18 minute read
DIGITAL SOLUTIONS
from CSI Summer 2022
by Maritime-AMC
HIGH-TECH ANSWERS
Innovative solutions are solving some of shipping’s pressing problems
Marlink, the leading provider of smart network solutions, has signed an agreement to provide a global hybrid network solution to vessels operated by Subsea 7, a global leader in the delivery of offshore projects and services for the evolving energy industry.
Subsea 7 operates one of the most capable and diverse fleets in its market, including chartered and high specification owned vessels. Marlink will provide a secure hybrid network solution to Subsea 7, combining its global Sealink VSAT solution with L-band back-up, global 4G cellular services and connection to the Tampnet network for operations in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico.
The contract includes provision of guaranteed throughput including a Committed Information Rate (CIR) at a level normally only found in the leisure/cruise sector. Marlink will also provide its XChange platform solution to create a separate network for secure crew communications.
“We are pleased to be working with Subsea 7, whose global operations span the full energy lifecycle,” says Tore Morten Olsen, president maritime, Marlink. “Our network of networks approach provides a bespoke suite of connectivity, tools and services that enable operators to increase the safety and efficiency of their operations globally.”
MSI ENCHMARKING
Maritime research and forecasting consultancy Maritime Strategies International (MSI) is helping owners, charterers and financiers benchmark the environmental performance of their vessels.
MSI has added a new tool, Environmental Credentials, to its Forecast Marine eValuator (FMV) service, enabling users to understand the performance of their vessels and fleets – and those of their competitors – against regulatory and market benchmarks.
Environmental Credentials assessments are created when users run an FMV report - for individual ships, sectors, classes and fleets – providing ratings against the International Maritime Organization’s EEXI and CII regulations to 2026 and Annual
Efficiency Ratios for 2020 and 2021 measured against the Poseidon Principles trajectory and a ‘zero emissions’ scenario by 2050.
Owners whose vessels fall below the specified regulatory standards or required market measures will need to consider adjustments such as use of engine power limiters (EPLs), optimisation of operations and retrofitting energy saving technologies to improve fuel consumption, or alternatively utilising lower or zero carbon fuels.
In its Q1 2022 dry bulk market report* MSI assessed the EEXI values of the fleet by using a range of data sources, sense-checked with a selection of owners. It estimates that just under 80% of dry bulk ships will not meet EEXI regulations and in almost all cases, MSI believes that dry bulk vessels will fit an engine power limiter to meet the requirements.
Early analysis suggests that the capesize fleet, ironically given its young age, could be impacted the most. This is because a large share of the existing fleet was constructed between 20062011, before more fuel-efficient designs were developed in 2013-14.
“Older vessels requiring a large EPL to meet EEXI criteria would have the least flexibility of operations, reducing their potential to speed up to meet laycan windows when faced with delays such as those caused by bad weather; ultimately this would lead to lower cargo volume and a reduction in potential freight revenue, reducing the economic life of a ship,” says Will Fray, Director, MSI.
“A significant number of 10-15 yearold ships are at risk and over the next five years will age into a bracket much more susceptible to being scrapped, particularly if freight markets decline from today’s levels, as forecasted by MSI.”
The environmental credentials are currently available for tankers, bulk carriers and containerships and will be extended to specialist vessel sectors in the very near future. FMV also provides users with historical, current and forecast vessel asset values, one year timecharter rates and operating costs.
The full impact of CII regulations will likely take longer to realise and MSI will be undertaking more analysis to help understand the likely impact once EPLs are considered. In MSI’s current Base Case, CII is one justification for a sharp rise in vessel scrapping from 2024.
GENERATOR APPROVAL
Global renewable energy company e1 Marine has announced that its M-series methanol-to-hydrogen generator has received Approval in Principle (AiP) for marine applications from Lloyd’s Register, a leading class society.
The AiP represents an important landmark for demonstrating the compliance of e1 Marine’s technology with all applicable regulations, codes and standards. This will act as a springboard for enabling the demonstration of the generator across different maritime sectors from ports and towboats to offshore and deepsea vessels.
Lloyd’s Register has also confirmed that final approval for the technology is possible, including for inland waterways, when following Inland Waterway regulations.
Robert Schluter, managing director at e1 Marine, comments: “The maritime industry faces a once-in-a-generation challenge in managing the way it utilises energy for propulsion as part of the global energy transition to net zero carbon. Using e1 Marine’s technology, with methanol providing a safe and effective carrying medium for hydrogen, enables the adoption of clean zero emission fuel cell power solutions. With the M-series methanol to hydrogen generator, we are making hydrogen a viable fuel option for the maritime industry for vastly different applications.
“Securing Approval in Principle from Lloyd’s Register underscores our technology’s viability. It also provides valuable credentials to support our piloting programme, so that we can demonstrate how our solution can contribute to reducing shipping’s carbon emissions.”
Mark Darley, marine and offshore director at Lloyd’s Register, said: “This Approval in Principle is an important step towards reducing carbon emissions from power sources for ship operations, helping transfer the expertise gained in this technology on land to a potentially wide variety of marine applications. We look forward to assisting e1 Marine with its technological advances to assist the global maritime energy transition.”
Through e1 Marine’s patented hydrogen generation technology, fuel cell-grade hydrogen is safely and cost-effectively generated from methanol and water. It can be delivered on-site, onboard, and on-demand, and it provides an immediately viable pathway to green energy.
The fuel cell grade hydrogen output meets all relevant ISO standards, and it’s ideal for use with fuel cells to generate electricity or to supplement the standard fuel of a conventional engine.
The successful development of this system builds on a collaboration between Element 1 Corp, the leading methanol-to-hydrogen technology company; Ardmore Shipping Corporation, an independent owner and operator of mid-size product and chemical tanker vessels; and Maritime Partners, a tailored leasing solution provider to the maritime industry.
A DIGITAL BACKBONE
Elina Furustam,
product marketing manager, NAPA Shipping Solutions
looks at how data can drive sustainability
Shipping’s sustainability transition must begin by using each vessel in the most efficient way possible, to deliver the same transportation work while emitting less carbon. Voyage optimisation is at the heart of this, and the latest digital advances mean that a ship’s unique characteristics – its “digital DNA” – can now be harnessed to make every voyage greener and safer.
Today’s vessels are made of data just as much as steel. Well before a ship’s physical structure is welded together in a shipyard, it exists digitally in the 3D models that are used to design it. These models constitute what we call a vessel’s digital DNA, containing a wealth of information on its technical characteristics, including its design profile, any energy-saving technology on board and its propulsion systems. As no two ships are exactly the same, this digital DNA helps us understand a ship’s unique design and predict its performance in various conditions.
However, just like for humans, understanding a vessel’s behaviour does not stop with its digital DNA. Ships are also shaped by the way they are operated and maintained, and the sea conditions they encounter throughout their lifetime. Much like identical twins may become very different depending on their environment and life experiences, even sister vessels can perform differently depending on their operational profile, the state of their hull, the quality of the fuel bunkered, and where in the world they are deployed.
This combination of “nature” and “nurture” is reflected in a ship’s digital twin, which brings together its digital DNA and key operational data reflecting its current condition. Having this full picture is key, because it allows us to tailor voyage optimization to the specifics of each vessel to maximise their environmental performance.
Athletes preparing for the Olympics are likely to follow training programmes that are adapted to their musculature and past injuries. The same goes for shipping’s global
race to decarbonisation – vessels may share the same goal of reducing their emissions, but success in this regard will depend on how well efficiency solutions are customised to their unique profile.
DRIVING THE SUSTAINABILITY TRANSITION
While shipping has always strived for efficiency, it is undeniable that environmental considerations have now come to the forefront, defining strategic priorities as never before. In addition to tighter regulations on emissions, the industry is also feeling the pressure from its customers’ customers, end consumers of the goods we transport, who increasingly demand sustainability.
This is already reflected in investment decisions. For the first time, the majority of newbuilds being ordered in shipyards will be able to run on alternative fuels such as methanol, liquefied petroleum gas or liquefied natural gas – 63% so far in 2022, according to data compiled by Clarkson Research Services. Clearly, shipowners are taking the green transition seriously, with many committed to go above and beyond the pace of regulation.
However, as fully zero-carbon fuels may not be ready for many more years on the scale needed to decarbonisze shipping, the decarbonisation journey must begin by making the most of every vessel, including the existing fleet. Voyage optimisation is one of the options already available today – and dynamic, vessel-specific insights provided by data represent an exciting opportunity to take weather routing to the next level.
BOOSTING EFFICIENCY FOR EVERY VESSEL
By using the ship’s unique digital twin, we can now model and simulate hundreds of possible routes and predict their impact on ETAs, fuel consumption and emissions. These calculations take into account not only the ship’s design characteristics, but also details of its condition that may impact its performance at that precise moment – including hull fouling or engine wear, for example.
We then integrate these vesselspecific insights with weather forecasts detailing wind, waves, swell and currents, as well as information on safe routes. Bringing all this data together, our NAPA Voyage Optimization solution can estimate how fast and at what fuel consumption rate a specific ship can sail, for a number of potential voyages.
From this, we can calculate optimal routes and speed profiles that will meet operational needs and desired arrival times. These dynamic calculations give captains and operators better visibility on all possible options, enabling them to choose optimal routes to minimise their fuel consumption and emissions for every journey.
The impact of better weather routing should not be underestimated. NAPA Voyage Optimization, for example, reduces fuel consumption and emissions by an average of 5-15%. In addition to the direct impact on bottom lines, these savings can potentially make the difference between compliance and non-compliance with CII regulations – or in other words,
between keeping a vessel trading or seeing it stranded prematurely.
The capacity to optimise operations for each vessel will be even more important in the future, as ships become even more complex and unique. As the global fleet diversifies to incorporate a variety of new fuels, wind power, batteries and efficiency technologies, ship-specific digital models will help operational teams understand the specificities of their vessel and make the most of innovative clean technology on board.
For example, advanced weather routing will be particularly important for wind-assisted vessels, helping them catch optimal wind conditions to deploy their sails or wings.
MEASURING THE POTENTIAL OF VOYAGE OPTIMISATION
In a recent retro-optimisation study, we found that MR tankers would have achieved an average of 15.9% emission savings had their routes and speed profiles been adjusted through our NAPA Voyage Optimization software, with weather information available at the time of the voyage.
This comparison of actual and optimal routes shows the importance of seizing the opportunity to maximise operational efficiency through tools that are already at our disposal, including voyage optimisation.
In another study, we evaluated a year of tanker voyages crossing the Pacific to see how they sailed in relation to two specific major currents: the Equatorial current flowing from east to west and the Kuroshio current, also known as Japan current, towards the east. With the help of the NAPA Performance Models that are available for the whole global merchant fleet, we were able to retro-optimise to see how each voyage would have been sailed if the ship was utilising weather routing but keeping its schedule.
In most cases, the tankers took a path somewhere between the two major Pacific currents. They were avoiding sailing against the westward currents at the equator but staying south of the eastward Kuroshio current. Taking a slightly more northern route would have made a huge difference – an average of 18% fuel savings per voyage. In addition to fuel cost savings, the optimised routes would have sailed 2% (or 16 hours) less in heavy weather, with winds of BF 5 and higher.
A BRIDGE TO FUTURE DESIGNS
The bridges that are emerging between design and operational data go both ways: while the digital models used to design the ship provide crucial insights to optimise voyages, operational data can also be fed back to shipyards to help improve future designs.
Data on fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and speed profiles, for example, help ship designers refine their knowledge on how each model performs in real-life conditions – and from there iterate their concepts to increase the efficiency of the future fleet even more.
Importantly, historical weather data also plays a role in the process of improving future designs, giving a statistical picture of the sea conditions that a ship is likely to encounter on specific routes.
Based on that, naval architects and engineers can determine the level of engine power that will be needed for any given vessel depending on the routes where it will be deployed. This enables ship designers to make smart decisions and choose engines that will be sufficient to meet operational needs, while avoiding installing a more powerful engine that would increase emissions unnecessarily.
LINKING STABILITY, SAFETY AND EFFICIENCY
The greater use of digital solutions from shipyards to sea will not only make ships more efficient, but also safer. The same 3D models and operational data that are used to optimise operations also feed into advanced stability models, providing a real-time picture of a vessel’s situation. This creates a constant situational awareness that enables crews and shoreside teams to manage safety proactively.
Here, a vessel’s digital twin is used in combination with a range of variables that may affect its stability, from deadweight changes to the number of water-tight doors left open on the ship. This monitoring enables a wide range of calculations related to hydrostatics, longitudinal strength, and the ship’s vulnerability level related to stability, to be made in real time, so any issues can be flagged before they escalate into a serious problem.
These insights are vital, as safety remains a core priority for the industry. According to Allianz’s Safety & Shipping Review 2022, there were 54 large ships lost worldwide last year – down from 65 the previous year. In the early 1990s, we were losing over 200 vessels a year, so clearly safety at sea has improved, but 54 ships lost is 54 too many – and extreme weather was reported as a factor in 13 of them.
While the number of total losses was down, the number of casualties and incidents was up. Incidents such as the loss of around 90 containers from the Dyros as it sailed through rough weather in the North Pacific in March 2022 confirm what we all already know: weather routing is also an important safety tool.
More than ever, safety and efficiency are intrinsically linked, and breaking down the data silos attached to each will be a hallmark of the future – one that I hope will see a significant drop in shipping losses and incidents and facilitate the reduction of planetharming emissions.
e1 Marine’s methanol to hydrogen generator M18 credit: e1 Marine
Is the accelerated digitalisation of shipping the silver lining amid a perfect storm? asks Melissa
SAILING THROUGH CHOPPY WATERS
Shipping operations may be largely hidden from the average consumer’s view, but the industry remains the backbone of society, transporting around 80% of the world’s traded goods.1 And with an integrated supply chain that branches into sectors from road transport to retail, it’s potentially the most important industry to “get right” when it comes to digitalisation. Despite this, shipping’s digital transition has lagged behind other sectors for years.
Until now, perhaps. Economic turbulence, emerging technologies, the sustainability agenda, and rapidly evolving customer dynamics have caused a perfect storm, propelling the industry towards digitalisation as a means of protection and progression.
CUSTOMERS LOOK TO DIGITAL SOLUTIONS
Given recent shifts in the global trading system, businesses are having to adapt to higher prices – from container freight rates to fuel – as well as shifting customer needs. Underpinning these changes is a growing pressure to lower operating costs.
Fortunately, digital tools can help give operators the biggest bang for their buck, allowing them to navigate market volatility intelligently through dynamic pricing, capacity deployment or de-risking.
Over the lifetime of a ship, the digitalisation and optimisation of maintenance alone can potentially reduce costs by between $2-3m, depending on the vessel type.2 So ultimately, this mentality shift could be the difference between a business surviving or thriving.
Part of this cost-cutting exercise also involves streamlining processes. Whether to help reduce supply chain complexity or improve fleet efficiency, we’ve found that operators are increasingly looking beyond single products – like fuels or lubricants –
1 Shell and Deloitte. “Decarbonising Shipping: Setting Shell’s Course.” Shell.com. 2021. 2 Deborah O’Neill and Derek Costanza. “How Covid-19 is Driving Maritime Digitalization.” Oliver Wyman. February, 2021.
towards more holistic services. It’s still about getting from A to B as efficiently as possible, but a digital-orientated service package is now often the best way of achieving this.
Additionally, industry business models are blurring, as competition increases and shipping companies look to either narrow or expand their focus. In fact, only 7% of decision makers polled by PwC believe shipping will still form the end of the transport chain in five to 10 years’ time, with new – possibly tech-based – market entrants forcing them to extend their range of logistic services to remain competitive.3 Whether this is caused by shipping line consolidation or onshore-offshore rebalancing, digital solutions can help, by improving communication, cost control and integration.
PROCUREMENT: GOING DIGITAL AT THE SOURCE
Procurement is a particular link in the value chain where digitalisation can deliver high returns on investment, since it’s all about having the right product in the right place, at the right time.
However, currently, 75% of orders are amended or cancelled before delivery, while 39% comprise small volumes of less than 2,000 litres.4 Fortunately, automated processes can help deliver a more sustainable, longer-term approach, helping to boost efficiency and reduce costs in the process.
This is where our Shell Accuport service can help shipowners shift from reactive to proactive procurement through smarter use of data. It combines lubricant consumption monitoring with real-time vessel location to predict lifting patterns, tailoring order recommendations, and providing an easy-to-use seamless online buying experience.
As a result, operators can unlock up to 6% savings through optimised lubricant orders and fewer surcharges, reduce operational risks, while gaining operational insights from bespoke data analytics that can cost anywhere between $15-40k a year to run.4 OIL MONITORING: IS DATA NOW A SHIP’S MOST VALUABLE CARGO?
Another important area is consumable usage, especially as 45% of machine failures are attributed to poor oil condition monitoring (OCM).5 Today, there’s little excuse, since connectivity and bandwidth improvements mean data exchange is simple, reliable and cost effective.
Shell LubeMonitor, for example, goes beyond traditional cylinder condition monitoring by combining on-board testing with lab analysis. Acting as an all-in-one engine monitoring solution, it identifies both the lowest possible feed rate and optimum wear rate for twostroke engines, supporting decision making, saving money and increasing efficiency in the process.
Meanwhile, VitalyX – developed alongside Bently Nevada – leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and the Industrial internet of things (IIoT) to add real-time sensor data to the mix. By collecting and linking data to establish trendlines, it delivers actionable insights around equipment health and operational efficiency.
These solutions are all about providing crews with ongoing peace of mind. No matter the technology in play, we always keep the customer front and centre when designing applications at Shell, before working back from there. HOW TO NAVIGATE THIS PERIOD OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT
In the context of another key topic, decarbonisation, the shipping industry’s size is often said to be one of its biggest challenges. For digital transformation however, the ecosystem must lean into this size to put the right structures, processes, partners and people in place.
A study we recently released showed 80% saw a lack of technology alignment to be a major barrier to shipping’s decarbonisation.1 As a natural optimist, I see this as an opportunity, not a challenge. If we can align on technology, who knows what we can achieve next?
3 Rachell Lau, Kristoffer Mikkelsen, Tatiana Tkachenko, Anniken L’orange and Malin Brubak. “The Digital Transformation of Shipping: Opportunities and
Challenges for Norwegian and Greek Companies.” PricewaterhouseCoopers. September, 2017. 4 Shell. “Shell Accuport.” Shell.com. 5 Shell. “Smarter Maintenance for Optimised Performance.” Shell.com.
