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In new ship construction, maintenance planning affords both an opportunity and a challenge. On one hand, a new ship class enables maintenance planners to start with a clean slate and consider improved and more cost-effective maintenance methods. On the other hand, new manning concepts, lack of timely technical information when maintenance planning is conducted in parallel with detail design, use of equipment new to the fleet, and the like impose a measure of uncertainty on the planning process. In this paper, we review why and how Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) techniques were applied to the new Polar icebreaker U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (CGC) Healy (frontispiece). We review how we incorporated conditionbased maintenance techniques where appropriate. We discuss the decision process used for fine-tuning the Maintenance Procedure Cards (MPC) for CGC Healy's hull, mechanical, and electrical (HM&E) Preventive Maintenance Manual. Finally, we share some lessons learned in the process.
Introduction
THE U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy's primary mission is t( serve as a world-class, high-latitude research platform. De ployments will support a wide range of science and engineer ing disciplines, including marine geology; physical, chemical and biological oceanography; meteorology, naval architec ture, and marine engineering.
CGC Healy will be used in icebreaking operations during any season in the Arctic and Antarctic. All ship systems are designed to function during extended winter operations ir these areas, including intentional wintering over. Missions may include serving as a science platform or ice escort to supply vessels, transporting cargo and passengers, and supporting Antarctic Treaty inspection teams.
The ship's principal characteristics are listed in Table 1.
Why apply RCM?
CGC Healy is quite different from the USCG POLAR class icebreakers (WAGB 10 and 11) commissioned in the mid1970s. This new design includes a considerable amount of commercial off-the-shelf and foreign-made equipment new to the Coast Guard, and so stimulated the search for an equally new and cost-effective approach to her preventive maintenance.
In addition, Healy will have a crew size of only 75, slightly more than half the POLAR class crew complement. Accordingly, crew maintenance during ship deployments was to be limited to emergency repairs and quarterly and more frequent preventive maintenance. But a preliminary manning study showed that a crew of...