A helping hand for crews

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Apr 2009

AS the use of electronic aids increases in the shipping industry, voyage planning and fleet management systems are becoming staple tools for ship managers and fleet owners. The trick, however, is to find the correct system for one's needs. 'There are many products, but what the owners or person who is implementing the system wants to achieve is the key question,' says DNV Maritime Solutions Asia-Pacific senior consultant Arijit Bhattacharyya. The dearest and most fancy solution may not be the best suited to everyone, he adds.
The drive to make greater use of such systems has been led mainly by the need to save fuel, after bunker prices spiralled last year. Despite bunker prices falling back to previous levels, fuel still accounts for a big slice of vessel operating costs, so even a 5 per cent saving could add up to a substantial amount over the long term, Mr Bhattacharyya says.
Looking at the larger realm of energy management, DNV Maritime Services capability manager Arne Haueng says that in the 20 or so projects the company has worked on so far, fuel savings of between 5 and 15 per cent have been achieved. This has been through a combination of technical improvements, such as better hull coatings and use of heat recovery systems, and weather and voyage routing software.
It is important to ensure the full benefits are derived from whatever system is chosen, Mr Bhattacharyya says. Voyage performance depends on various factors - and prime among them is service speed.
This is especially important to operators of container ships, as time and speed are critical to their performance. Mr Bhattacharyya points out that although ships' masters are often pressured into going at high speed all the time to maintain their schedules, this need not be so. Optimising routing for weather and port service conditions, and implementing port rotation based on this, can help vessels cruise at their most efficient speed and save fuel.
Other measures, such as implementing a better stowage plan for cargo and ensuring a vessel is properly trimmed, can also help conserve fuel.
'We have seen on average 3-5 per cent savings on fuel by implementing best practices when it comes to energy management and voyage planning,' says Mr Bhattacharyya.
Beyond the use of new systems, it is important that management buys into the idea of saving on energy use, so it filters down to all levels of the organisation. There is an inherent conflict between the goals of commercial managers, who want vessels to go flat out all the time, and saving fuel, says Mr Haueng.
Mr Bhattacharyya says: 'Fleet management and technical management go hand in hand with commercial operations.' So it is natural that voyage planning should become integrated with wider fleet management systems. 'Whether you are talking about different trade routes or types of ships, these principles are true for all types of ships,' he says. 'There is some optimisation that can always be done.'
For example, simple weather routing systems now have engine input and many other indicators that help provide crews with better decision-making capabilities. And providing this same information to shore-based staff helps them understand the challenges faced by crews.
A growing number of vendors are providing such systems. During the Sea Asia 2009 show last week, at least three were launched in some shape or form.
Jeppesen Marine's vessel and voyage optimisation solution (VVOS) offers seamless integration with its C-Map electronic chart database and enables a user to do a quick navigation check of route alternatives.
According to Jeppesen, APL reported significant improvements in routing, fuel efficiency and sea-keeping performance in a VVOS trial on its ships and is moving to install the system on its trans-Pacific and trans-Atlantic fleets.
Teledata Marine Solutions, meanwhile, soft- launched its ShipManager 7.0 integrated web-based marine IT software solution, which provides a platform for predictive analysis and decision support, and addresses the operational needs of commercial managers, technical managers and ship staff.
'This product is constructed around four building blocks, namely, technical, commercial, F&A and decision support,' said Teledata marine products president Himanshu Joshi. 'The ShipManager 7.0 application workflows are designed to deliver business intelligence to maritime enterprises.'
For example, a ship operator can select and use chosen business processes from different modules including procurement, crewing, chartering and accounting.
Besides featuring alerts, notifications and dashboards as integral parts of the product, ShipManager 7.0's interfaces give marine managers and ships' crew direct access to a large number of critical reports in office and on ships.
GAC-SMHI Weather Solutions recently launched Fleetweb 3.0, the latest version of its web-based application that allows shipping operators to easily monitor and control fleet performance around-the-clock to achieve greater operational and cost efficiencies.
GAC-SMHI Weather Solutions is a strategic alliance between GAC and the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute.
DNV's Mr Bhattacharyya says: 'There are so many vendors out there that the problem is not finding the systems, but finding the right solution. Energy management is the big picture and voyage planning is a critical component of that. Everything needs to be looked at to make it work. You can't take things on their own as it's all connected.'

Source: Business Times