Wärtsilä has booked a five-year service agreement covering two newly delivered 174,000 cbm LNG carriers operated by Greek owner TMS Cardiff Gas, as the company pushes deeper into condition-based servicing for gas tonnage.

The contract, booked in the third quarter of 2026, covers the recently delivered newbuilds Al Thurayya and Al Majhoulah, both of which have now entered service as part of a wider fleet expansion programme at the Athens-based operator.

For Wärtsilä, the deal extends a relationship that already spans much of the TMS Cardiff Gas gas fleet. In 2025, the two companies renewed a separate service agreement covering seven LNG carriers.

What does the agreement include?

The package is built around planned and predictive maintenance aimed at improving vessel availability and operational reliability. Specifically, it covers:

• Dynamic Maintenance Planning, which adjusts maintenance schedules and intervals to actual operating conditions
• 24/7 remote operational support
• Contract management services
• Expert Insight, Wärtsilä's predictive maintenance solution that uses real-time operational data to flag potential equipment issues before they escalate

The propulsion and power setup on each vessel ties the operator closely to Wärtsilä's technology stack: two WinGD 5X72DF two-stroke dual-fuel main engines, four Wärtsilä 34DF auxiliary engines and Wärtsilä gas valve units.

Why reliability matters to the operator

Alexandros Politis-Kalenteris, Deputy COO of TMS Cardiff Gas, framed the deal against the backdrop of tightening LNG trade flows.

"There is increasing global demand for LNG, and carrier operators place a high value on reliability. This is why this agreement with Wärtsilä is important to us," he said.

He added: "The existing agreement covering other vessels in our fleet has delivered a successful combination of technology, high-quality spare parts support and expert services, helping us maintain reliable and efficient operations."

Commercial context

For an operator managing more than 140 vessels across the LNG, LPG, oil tanker, dry bulk and container segments, unscheduled downtime on a 174,000 cbm carrier carries direct charter-party consequences. LNG operators contracting long-term maintenance with engine OEMs signals where the sector's priorities lie: uptime on high-value gas tonnage increasingly depends on data-driven servicing rather than fixed survey intervals.

For Wärtsilä, the agreement deepens its recurring service revenue tied to the dual-fuel newbuild wave, anchoring maintenance income to vessels over their early operating years rather than one-off equipment sales.

With both newbuilds already in service and the prior seven-vessel agreement running in parallel, TMS Cardiff Gas has now tied the majority of its LNG fleet maintenance to a single OEM service framework — a structure the operator says it intends to keep delivering reliability as LNG tonnage demand grows.