Data-Driven Shipping

DeepSea Technologies president Roberto Coustas underscored the importance of real-time data in optimising vessel performance, “Currently, many shipping companies rely on outdated noon reports, creating a 15% margin of error in fuel consumption predictions,” he said. Mr Coustas argued AI could close this gap by integrating weather conditions, hull fouling states and other variables into accurate, actionable performance models.

"Fuel efficiency and environmentally sustainable ship technology have advanced considerably in the last five to 10 years, so our latest vessels are positively affecting our AER," said Stolt-Nielsen Limited ESG manager Bharat Nayar As part of the energy efficiency measures being implemented across the fleet, graphene coating technology has been applied to 25 vessel propellers. This initiative has yielded promising results, achieving efficiency gains of 1- 2% and showing minimal coating deterioration during routine inspections.

“If we’ve got five and a half thousand years of experience, isn’t this just a no-brainer?” says Gavin Allwright, secretary-general of the International Windship Association. Older cargo boats with new sails can use propulsive energy from the wind for up to 30% of their power, while cargo vessels designed specifically for wind could rely on it for up to 80% of their needs, says Allwright.

The robust demand pushed the rate for a VLCC on the Middle East to China route, known as TD3C, higher to WS70.45 on Wednesday, up WS10.75 from the previous day, according to two shipbrokers and a trader. This is equivalent to a 15% rise, bringing the cost to charter a supertanker on that route to $4.1 million, said the second shipbroker. - Florence Tan, Trixie Yap, and aizhu chen

The higher the FAME content in the blend, the more fuel is required to obtain the same power. According to CIMAC a vessel burning 100% FAME (B100), fuel consumption could be 13% higher than if burning a traditional marine fuel. This could in theory have an appreciable impact on any agreed performance warranties in a charterparty. Owners should revisit their charterparty performance warranties and vessel descriptions if transitioning to burn biofuels. - Alvin Forster

Hefring Marine’s AI model claims to boost fuel efficiency by three to 20 percent while minimizing hard impacts that wear down both vessels and crews. If data gathered from the decision-making of a great captain was used to train the AI model, then it’s like always having a great captain looking over your shoulder and providing feedback on a digital overlay. Ever the bellwether of practical merit, marine insurers are signaling interest. Some even offer premium discounts as an incentive to use Hefring Marine’s AI. - Erik Kravets

Case studies have shown that vessels implementing advanced voyage segmentation can achieve fuel consumption reductions of 5-10% on average voyages. For a Panamax container vessel burning approximately 30 tons of fuel per day, this translates to potential savings of $60,000-$120,000 per voyage at current bunker prices. Moreover, the ability to dynamically adjust plans based on continuous monitoring enables further optimization. An Asia-Europe service that added a port call after observing favourable speed/consumption ratios during the voyage realised an additional 3% fuel savings, equating to over $30,000 on that single leg. - ZeroNorth

‘If you go to a Chinese shipyard right now, you will see that almost 50% of ships are getting propeller cap fins, or similar, installed,’ Nitesh Ranvah illustrates. ‘You would see AMP [alternate marine power] installations, which is for meeting shore power requirements. So those ones are happening at a much faster pace compared to other technologies.’ 21 Knots Group’s CEO assesses that with an investment of around $200,000 to $300,000 in those energy saving systems, companies are typically able to achieve around 10% cost and fuel savings. ‘So, it’s around one to two years of ROI, which is very acceptable for any business.’

[The] Baltic Dry Indenx (BDI) declines by approximately 5 % following a 17 % increase in the world trade uncertainty index (WTUI), with the effect however fading out in the following quarters and moving to zero around six quarters after the shock. The BDI also reacts negatively to a shock in policy uncertainty, with the magnitude in this case being comparatively higher to trade uncertainty. A 19 % increase in the global economic policy uncertainty index (GEPU) pushes BDI down by more than 5 %, with the effect fading out much more gradually and taking more than 20 periods to reach zero. The BDI is also positively affected by stock market developments, rising by approximately 4 % to a 6 % increase in the Eurostoxx and by 5 % to a 3.75 % increase in the S&P500. - Konstantinos D. Melas, Ph.D., Post-Doc (c), Nektarios Michail, PhD, and Kyriaki Louka

Tristan Smith, an energy and shipping researcher at UCL, warned that a $18.75 levy would be insufficient even if it was imposed on every tonne of emissions. “You don’t get an energy transition without” a levy of between $100 and $150, in combination with a financial reward for zero-emission ships, he said. But Atina Schutz, negotiator for the Marshall Islands, one of the island states particularly concerned by rising sea levels, said: “We are grateful for the spirit of collaboration [and] welcome the additional support.”