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OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY
As we strive for the brave new world, efficiency analysis will become increasingly important as everyone tries to measure a vessel’s performance in whatever method is chosen to reach zero carbon
VESSEL PERFORMANCE BECOMES CRITICAL With the internal combustion engine (ICE) seemingly safe for now, performance data analysis in all its guises will become one of the key criteria in deciding which fuel route to take. Of course, it is not just fuel consumption, emissions abatement and overall ICE operations that will decide the future. It will be more to do with how a ship gets from A to B in the most efficient way, which brings in a whole host of criteria from weather to hull conditions. Many companies have set themselves up as “experts” in weather forecasting, electronic chart display and information systems (ECDIS) and electronic nautical charts (ENC) supply, performance monitoring etc. But it is only in the past few years that we have seen the rise of the fully integrated service provider, offering expertise in almost all operational disciplines. According to Wallem’s Managing Director, Shipping Management John Kaare-Aune, there is also interest growing from financiers and charterers in vessel operations. He
C L E A N S H I P P I N G INTERNATIONAL – Summer 2021
said that the data needs to be in real time to optimise operational parameters. For example, a shipowner might like to share the optimisation data to a perspective financier in an effort to show transparency. One of the most successful companies in this field is Norwegian e-navigation company NAVTOR. It is hard to believe that this company is only 10 years old, having been founded by current head Tor Svanes as an e-navigation service provider. In 2012, NAVTOR introduced the first type-approved “pay as you sail” ENC service, which was followed two years later by the world’s first digital chart table — NavStation. The company has since grown to be one of the leaders in e-navigation services with offices worldwide and a portfolio of more than 7,000 vessels. In order to be able to expand further, in August, 2020, Accel-KKR, a US Silicon Valley headquartered investment firm with more than $10bn in capital commitments, took a majority stake in NAVTOR, giving the
