Maersk Supply Service (MSS) won the Environmental Award at the 2020 Offshore Support Journal Conference & Awards
The award, sponsored by Equinor, was presented to Maersk Supply Service chief executive Steen Karstensen and fleet energy efficiency manager Eirini Arvanitaki.
Mr Karstensen said his company saw the award “Not as a competitive thing but as a shared obligation we have as an industry to continue to improve the conditions of the oceans, conditions for the customers, and of course, also, ourselves”.
MSS was recognised for measures that saw the company make drastic changes including creating a dedicated function within the company responsible for reducing both fuel consumption across the fleet and its environmental footprint.
The company initiative focused on fuel consumption in four operational modes on board its vessels: dynamic positioning, standby, transit and port. In order to ensure the accuracy of the measurements, MSS compared vessel performance to data collected by the crew for that vessel in the previous year. The fleet efficiency manager role came with an initial goal to reduce overall company fuel consumption by 5% in 2019 as compared with baseline fuel consumption measured in 2018.
According to MSS figures, by Q3 2019, fuel consumption had been reduced by 1,810 tonnes fleetwide, equivalent to cutting 5,803 tonnes in CO2 emissions. While there were technical upgrades to the fleet during this period, Ms Arvanitaki told Offshore Support Journal that the main contributor to reducing fuel consumption and improving energy efficiency was “simply creating awareness by engaging our crew and customers. It is important to establish an energy efficiency mindset, not only in the fleet, but also the organisation”.
To drive home its new energy efficiency mindset, MSS oversaw a series of five training seminars created in partnership with sister organisation Maersk Training in which 115 officers and 20 onshore personnel participated.
MSS also created a management-sponsored one-year challenge to award the three best vessel performers in the fleet for meeting predefined energy efficiency targets.
In April 2019, MSS began a partnership with Wärtsilä subsidiary Eniram to install the software platform Energy Advisory System on its vessels to further optimise operations and reduce fuel consumption. Initial proof of concept trials are being carried out on two of Maersk Supply Service’s newest vessels, M-class anchor handling tug supply vessel Maersk Mobiliser and I-class subsea support vessel Maersk Installer.
Maersk plans to roll out the Energy Advisory System to additional vessels, with the long-term goal of installation across its entire 44-vessel fleet. The Energy Advisory System collects data from flowmeters, sensors and other systems on board to identify actions the operator can take to reduce fuel consumption in real-time.
Maersk said its digital effort has been well received by its crew and clients. They said clients value the transparency and flexibility the system offers, using it to create their own reports based on their preferred parameters.
Maersk Supply Service said it is considering refitting vessels with battery-hybrid propulsion packages, beneficial for saving fuel by peak-shaving during operations. Other technology upgrades being considered are installing frequency converters on pumps and fans to make them more energy efficient.
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