Two Ships, One Team, One Month: How Høglund Delivered a Dual IAS/ECSS Retrofit in Seattle

When American Seafoods brought two vessels — Northern Jaeger and American Triumph — into the same pier in Seattle for a scheduled maintenance window, it created an unusual opportunity. Both vessels needed a full retrofit of their integrated automation systems (IAS) and engine control & safety systems (ECSS). Both were running obsolete equipment. And both had to be back in operation within a month.

Høglund took on both projects simultaneously.

The challenge

The scope on each vessel was substantial. The IAS retrofit meant replacing end-of-life K-Chief600 with a fully modern Høglund system — new hardware, new software, new human-machine interfaces, and full integration with onboard machinery. The ECSS retrofit covered the engine safety layer for two different engine types: MaK 8M453C on Northern Jaeger and Wärtsilä 8R320 on American Triumph. Each engine manufacturer with its own proprietary protocols and interfaces, which meant the team had to navigate two separate integration paths in parallel.

Beyond the technical complexity, the job involved coordinating a significant number of external suppliers and vendors — all within a compressed and non-negotiable schedule.

Running two projects in parallel

The Høglund team on the pier was small. That was a deliberate choice: a lean, experienced technical team that could move fast, make decisions on the spot, and stay tightly coordinated across both vessels. With the ships moored side by side, engineers could shift between them as the work demanded, resolving issues in real time rather than queuing them for later.

One of the more rewarding aspects of the project was the collaboration with each vessel's crew. Rather than delivering a standard set of operator screens, the team worked together with the crew to develop custom mimics — displays tailored to how the operators actually work and what they need to see at a glance. It takes more time upfront, but the result is a system the crew genuinely understands and trusts.

After four weeks of intensive work, both vessels completed commissioning, testing, and sea trials on schedule.

Still connected

The job didn't end at the pier. Both vessels are now supported remotely by Høglund's team — handling software updates, configuration changes, and troubleshooting as needed. The relationship that started in the shipyard continues at sea.

What the customer said

"We had two vessels down at the same time, tight deadlines, and a lot of moving parts. Høglund's team handled it without missing a beat — professional, flexible, and they clearly knew what they were doing. The new systems are a big change from what we had, and the crews are happy with them. We wouldn't hesitate to bring Høglund back”, says Joe Sweeney, Executive Technical Director American Seafoods.

Two vessels, two obsolete systems, two different engines, one small team — and a month later, both ships were back at sea, running modern automation they can rely on for years to come.