Real-time reporting and data analysis are key tools to understanding and improving complex operating environments of today’s companies where the overall effects of any individual action can be very difficult to identify without a proper tool set at hand.
A sensor is a device that measures some kind of input from the physical world. On complicated technical systems such as vessels, there is an enormous amount of different sensors. The number of sensors will surely grow as the size and cost of sensors continuously decrease. A person technically trained is able to gain some information from a single sensor reading, but the information is much more useful when the data from multiple sensors and sources is combined and aggregated at a higher level. At a higher level the whole vessel can be seen as a moving sensor that is collecting data from environmental conditions as well as the performance of the vessel.
The Isle of Man Ship Registry has announced that from 1 April 2014 it is introducing new incentives for ship owners to adopt energy efficient ship designs which reduce fuel consumption and air pollution.
On 25 February 2013 Namura Shipbuilding acquired AIP (Approval in Principle) from NKK regarding the MIBS (Minimal Ballast water Ship) VLCC project, for which the company has been working for years together with Shipbuilding Research Centre of Japan and with the support of Japanese Government. This tanker design reduces the weight of ballast water required by about 65 percent compared with a conventional hull form.
MAN Diesel & Turbo’s PrimeServ division in Frederikshavn has, in close cooperation with shipowner and constructional engineering company NCC, performed a propulsion equipment upgrade for the ‘MV Baltic’, a 900 m³ sand and gravel dredger. A 14 % improvement in fuel efficiency has been reported following an exchange and modernization of the vessel’s propeller blades and propeller nozzle.
The EU has been on record for several years that it would take regional action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ships, if no global agreement had been reached at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) by the end of 2011. On 1 October 2012, European Commissioners Hedegaard and Kallas announced that the Commission would propose monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of emissions as a starting point towards a more comprehensive system to reduce emissions. Although a significant number of ship-owners are already voluntarily monitoring the efficiency of their fleet, there is currently no legal requirement in Europe for ship-owners to keep track of their vessels’ direct fuel consumption and communicate this data to port state authorities. The precise requirements to be contained in the EU MRV scheme are not yet known. The legislative proposal is not expected before the first quarter of 2013. This paper by Transport & Environment NGO highlights some important aspects to be taken into account when developing a reliable emissions monitoring system and it investigates different options.
During December 2012 Transport & Environment NGO released a paper investigating opportunities to establish an energy efficiency benchmark measurement. The paper also makes references to different metrics and proposals already under consideration at the IMO or in the EU and identifies possible options in the current EU discussions on monitoring, reporting and verification.
During an earnings call for Diana Shipping’s Q3 2012 Results, an analyst posed a question on “eco ships” and what the trade off looks for new versus used since it relates to more fuel efficient level. According to Anastasios C. Margaronis, president of Diana Shipping Inc., fuel-saving ECO ships are not likely to provide shipowners with major savings.
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Officer of the Watch 