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Utilising performance monitoring systems can aid shipping companies in showcasing regulatory compliance whilst gaining valuable insights into fleet performance projections but there are drawbacks. Better systems are needed to tap into the full potential of accurate data and energy saving solutions, argue industry experts at HullPIC.
A year on from the introduction of the IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) and less than three months since the first ships were affected by the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), over 80 delegates gathered at HullPIC to focus on arguably the biggest single lever to improve ship energy efficiency: hull management. In this regard, Jotun’s proactive role and participation at HullPIC is a good example of how the company is moving forward with its Clean Shipping Commitment.
Twenty-five papers were presented during the conference, reflecting the broad range of subjects and the collaborative approach to exchanging knowledge and best practice, including:
The papers presented can be downloaded here hullpic.info.
In the lead up to the conference, DNV’s Volker Bertram said that the shipping community is moving beyond ISO 19030 – itself a Jotun led initiative - and is exploring how the standard could be extended to applications beyond its original scope. This includes taking into account energy saving devices and also incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into hybrid models that go beyond first principles simulations.
From the discussion at the conference, it was clear that delegates agree there is a need for better monitoring systems to meet both regulatory and market pressures but how best to go about developing and introducing them was less clear.
As well as having to cope with regulations and financial measures, operators have to consider new fuels under development that will soon enter the mix and the many technological and operational measures available to support companies. Among these are eco-efficient ship designs, air lubrication, rotor sails, premium paints, optimization software, improved speed management and the like.
At the same time, it is generally accepted that while technological and energy efficiency measures are important, these can only reach so far; fleet performance management, and data-driven tools are necessary to evaluate performance, including hull and propeller performance.
“There are, however, challenges in terms of selecting suitable performance monitoring systems for the ship operator’s purpose and profile, data collection methods, evaluating energy efficiency devices, and the ever-changing regulatory landscape. It’s a complex subject so to address these challenges it is important to share knowledge, expertise and insights and that’s the driver behind the annual HullPIC conferences,” said Petter Korslund, Regulatory Affairs Manager for Jotun Performance Coatings.
The three-day conference covered a variety of topics relating to conventional and new methods, including discussions on artificial intelligence (AI) and first principles simulations. “Both first principles and machine learning approaches continue to be developed, but a notable trend is the combination of the two, exploiting the respective strong points of both approaches,” said Bertram.
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a very valuable tool and shipping continues to gain insight into CFD through dedicated validation data, ultimately increasing accuracy and reliability, also in terms of cost. In addition, CFD can be run at the full scale, so the scale effect which challenges the model tests is not an issue for CFD. The subject was also addressed by Dmitriy Ponkratov (JoRes project) who presented What did we learn from the ship scale blind CFD validation exercise”? Clearly the industry has learned a lot in terms of the test case data and results over the past few years.
The conference also featured several presentations showing how AI being embraced by the shipping community. Casimir Morobe (Toqua) explained how his company has joined forces with Fednav and Zeaborn Shipping Management for Improving forecasting accuracy of commercial bunker estimates. The use of AI in Applying analytical hierarchy process for data quality analysis in the maritime industry was covered by Emir Ejder (DFDS).
While acknowledging there is no single dominating software solution in performance monitoring, there seems to be a move towards accepting AI and simulations as coequal tools to improve performance monitoring. Beom Jin Park (KRISO) demonstrated this in a Comparison of AI-based and conventional ship performance analysis models. Sven Albert (Numeca) also gave an overview of Simulation-based digital twins for ship performance monitoring.
CFD was also the focus of Zakari Midjiyawa’s (Jotun) presentation titled Assessing marine coating performance on full-scale ship using an experimental channel-flow setup. This provided valuable insights into hydrodynamic performance and fuel efficiency of different coating types and roughness in a steady-state simulation of a container ship. By comparing the performance parameters of ships with different coating types and roughness, the simulation can identify the optimal combination of coating type and roughness that provides the best hydrodynamic performance and fuel efficiency.
The conference ended with a forum panel discussion moderated by Bertram and Korslund. Panellists Gerry Docherty (Ardmore Shipping), Ivana Melillo (MSC Cruise Management), Casimir Morobe (Toqua) and Serena Lim (Ascenz Marorka) shared their views on various topics, including transparency and the willingness to engage in charter parties based on data sharing between owners and charterers.
Gerry Docherty highlighted that charter parties can be vague and that often they do not encourage ships to be operated economically and efficiently. “Maybe we could talk just in time arrival. But unfortunately, you could put this in front of certain charterers and the sad fact of the matter is they don’t really seem that interested. Some do and some don’t. So as a ship owner when you’re trying to be proactive as you possibly can to improve the efficiency of the vessel, not only from your point of view, from an environmental point of view, but from a financial point of view. Sometimes it’s very difficult to try to get that message across when the other party does not seem to be as engaged as you are.”
Docherty also phrased the question that perhaps many delegates had asked themselves. “There are many new developments, methodologies, technologies – how do we apply this in real life? Also, there’s a human element to this. We can be as automated as we want to be but there’s still men and women on the ships that have to operate all this efficiency technology we’re putting onboard.”
Ivana Melillo commented “Approaching a charter party with more transparency in order to avoid conflicts over performance of vessels makes sense, especially with new rules and efficiency regulations. Also, greater reliability of data and systems that allow you to easily create mandatory reporting resulting from the new regulations facilitates the operational approach, both for the shipping company and for the bodies that deal with the checks.”
Casimir Morobe said, “One of the biggest hurdles holding back short-term decarbonization, is the split incentive between owners and charterers. The only way to solve this, is to redefine performance clauses in time charter contracts, so both owner and charterer benefit financially from a more efficient vessel. This contractual change requires a big shift in mindset from the industry but holds huge potential to unleash the short-term decarbonization potential that's already available today.”
Serena Lim highlighted that case studies using data and digital systems have demonstrated tangible benefits to reduce consumption and emissions. “To achieve this, it’s imperative to alter key performance indicators within the organisation, spanning across various departments such as operations, commercial, and crewing.” She also pointed out collaboration among stakeholders is also paramount for driving digital transformation in shipping. “Partnerships play a crucial role in fostering knowledge exchange, consolidating resources, and establishing unified standards and frameworks.”
From the audience, Michael LaGrassa (International Seaways) commented, “Whether using manually input noon reports or high frequency sensor data, the real value lies in the subsequent analysis of the data to ultimately improve performance. Investment in the right partners and personnel is necessary to extract actionable information from the data, helping to reach our fleet’s goals. With the availability of new technologies and tightening regulations, it makes sense to continue improving on the data we collect and the knowledge we extract for accurate reporting and enhanced vessel performance.”
Spliethoff’s Stamatis Mavroudis said tightening regulations are increasing interest in fleet performance monitoring and added, "Operational measures can significantly boost the fleet’s energy efficiency, and generally come with a lower investment cost compared to technical measures. I believe that more and more stakeholders will realize that a robust performance monitoring system is the cornerstone in the endeavour to enhance the fleet's operational efficiency, and will invest in such systems, if they haven’t already."
Anders Møller (MOL Chemical Tankers) also agreed the tightening regulations are driving up interest in fleet performance monitoring “but not primarily to improve performance or actually make a difference for the environment, rather to make sure that they are in compliance. Legislation requiring actual measurement data would of course come with a cost to the shipping companies but would be much more effective at driving real performance improvements,” and added “Having high frequency measured data analysed and normalized to reference conditions by a third party and shared with all stakeholders would ensure much greater transparency, provide greater decision support and enable real performance improvements.”
Commenting on the conference Morten Sten Johansen, Global Marketing Director, Hull Performance category at Jotun, summarized the conference:
“HullPIC is recognised as the foremost gathering of experts and practitioners dedicated to advancing hull performance. The in-depth sessions and discussions are of great interest and value, and that is reflected in the high level of attendees from around the globe. Clearly, performance monitoring is a key topic for many industry stakeholders and, as part of Jotun’s Clean Shipping Commitment, we will continue to contribute to the discussions to further advance vessel performance so that the industry can become even better, more sustainable in the future.”
With nearly 100 years of experience of charting through unknown waters, Jotun is committed to continuously innovate and develop advanced products and solutions designed to protect biodiversity and cut carbon emissions to support global sustainability ambitions and achieve cleaner operations for all industry players. A clean hull ensures cleaner operations.
The European Union’s Emissions Trading System, or EU ETS, is a landmark initiative aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union. For ship operators, this means adapting to a changing regulatory landscape, directly impacting their profitability.
Matters beyond the industry’s control is making meeting ambitions and compliance with regulation more expensive and difficult to achieve. The need for practical energy efficiency solutions is more important than ever.
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