Under perfect conditions, rotating machines are designed for infinite life. Unfortunately, perfect conditions do not exist in practice, so efforts are made to create optimal working conditions. Condition monitoring does not improve machine operation or delay failure. It does, however, provide important information about the monitored component, such as its overall condition, possible failure symptoms and their severity. Traditionally, ship operators can use a portable, off-grid device to monitor the condition of machinery. Advances in portable data acquisition devices have made them very inexpensive and easy to use, allowing crews to collect meaningful machinery data on their own, regardless of their technical skills. However, data can also be collected automatically today in devices that record the condition of the equipment locally or networked on designated storage media. Today, drive condition monitoring can be done remotely via the Internet and satellite communications in companies that are original equipment manufacturers or are specifically approved for remote diagnostics and consulting. Classified ships participating in a predictive maintenance program that did not have a condition monitoring program in place during the pandemic lost critical data they needed to keep up with modern trends in optimizing maintenance costs. Predictive maintenance is still in its infancy in the shipping industry. With only 2% of registered vessels conducting monitoring programs for the purpose of predictive maintenance, it is safe to assume that this approach to maintenance is still largely unexplored. But the companies opting for this type of maintenance today are undoubtedly realizing the financial benefits of such maintenance and are certainly entering the era of full autonomy for ocean-going vessels.