A landmark project involving a Cornish company has seen groundbreaking technology used on a Royal Australian Navy ship for the first time.
Truro-based Fuel Specialist Services (FSS) has developed and manufactured a bespoke mobile fuel filtration system, which cleans and polishes fuel to required specifications, reducing emissions and wear through the life of engines and moving parts.
The unit has been integrated into HMAS Choules’ existing systems on the container deck and will be used for refuelling and defueling helicopters, increasing the quality of the fuel.
HMAS Choules is a Bay-class landing ship dock that previously served with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary as RFA Largs Bay before being purchased by the Royal Australian Navy and renamed.
FSS has a longstanding familiarity with the Bay Class, having worked extensively on the class in the UK, where its technology has been used on sister ships, including RFA Lyme Bay and Mounts Bay.
The company has been providing engineered fuel solutions for more than four decades, delivering a range of services from storage tank maintenance, decommissioning, fuel testing and fuel systems engineering, and obsolescence management to product handling and temporary storage.
FSS MD Oliver Evans, added: “We’ve already had great success working on other vessels of this class back in the UK. Our system is portable, easy to integrate and provides fuel within specification to both propulsion and AVCAT systems.”
