Last November the Load Star published a very interesting article regarding an analysis from shipping consultancy SeaIntel on how Shipping lines could save millions of dollars in fuel costs if time spent in ports was decreased by even the most marginal amounts.
The study focused on time savings that could be made through the optimisation of the berthing process, from the point a ship arrives, on time, at its station.
According to the study by reducing the berthing time of a vessel in and out of ports, an extra lag is created in the liner’s schedule which the shipping line can use to slow down the vessel en route to its next port of call by the equivalent amount of time saved in the previous port. By slowing down the vessel’s speed there can be possible financial savings due to less fuel consumption. Of course the amount of savings in terms of money is always dependent to
- the fuel prices
- the vessel’s engines and operational profile (speed, energy requirements etc)
- the distances covered between ports
The financial savings may be even higher in cases where all the ports scheduled to be visited by the vessel offer reduced berthing time.
The study was developed by SeaIntel, in conjunction with industry group the Global Institute of Logistics and software provider Cirrus Group,
Source: The Load Star
Officer of the Watch 
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