How new technologies help owners cut fuel costs, remain compliant

Mr Scheid spoke about retrofitting vessels with technologies in a phased scheme to reduce fuel consumption and emissions and to remain compliant with EU and IMO environmental regulations. These solutions require capital expenditure with months or years before seeing a return on investment (RoI), which should be shared between owner and charterer.

“Decarbonisation is a burden on shipping, but it is also an opportunity to save money,” Mr Scheid said.

There are several challenges to decarbonisation compliance, including finding the most suitable products for ships in a fleet with different operational performance, trading patterns and commercial arrangements.

“There are dozens of technologies to reduce CO2, but not all will be applicable to all vessel types and many are new and untested,” said Mr Scheid. “When there is pressure on compliance, waiting is not an option as it increases risk and costs.”

Mr Scheid gave a case study involving a shipmanager seeking to upgrade a Kamsarmax bulk carrier to improve its carbon intensity index (CII) rating into the mid-2030s.

“We can act like a lighthouse, showing a clear path through the decarbonisation storm”

Without applying technology, this 82,000-dwt ship would have slipped into a CII D rating in 2027 and an E rating in 2029, resulting in the owner having to scrap it seven years earlier than anticipated.

Glo Marine analysed the available technologies, simulating their impact on CII and emissions, and provided the shipmanager with a three-phased approach to keeping this 230-m ship compliant until 2035.

“We analysed the vessel’s operational profile, defined goals and the constraints of implementing new technology,” Mr Scheid explained. “We shortlisted the most promising technologies and engaged around 20 manufacturers for vessel-specific changes and performance expectations.”

Glo Marine recommended the first phase of investment in 2026 to be installing ultrasound hull and propeller protection and a propeller boss cap, at a cost of around US$460,000 to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, with RoI in 14 months. The next phase in 2029 willl see ducts and fins installed on the propulsion system at US$200,000, with nine months cost recovery. A third phase in 2031 includes installing a US$1.4M air-lubrication system on the hull to reduce friction and fuel consumption, which could take two years RoI, but extend the ship’s C-rating to 2033 and commercial life to 2035.

“We can act like a lighthouse, showing a clear path through the decarbonisation storm, and provide a road map for existing vessels,” said Mr Scheid. “Owners can spread costs, so it is not all at once, to gain peace of mind for compliance and extend the lifetime of vessels.”

Weather routeing

Voyage optimisation and weather routeing can enable shipowners and operators to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, with far less cost.

Sofar’s Mr Rong said dynamic route optimisation results in around 5-8% fuel savings on average per vessel and voyage. The company has deployed thousands of ocean sensors for more than 75% global coverage to produce weather forecasts and provide intelligence on sea conditions.

“High-quality vessel models, weather forecasts and optimised waypoint suggestions means Wayfinder helps reduce fuel and emissions during voyages,” said Mr Rong.

Weather routeing can be integrated with other decarbonisation technologies such as wind-assisted propulsion.

“We can optimise routes in real-time,” said Mr Rong. “When sails are added, this changes the dynamics of where to sail the ship, so they ride the weather and waves of storms.”

By optimising routes for ships with rotor, wing or suction sails, owners and operators can save a considerable amount of fuel, said Mr Rong.

“Over time, we can identify and develop a breakdown of fuel savings, which can be as high as 20% on certain days, depending on wind and sea conditions.”

Before owners invest in sails, they can use voyage optimisation software to simulate routes as if they had sails and determine the future benefits. These modelling programs and expert insight will help owners “get through dark forests of technologies,” said Mr Rong.

Webinar poll results

Attendees were asked to vote on a series of poll questions during the webinar. Here is a summary of the results.

Which technology category accounts for the largest capital expenditure in your near-term compliance plans?

Energy-efficiency devices: 23%

Alternative fuels: 29%

Onboard carbon capture and storage systems: 17%

Wind-assisted propulsion technologies: 19%

Digital optimisation and voyage planning tools: 12%

Which compliance mechanism presents the greatest financial risk to your fleet operations by 2030?

EU ETS allowance costs: 0%

FuelEU Maritime penalties: 54%

CII rating decline: 17%

IMO GFI levy: 25%

UK ETS exposure: 4%

How would you describe your current approach to weather routeing and performance optimisation?

Manual routeing using traditional weather services only: 19%

Digital tools without integrated performance models: 28%

Automated voyage optimisation with VPM integration: 15%

Advanced AI-driven optimisation with real-time adaptation: 20%

No systematic voyage optimisation implemented yet: 18%

How much fuel cost variance do you attribute to limitations in weather forecast accuracy in your current operations?

Less than 2% of total fuel costs: 7%

Between 2–5% of total fuel costs: 24%

Between 5–10% of total fuel costs: 10%

More than 10% of total fuel costs: 21%

Cannot quantify or measure this impact at present: 38%

(source: Riviera Maritime Media)

On the panel of Riviera’s Decarbonisation in Practice: New Technologies and Compliance Timelines webinar were (left to right): Glo Marine business development manager Soren Scheid, Clarksons Group’s SEA carbon analytics lead Sudharsan Rajendran and Sofar Ocean head of software products Dennis Rong.