Shipping companies and vessel owners have achieved fuel savings of up to 10% using ScanReach’s internet of things (IoT) application
Norway-based ScanReach has developed a wireless IoT platform for cable-free connectivity and communications on board ships, providing real-time fuel consumption data to bridge teams using its new ConnectFuel service.
ScanReach chief business officer Jacob Grieg Eide said vessel owners have achieved up to 10% fuel savings by providing fuel data to deck officers. “A vessel’s fuel cost can account for up to 70% of its total operating cost,” said Mr Eide.
“Feedback from the industry shows a strong belief that a lack of instant fuel consumption awareness could lead to overconsumption of fuel,” he added.
ConnectFuel has already been fitted on ships where it links flow meters, clamped on to fuel lines, to displays on the bridge and shoreside offices to provide instant visual indication of fuel consumption and historic data for a selected period, enabling this information to be assessed on board and by shore-based managers.
ConnectFuel uses ScanReach’s onboard steel penetrating mesh of wireless nodes, removing the need for cabling to transfer the data around the ship.
ScanReach said ConnectFuel is quick to fit by a vessel’s crew, with installation taking as little as two hours.
It said the next installation will be on board Arctic trawler Olympic Prawn, which was delivered to Olympic Seafood by Turkey’s Cemre Shipyard in December 2020. Like other Olympic-owned vessels, the newbuilding already had a mesh for keeping track of personnel on board (POB) using ScanReach’s ConnectPOB system and was fitted with flow meters. These will communicate via the same mesh to a bridge display, providing data to onboard crew and onshore staff.
ConnectFuel delivers instant fuel data and provides information for regulatory purposes, such as IMO’s fuel oil data collection system and the European Union’s Monitoring, Reporting and Verification requirements.
It will also provide valuable guidance for meeting IMO’s 2030 target of reducing CO2 emissions by 40% by 2030, which will require an annual reduction in emissions – and thus fuel consumption – of about 6%.
Data collected by ConnectFuel is transferred ashore by satellite and stored in a cloud service, where shore staff can view real-time consumption rates, extract data and analyse the information gathered.
ScanReach said if more specific data is needed – such as splitting main engine and auxiliary consumption, or information from individual engines – ConnectFuel can provide that if flow meters are fitted at appropriate locations in the fuel lines.
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