Box ship sector seeks to improve ship performance monitoring

A trend towards using data-driven, digital vessel performance systems is gathering pace in the shipping industry - this was one of the main takeaways from the 10th HullPIC conference. Collaboration between stakeholders, continuous innovation and knowledge sharing were also emphasised as critical drivers for advancing performance management and sustainability efforts.

The Hull Performance and Insight Conference (HullPIC) was recently held in Mulheim, Germany. The annual conference, initiated by Jotun and VB conferences and supported by industry sponsors, attracts a wide range of stakeholders, including ship operators, technology and solution providers, data analysts and classification societies. 

With market pressures and regulatory developments forcing the maritime industry to focus on energy efficiency and meeting environmental challenges, ship operators are eyeing opportunities in ship performance monitoring and efficiency-based technologies and solutions. A significant number of those operators were joined by technology and solution providers at HullPIC, where 85 industry professionals gathered from around the globe. 

“This is our 10th HullPIC and it’s encouraging to see the growing industry interest in performance management and indeed, our annual conference, to discuss the latest developments, challenges and opportunities,” said Jotun global category director, hull performance, Morten Sten Johansen. “The number of companies embracing data-driven, digital solutions is growing but more needs to be done to accelerate industrywide best practices and transparency to support ship operators as they work to achieve performance improvements and meet regulations mandated by IMO and the EU.”

In the lead up to the conference, DNV senior project manager Volker Bertram said interest in hull performance monitoring is growing, and the concept and technology has come a long way in the decade since the first HullPIC. He described performance monitoring as, “arguably the biggest single lever to improve ship energy efficiency.”  

The three-day conference included presentations and insights from leading experts and practitioners. The sessions covered a broad range of subjects, including performance monitoring practices, measuring and analysis methodologies, leveraging high-frequency data and AI-driven solutions, vendor and operator perspectives, and talks about the next steps to spur further development and increase awareness in this evolving field.  

Also under discussion were hull cleaning aspects. In his presentation, Jotun’s Manolis Levantis focused on Proactive cleaning: leveraging data for a successful beginning. He covered how offering an always clean hull by combining antifouling, robotics and active hull condition monitoring meets IMO’s definition of proactive cleaning. Mr Levantis also explained how data is used to monitor and optimise proactive cleaning operations along with real-world case studies, demonstrating the significant impact on proactive cleaning.   

Poll reveals positive attitude towards a move to auto-logged data 

As is usual for HullPIC, a short survey was carried out by Idealship asking delegates to respond to several pertinent questions. When asked what sources they used to analyse hull performance, around a third said auto-logged sensor data. However, of the shipping company delegates, the majority used either a combination of noon reports and external data such as weather or noon reports alone. Currently, only about a quarter of shipowner delegates used auto-logged sensor data.

There is, however, a more positive attitude towards a move to auto-logged data where only a quarter of delegates thought it would take 10 years or more for 95% of shipping companies to use auto-logged data but 70% thought the switch would come in between 2-10-years’ time. The question of how much fuel it was thought could be saved was put at 60% in the 0 to 4% range and 34% suggesting more than 4%. Clearly the savings element is being appreciated. 

On the topic of how retrofitted efficiency measures have performed, the largest proportion (44%) reported less than the original business case suggested with performance above the business case having the lowest response. Overall, most delegates thought shipping companies should share performance data to collaborate on coatings and retrofits, although some said sharing data should only be done within alliances. Less than 10% thought shipowners should keep data confidential.