POWERING THE LAST SEAGOING PADDLE STEAMER

Powering the Last Seagoing Paddle Steamer
Powering the Last Seagoing Paddle Steamer

PS Waverley Has New Cat® C7.1 & C4.4 Aux Engines Backed by a CVA

In June 1946, PS Waverley, a paddle steamer built on the River Clyde in west Scotland, made her maiden voyage. And, for more than seven decades, she provided a memorable mode of travel around the Clyde, the Thames, the south coast of England, Bristol Channel and North Wales. But, in May 2019, her owners were forced to pull PS Waverley from service following a boiler failure. Good news: The story doesn’t end there. In 2021, the world’s last remaining seagoing passenger-carrying paddle steamer set sail once again — this time, powered by Cat® engines, fully supported by a Customer Value Agreement (CVA) in place.

Case Study

CUSTOMER:

PS Waverley

DEALER:

Finning UK

SEGMENT:

Passenger & Ferry

SOLUTION:

Customer Value Agreement (CVA)

LOCATION:

United Kingdom

SCOPE OF ENGINE USE:

Cat® C7.1 & C4.4 Aux Engines

History Repeats Itself

In her heyday, PS Waverley was equipped with Cat generators. After a £2.3 million campaign was launched to return the vessel to seaworthy condition, the engineers at Waverley Excursions approached Finning UK, the Caterpillar Marine dealer located in the United Kingdom, to help get the historic paddle steamer back in operation.

The Finning UK team visited the shipyard and worked with the project’s operation director, chief engineer and naval architects to gain a deep understanding of the power requirements, system integrations and physical space available. With that knowledge, they put together a competitively priced solution that fit the engine room design — two Cat C7.1 auxiliary engines providing main generator power and one C4.4 auxiliary engine for shoreside power.

But, cost wasn’t the only factor in the decision. As a passenger-going vessel, PS Waverley couldn’t afford downtime, and reducing emissions was also critical. That made the C7.1 and C4.4 engines ideal for the Waverley. Service intervals for the two engines met industry standards, reducing costs and downtime, and both meet the necessary IMO emissions requirements. Knowing that nationwide support was available from the Cat dealer network wherever PS Waverley travels also played a key role in the decision.

Finning UK has a CVA in place, saving time and allowing PS Waverley to budget for their upkeep. A TA-1 Caterpillar inspection was carried out to establish the parts and service required over the course of a 12-month period, so all parts are supplied, ensuring as much uptime as possible.

PS Waverley receives 24/7 support over a 12-month period, regardless of its location. Spare parts are delivered up front, so there is no delay, and their engineers are trained to perform the necessary service repairs themselves.

PS Waverley is now ready for another decade or more, backed by a reliable Cat parts and service.

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Power Profile Image Gallery

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PS Waverly - Engine Room - Image
PS Waverly Engine
PS Waverly Engine
PS Waverly Needles Isle of Wight

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