Wärtsilä, the Finnish engineering group, and Carnival Corporation & plc, the world's largest cruise company, say they have signed a comprehensive, 12-year agreement that strengthens their existing partnership and joint continuous improvement efforts to maintain the highest possible levels for cruise ship safety and reliability.

“The performance-based agreement provides for shared financial incentives and exposure based on outcomes for both companies,” the companes said in a statement.

The value of the long-term agreement is approximately €900 million. The expected revenues for 24 months, approximately €150 million, will be included in Wärtsilä's order book for the first quarter of 2017. As the contract becomes effective as of April 1, the expected revenues for 2017 are €56 million.

According to the agreement, all engine maintenance and monitoring work for 79 of Carnival Corporation's vessels will be handled by Wärtsilä, and ongoing planning will be a collaboration between both companies.

The agreement includes Wärtsilä's Dynamic Maintenance Planning (DMP) and Condition Based Maintenance (CBM). These services are based on capturing digitalised data streams from every engine, after which this data is analysed by specialists.

This allows real-time optimisation of the equipment whilst predicting operational and maintenance demands. With the DMP and CBM in place, vessel and fleet operations are optimized and engine overhaul intervals potentially extended. With approximately 400 Wärtsilä engines covered under the agreement, even the smallest improvements in vessel fuel consumption add up to significant annual savings in fleet operational costs.