AU  - Khofifah Kafaillah
AU  - Syamsu Syamsu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/16
TI  - Performance Mechanism and Maintenance Quality of the Main Engine Cooling System on Board KMP. Merak, PT. ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero)
BT  - Proceedings of the  International Conference on Advanced Maritime Interconnection (ICAMI 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 351
EP  - 365
SN  - 2352-5401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-793-4_26
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-793-4_26
ID  - Achmat2026
ER  -