Comparing two maintenance systems on their monthly price is like comparing two ships on their length. The real cost of a maintenance tool is measured as a total cost of ownership over three years, adding what you pay, what you invest in time, and what the tool prevents you from losing. That last column is the one comparison tables leave out, and it is often the one that decides.
What you pay
Licences first. Pricing per vessel per month, as in our plans running from €10 to €150 per vessel, keeps the cost predictable and proportional to the size of the fleet. Be wary of models billed per user: they penalise exactly the behaviour you are trying to establish, which is that the whole crew uses the tool.
Then come rollout, covering data import and configuration, and team training. These two items are sometimes included and sometimes billed as consulting days, and the question deserves to be asked before signature. Our 32-criteria selection grid devotes a full chapter to the costs that do not appear on the first page of a quotation.
What you invest
The real investment is not financial but human: a few days to inventory the equipment, import the maker's plans and train the ship. A tool designed for seafarers, with a mobile app, offline entry and an interface free of software jargon, divides that cost by two or three.
It is the most discriminating factor between two solutions, far more than the advertised price. Our comparison of Excel and a maritime CMMS shows that the spreadsheet, reputedly free, turns out to be the most expensive option once the hours actually spent maintaining it are valued.
What you avoid
The third column is what tips the calculation. A single unplanned immobilisation avoided, with its tow, its emergency yard visit or its lost campaign, pays for several years of subscription.
Then come over-maintenance removed, since parts are replaced on data rather than on precaution, stock brought back to its proper level, detentions avoided in inspection, and the resale value of a vessel whose technical history is beyond reproach. Equipped owners generally record a fall of 20 to 35 % in their upkeep costs, and we set out the mechanisms in our guide to reducing vessel maintenance costs.
An order of magnitude on five vessels
Take a working fleet of five units on a mid-range plan, which represents roughly €6,000 of annual licences plus a few days of rollout and training spread over the first quarter. Against that, one immobilisation day avoided per vessel per year, commonly valued at between €3,000 and €15,000 depending on the activity, together with ten per cent fewer parts, is enough to make the balance positive in the first year.
Decide with your own figures
Total cost of ownership is calculated rather than estimated. List your immobilisations over the past twenty-four months with their cost, then ask each vendor how their tool would have prevented them. The answers are often instructive. To structure the whole selection process, start with our complete maritime CMMS guide, then put your figures in front of us: it is the exercise we enjoy most.
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