Shipowners need to improve voyage efficiency to meet the tough requirements of IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) ratings, agreed an expert panel on Riviera Maritime Media’s Voyage optimisation and safe navigation whatever the weather webinar
This event was held 26 January 2023, sponsored by Yara Marine, during Riviera’s Vessel Optimisation Webinar Week.
On the panel were Ardmore Shipping chief operating officer Mark Cameron, Fraunhofer-Center for Maritime Logistics and Services, Department for Sea Traffic and Nautical Solutions, Nils Hagemeister, Yara Marine senior sales manager Björn Lundgren and World Maritime University professor for safety and security Dimitrios Dalaklis.
They all agreed access to the right data, in the right format and at the right time, means ship and shore staff can make better, balanced decisions in terms of optimising voyages to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
“Weather routeing is absolutely essential,” said Mr Cameron. Voyage management should include wind, wave and current information, plus the experience and knowledge of ship management and vessel crews.
“Learn from others when looking at potential voyages and remember the people on your ships. Performance management needs appropriate rewarding,” he said.
Further optimisation of ship operations comes from the power management system, frequency of hull maintenance and factoring in drydockings.
“Coatings help save huge amounts of fuel if hulls are recoated properly,” said Mr Cameron. So does hull and propulsion antifouling strategies. “We have devices inside the hull to prevent propeller fouling on our ships.”
Having integrated onboard systems is also important for understanding how ships can be further optimised to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
“Make sure systems on board have input from other areas and influence from other systems – it is all about integration,” said Mr Cameron.
Vessel optimisation has become more important to shipowners and operators following the introduction of IMO’s CII. With this in mind, Mr Cameron said charterers and clients also need to be involved in vessel optimisation through updated contracts and co-ordinated approaches.
He said there were three elements to CII and vessel ratings: operational, commercial and technical.
“CII is imperfect, but it is something we have to work with,” he said, adding that charterparty language is outdated and needs to be updated for working under CII. “Some clauses are unworkable and some of the language is Dickensian,” said Mr Cameron referring to writings of Charles Dickins in the 19th Century.
“When the master is responsible for the voyage and looking after ship and cargo, including speed management, how do we legally change the wording in charterparties to tell people to slow down?” he asked.
Digitalisation, internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics have enabled vessel and voyage optimisation and allow innovative shipowners to remain ahead of their competition. With cloud computing, IoT and other technologies, “we have the capability of knowing almost everything at sea” enabling better voyage planning, said Prof Dalaklis.
“We have what we need to achieve voyage optimisation, for the best route for ships, cargo and passengers,” he said. “The wider portfolio of weather routeing is usually considering the right data covering wind, wind waves and swell, sea currents, water depth, tropical storms, and safety parameters in relation to the concerned vessel.”
Communications between ships and shore enable parcels of data to be transferred frequently to provide owners, operators, managers and charterers with greater levels of information during voyages.
“We have reached the era where we can know almost everything in real-time,” Prof Dalaklis said. “Having the correct input is important for optimised decision making. Technology has significantly improved for weather forecasting and routeing.”
Enhancements in electronic navigation has enabled more information to be displayed for bridge teams and shore-based managers for voyage planning, execution and post analysis.
“ECDIS completely changed the execution of navigation. With the right layering and weather routeing, optimisation can provide great benefits,” said Prof Dalaklis.
What is next for owners is understanding their targets and ambitions from the technology. Owners can “improve operational efficiency by optimising route and speed profiles for any sea passage,” he added.
Voyage execution
What is changing voyage execution further is the implementation of AI, analytics and autonomous technologies, said Mr Lundgren.
Most voyages are conducted by masters, or another deck officer, controlling the direction and speed of the ship using a command lever, or combination of them. Levers adjust the engine revolutions and thus ship speed and power consumption. In their use, masters also need to consider whether the ship is loaded or under ballast, the weather and wave conditions and pitch of the propeller.
“Vessels operate in complex environments,” said Mr Lundgren. “We expect captains to find the right rpm for fuel consumption in various conditions, but this could lead to 3-5% over consumption.”
Yara Marine has introduced FuelOpt for optimised propulsion and voyage execution. It controls the right parameters for optimal vessel speeds and propulsive power, to reduce fuel and emissions.
Another technology Yara offers, Route Pilot AI, assists with voyage planning. It uses a digital twin of a vessel and inputs the route, weather, sea conditions and required operational parameters. “It uses AI and adapts to different conditions to get the perfect setting to execute the voyage,” said Mr Lundgren.
Wind-assisted ships
Weather routeing is even more important for a wind-assisted propulsion ship (WAPS), as the speed and safety of these vessels are heavily influenced by wind speed and direction, said Mr Hagemeister.
“An optimal route considers the safety envelope of the ship to avoid dangerous phenomena,” he said. “Wind-assisted ships can be skewed by wind angles, and it is likely they will encounter head winds or angles that are not effective for wind assistance.”
The most optimum wind angle is likely to be 90° from the sail surface to provide the maximum lift and thus propulsion energy to augment the power from the main engines.
Mr Hagemeister said owners of these ships should “select routes wisely” for optimal assistance from wind, while avoiding surf riding, reduced ship stability, parametric rolling and strong wind gusts.
“Have in consideration wind speeds and direction and that WAPSs have different manoeuvring, so avoid narrow channels and take different routes,” said Mr Hagemeister. “We do not want ships to be subjected to strong accelerations in waves.”
When it comes to weather routeing for these ships, there could be commercial and physical constraints, such as time and speed limitations, estimated arrival times, minimum depth requirements and moving navigational hazards.
“Weather routeing is key for maximising the benefits of WAPS and reaching business objectives while ensuring the safety of ships,” said Mr Hagemeister.
“The crucial components of a weather routeing application are an accurate performance prediction, the safety envelope, well-defined objectives and constraints paired with a powerful path-finding algorithm.”
Poll results
Attendees were asked to vote on a series of poll questions during the webinar. Here is a summary of the results.
Which tool does the crew on your vessels use to execute the operational orders (speed and consumption)?
Lever: 14%
Speed pilot: 5%
Propulsion automation system: 34%
Engine main operating panel: 31%
Other: 16%
How familiar are you with digital twin modelling used for optimising voyage instructions?
Already using it at the voyage planning stage: 10%
Evaluating the existing solutions for adapting it: 15%
Following the developments only: 41%
Not familiar with the concept/solutions: 34%
I am comfortable with the use of weather routeing applications and related operations
Strongly disagree: 4%
Disagree: 9%
Neither agree nor disagree: 25%
Agree: 46%
Strongly agree: 16%
My organisation/company/institution is currently effectively exploiting (at least) one weather routeing IT application
Strongly disagree: 4%
Disagree: 14%
Neither agree nor disagree: 29%
Agree: 43%
Strongly agree: 10%
Weather routeing can have a positive contribution in relation to safety
Strongly disagree: 7%
Disagree: 0%
Neither agree nor disagree: 11%
Agree: 49%
Strongly agree: 33%
For a reasonably badly fouled hull, typically, how much can you expect to recover performance (measured against post drydock condition) after a good hull clean?
<50%: 55%
50–75%: 33%
>75%: 12%
Wind propulsion is a key technology for decarbonising shipping
Strongly disagree: 2%
Disagree: 9%
Neither agree nor disagree: 24%
Agree: 49%
Strongly agree: 16%
How much do you think seafarer direct decision making could influence the economic outcome of a deepsea voyage?
< 5%: 16%
5%-10%: 48%
>10%: 36%
When considering a modification or upgrade, what do you consider as an appropriate annual return on investment?
20%-40%: 73%
40%-60%: 23%
>60%: 4%
Source: Riviera Maritime Media
On Riviera’s Voyage optimisation and safe navigation whatever the weather webinar panel were (left to right) Yara Marine senior sales manager Björn Lundgren, World Maritime University professor for safety and security Dimitrios Dalaklis, Ardmore Shipping chief operating officer Mark Cameron and Nils Hagemeister from the Fraunhofer-Center for Maritime Logistics and Services, Department for Sea Traffic and Nautical Solutions.
© 2023 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.