Nabtesco Engine Control
Spare Parts Supplier
M-800 bridge manoeuvring systems · Telegraph and wing handles · Electronic governors · FIVA and ELFI valves
From the bridge handle to the valve on the cylinder
Nabtesco's marine business became independent as the ship division of Nippon Air Brake in 1971 and became the Marine Control Systems Company when Nabtesco Corporation was formed in 2003. Its remote control equipment began as pneumatic systems and moved through relays and electronic boards to microcomputers, and the maker describes it as the manoeuvring system on MAN, WinGD and UE licence engines. A request that names only Nabtesco can mean a bridge console, a handle on the bridge wing, a governor actuator or a hydraulic valve on the cylinder, and each one is read differently.
M-800-VII
Launched in 2022 as the successor to the M-800-V, it controls the main engine from the bridge or the engine control room, sends the speed order and monitors engine condition. The maker describes it as bringing remote control, condition monitoring and controllable pitch propeller control into one system, with network functions and LCD screens. Requests concern the display units, the modular units behind them, the power supplies and the telegraph handle.
M-800-V
The generation the M-800-VII was built on. Nabtesco's maintenance notice states that from the M-800-V onwards the electronics are distributed modules, so a single board cannot be changed: the CPU, RPM, SHD, HUB or TB unit is replaced whole. Quote the unit label rather than a board number, and send a photograph of the unit in its cabinet.
M-800-II
Put on the market from 1995 to 2003 and built from individual boards. Many of its integrated circuits have gone out of production; the maker has been redesigning boards and testing substitutes, and in 2025 advised owners who intend to keep the ship trading to plan a change to the M-800-VII at a scheduled docking. For some engine types, the PC and RTA among them, it may offer instead a conventional system that it can still build.
MT-800-VII · MT-800-V · MT-800-VII TWIN
The transmitter and receiver handles that carry the main engine speed order; the TWIN version is the maker's handle for twin-engine installations. An optional electric shaft system keeps several handles in step, the port and starboard wing handles included. Earlier MT-800 and MT-800-II telegraph boards are on the maker's upgrade list for products long out of production.
NMW · NMWS · MWP · NC-1 · NC-3 · H-2 · HC-2 · HD-2 · NMA · NME
NMW, NMWS and MWP are the bridge wing handles. NC-1, NC-3 and NMA are listed as pneumatic handles and NME as an electric one, while H-2, HC-2 and HD-2 appear in both a pneumatic and an electric version, the electric one typed H-2-P. Wing handles work in a harsh environment and are prone to rust, and the maker recommends replacing them complete at intervals that depend on their exposure; take the type letters from the handle itself and say whether it is pneumatic or electric.
EAR-120 · Governor Control Unit · MG-800
The electric governor system holds the main engine at its set speed, choosing control parameters and operating mode to suit the conditions, and an optional specification tolerates some speed fluctuation within preset conditions to hold back excessive fuel injection. The maintenance notice names the MG-800 electronic governor system and its parts: CPU board and power supply, the servo driver for the actuator drive unit, the governor actuator and the control unit display. Earlier EAR-500 and EAR-1000 governors and MCG-100, 200, 300, 402 and 700 control units are listed for upgrade, with a governor control unit carrying the FUEL SAVE MODE offered as an option.
FIVA I · FIVA II · ELFI-V1 · ELFI-B2 · ELVA
One valve per cylinder. On Everllence ME engines the FIVA controls injection timing and quantity together with exhaust valve timing; the ELFI and the ELVA, also one per cylinder, split those duties between fuel injection and the exhaust valve. Nabtesco states that it supplies complete valves under a licence agreement with MAN, and its own notice lists them under FIVA-H, ELFI-V and ELFI-B designations. The pilot valve, the stroke sensor and the overhaul consumables are separate lines from the complete valve.
BWM · BTM · LWM · WIO sensors
Bearing wear monitoring on the main, crankpin and crosshead bearings of two-stroke engines, bearing temperature monitoring, liner wall temperature monitoring and a water-in-oil sensor, together with the position sensors that follow fuel injection pump and exhaust valve stroke on MAN low-speed electronic engines. Give the sensor type and the bearing or cylinder it serves.
What ages in a remote control system, by the maker's own account
Nabtesco publishes a maintenance notice for its main engine control equipment, and it reads less like a wear chart for moving parts than a list of what time does to electronics. These are the points it names, and what each one means for an enquiry.
Potentiometers drift at the running position
The telegraph and control potentiometers wear where they spend their working life, at the usual running position. The maker warns that a change of resistance there can stop telegraph communication or upset engine control. The maker lists encoders under the same heading. Give the handle type and say where the fault shows: on the bridge, in the control room or at a wing.
Converters that sag before they fail
Every power supply in the system ages, and the maker warns that a falling output voltage can make telegraph communication, control and the safety devices misbehave. The AC/DC converter feeds the system from the main supply, with the ship's emergency supply as back-up; the DC/DC converters, single units on some systems and boards on others, step that down inside. Say which functions misbehaved and when the converters were last renewed.
Boards that can no longer be built
On the M-800-II the larger problem is supply rather than wear: integrated circuits on its boards have gone out of production, and a redesigned board has to be verified against the boards around it. Across the M-800 family the maker recommends renewing boards and units on a planned cycle instead of waiting for failure. Either way, the generation decides what can be ordered.
Backlights fade, wing handles rust
The BDP and CDP liquid crystal displays lose backlight brightness with age until the screen is hard to read, and displays with fluorescent-tube backlights are on the upgrade list. Wing handles work in the weather and rust; because installations differ so much the maker sets no single cycle for the electric shaft handles, but recommends complete replacement of wing handles at intervals that follow their exposure.
Rubber in the air system
Packings, spacers and springs in the pneumatic manoeuvring system deteriorate markedly with age, and the high-pressure line goes first, which is why the maker recommends overhauling it more often than the rest. Name the valve or block the part sits in and whether it is on the high-pressure side.
Internal leakage in the pilot valve
On FIVA and ELFI valves the routine check is the internal leakage of hydraulic oil in the pilot valve, followed by overhaul; at the periodic overhaul, ashore or on board, the pilot valve is replaced and the stroke sensor and main valve are inspected. The FIVA controller can estimate internal leakage from the valve signal and show a recommended maintenance status, so its indication belongs in the enquiry.
What gets ordered against Nabtesco engine control equipment
Grouped as the system is laid out: bridge and control room electronics first, then the handles, the governor, the pneumatic manoeuvring gear, and the valves and sensors on the engine itself. Where the installed system is a pneumatic one, the pneumatic cylinder air calculator gives the free air its cylinders take per stroke and per minute, and their theoretical force.
- Telegraph and control potentiometers and encoders
- AC/DC and DC/DC converters and power supply boards
- CPU, RPM, SHD, HUB and TB units, and boards on systems built before the M-800-V
- BDP and CDP liquid crystal display units
- Telegraph handles, twin-engine handles and electric shaft handle sets
- Bridge wing handles, replaced complete
- Relays, isolation amplifiers, limit and proximity switches, buzzers, ventilation fans and batteries
- Governor actuators and servo drivers for the actuator drive unit
- Governor control unit CPU boards, power supplies and displays
- Packings, spacers and springs for the pneumatic manoeuvring system, including its high-pressure line
- FIVA and ELFI pilot valves, stroke sensors and overhaul consumables
- Bearing wear, bearing temperature, liner wall temperature, water-in-oil and valve position sensors
Name the system, the unit and the ship
Nabtesco's own notices ask for the ship's name and IMO number with every enquiry, and for the shipyard and hull number when maintenance history is to be checked. The list below adds what the equipment itself shows.
- System designation as shown on the bridge or control room console: M-800-II, M-800-V or M-800-VII
- Label of the unit the part belongs to, CPU, RPM, SHD, HUB or TB, or the board marking on an M-800-II
- Display unit, BDP or CDP, and whether its backlight is the fluorescent-tube type
- Handle type taken from the handle itself: MT-800-V, MT-800-VII, a wing handle such as NMW, NMWS or MWP, or a pneumatic or electric handle, and whether an electric shaft system links them
- Main engine designation and builder, since the same control family serves MAN, WinGD and UE licence engines
- Governor: the EAR type, the control unit type such as MCG-402 or the current Governor Control Unit, and whether the FUEL SAVE MODE option is fitted
- Hydraulic valves: the lettering on the valve, FIVA, ELFI or ELVA with any suffix, and whether the line is a pilot valve, consumables or a complete valve
- For the pneumatic manoeuvring system, the valve or block designation and whether the part is on the high-pressure line
- Ship name, IMO number, shipyard and hull number
- Alarm text from the display, the function affected, and when boards, units or displays were last renewed
Generation, licence and the maker's own conditions
A Nabtesco list is sorted three ways before it is priced: by system generation, by whether a line falls under a licence condition, and by whether it is the maker's own design or a bought-in electrical item.
Current units and handles: OEM-route review
Units, displays, handles and governor parts for the M-800-V and M-800-VII carry designations the maker still lists, and these lines go to an OEM-route review against the unit label and the ship's records. Remote control and governor parts act directly on the main engine, so a change is planned around the ship's schedule and any class requirement rather than ordered loose.
Earlier systems: say early what may not exist
For an M-800-II, and for EAR-500 and EAR-1000 governors, MCG control units, MT-800 telegraph boards and ML-800 telegraph loggers, the maker's own answer is often an upgrade rather than a part. Some lines can still be quoted; where they cannot, we say so at the start and point to the upgrade the maker names rather than assemble a patchwork.
Complete hydraulic valves: a licence condition
Nabtesco states that, under its licence agreement with MAN, a complete FIVA or ELFI valve may go to anyone other than the licensor and the engine licensees only in an emergency and with the engine licensee's consent, shown by an e-mail or document at the time of order. Pilot valves are not under that condition. We ask about consent before quoting a complete valve, and quote pilot valves and consumables as their own lines.
Bought-in electrical items and the maker's position
Relays, switches, fans, batteries and converters that carry their own maker's marking can be reviewed as verified alternatives where the buyer's approval rules permit. Nabtesco has said that parts bought outside its own service and sales network, or of unknown origin, are not covered by it and that its engineers decline work involving them, so each line shows its route and the buyer decides with that in view. Vessel Core is an independent spare parts supplier.
Nabtesco engine control parts — common questions
Does Nabtesco make the steering gear or the propeller on our ship?
Not according to its own marine site, which lists engine remote control, telegraph, fuel supply valves, governors and sensors, and credits rudder control technology to Tokyo Keiki in a joint development. The M-800-VII does integrate control of a controllable pitch propeller, so a pitch control request can involve the Nabtesco console, but nothing on the maker's marine site lists a propeller or a steering gear.
Our remote control is an M-800-II. Can you still quote parts for it?
Some lines, yes, and we tell you which ones before pricing. The maker sold the M-800-II from 1995 to 2003 and says many of its integrated circuits are out of production. It has redesigned boards where it could, and it advises owners keeping the ship in service to plan a change to the M-800-VII at a scheduled docking or, for some engine types, the PC and RTA among them, to a conventional system it can still build.
Why do you ask for the unit label rather than the board number?
Because from the M-800-V onwards Nabtesco builds the electronics as distributed modules and states that single boards cannot be replaced: the CPU, RPM, SHD, HUB or TB unit is changed whole. On an M-800-II the board is still the item. A photograph of the label in the cabinet settles which case you have.
Can you supply a complete FIVA or ELFI valve?
Only on the terms the maker has published. Under its licence agreement with MAN, Nabtesco releases complete valves beyond the licensor and the engine licensees only in an emergency and with the engine licensee's documented consent. Pilot valves are outside that condition, and overhaul consumables are separate lines. Tell us at the start whether the request is for a complete valve and whether the licensee's consent is in hand.
What do you need for a governor fault?
The governor type, EAR-120 or an earlier EAR model, the control unit type, the plates on the actuator and the servo driver, the message on the control unit display, and whether the FUEL SAVE MODE option is fitted. Older EAR-500 and EAR-1000 governors and MCG control units are on the maker's upgrade list, so the answer may be a replacement set rather than a part.
Is Vessel Core connected to Nabtesco?
No, and there is no agreement of any kind. Vessel Core holds no distribution, representation or partnership agreement with Nabtesco, and quoting a component against one of its designations implies no approval by the maker and no claim of interchangeability.
Submit your RFQ now.
Send the system designation, a photograph of the unit or handle label, and the ship's name and IMO number. Say whether the request follows an alarm, and which function it affected.
