USCGC Healy (WAGB 20)—A Case Study for Implementing Reliability-Centered Maintenance

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 condition-based 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.