How smarter data utilisation can fine tune your fleet’s performance

Proving performance

For owners chartering out vessels, meeting contractual covenants is essential to running a profitable, reputable and successful business. Charter party agreements may have implicit warranties or performance guarantees, with the promise of a minimum standard related to fuel consumption and set speed. If this level of performance cannot be achieved, a charterer can potentially submit a performance claim which could be substantial, eating into a company’s bottom line.

In today’s harsh trading environment there is simply no room for such excesses, said Mr Knudsen of Bergen-headquartered dry bulk vessel owner Spar Shipping. Mr Knudsen said there is a clear need to both protect profitability, reduce environmental impact and, at the same time, demonstrate integrity.

“Good shipping companies invest in building strong relationships with customers,” he said, “and for Spar that means operating with integrity, trust and transparency. Proving performance is key. “But it is often easier said than done,” he noted.

Traditionally, performance is assessed based on a raft of different documentation from vessels, detailing, for instance, average speed, weather and bunker consumption. This requirement places an administrative burden on ships’ staff, as highlighted by Mr Jølle. Despite the best intentions and efforts of crew, results can sometimes be disputed and the integrity of masters and bridge teams questioned, Mr Knudsen explained. “The information is coming from the owner’s vessel and the owner’s officers, and a charterer looking to submit a claim may see that as subjective,” he said. “Ideally, you may like to see third-party verification, with no vested interest, and a charterer may refuse to accept an owner’s report altogether, instead looking to compile their own with a weather company they trust. The owner may, in turn, also have to consult a third party to provide further proof.

“It’s a time-consuming way of doing business and not necessarily optimal when it comes to building relationships.”

A platform capable of channelling various real-time data sources into one system, which then can be used to automatically generate reports and provide immediate feedback may be the way forward, the Spar executive suggested. Data provided by respected suppliers with proven integrity could potentially provide a solid foundation of proof… all at the touch of a button.

“In an increasingly connected, digital industry, the less analogue work we are required to do the better,” he noted. “A system that unequivocally demonstrates performance would be a real step forward.”

Fine tuning and trouble shooting

Mr Svanes agreed that data and integration is the way forward. “We now have the digital infrastructure to enable safe, reliable and secure real-time data flows between vessels, shore-based offices and throughout entire organisations,” he said. “But you have to be smart when you look at that data to see the big picture. By combining, for instance, weather data with consumption, speed, wave heights, schedules, fleet management data and sensors throughout vessels, you can not only simplify operations and automate tasks, but you can also fine tune performance and, interestingly, troubleshoot when you see deviations from expectations.

“This,” Mr Svanes stressed, “is something that is of particular interest to today’s owners.”

Mr Svanes explained that it is challenging to manage multiple geographically scattered assets and address issues from afar. To really understand what is happening and deliver solutions, you need to have “eyes on the ship” and, he says, data can deliver that vision.

Since it was founded in 2012, NAVTOR established itself as a leader in e-navigation, delivering innovative products and services to over 6,000 vessels.

“If you can integrate real-time navigation and weather data, engine shaft torque, rpm and so on, you get an accurate insight not just of fuel consumption, but fuel consumption and engine performance under exact conditions and on exact routes,” said Mr Svanes. “That allows you to benchmark performance, compare vessels and optimise operations across the fleet.

“Based on that, you could even stream data in real-time to test performance of individual vessels. For example, if you know what rpm should produce a speed of 10 knots in good weather conditions, you can set the engine accordingly and monitor ongoing speed. If the speed doesn’t meet expectations you may have a hull performance issue, with bio-fouling producing frictional drag, hampering performance, and adding cost… both for you, and the environment. You then know it’s time to schedule hull cleaning.

“Voila,” he smiles, “The trouble is well and truly shot.”

Importantly, Mr Svanes adds, better real-time monitoring and data utilisation also enables owners to prevent issues in the first place: for example, by staying ahead of developing weather situations and allowing vessels to prepare for individual port and state requirements, avoiding delays and improving overall compliance.

In short, Mr Svanes sees smarter data utilisation and integration as the answer to all of the shipowners’ top challenges here – from better environmental performance to cutting administration.

“It’s clearly not a panacea,” he concluded, “but it is a powerful tool for addressing day-to-day challenges and facilitating better fleetwide business decisions.

“I firmly believe data will be the key to unlocking smarter shipping, for existing vessels as well as newbuilds. We may not have the systems in place to enable this just yet, but they are on the horizon.

“This is the future. This will set a new course for a more sustainable, profitable and efficient shipping industry. For owners… and for everybody.”

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