Harnessing Data to Shape a Fleetwide Decarbonization Path

 

Knowledge is power. At a time of uncertainty over fuels, technologies, and emissions regulations, knowledge of your ship’s engine is particularly powerful. Armed with good data—rigorously analyzed and supported with deep technical insight—companies can both optimize short-term emissions compliance and build long-term decarbonization strategies that reduce operational costs.

When planning a route towards fleet decarbonization, nothing should come before understanding and optimizing the baseline efficiency of your vessel. Without this, the impact of future investments, business decisions and operational measures cannot be properly assessed. Nor will any choices deliver their full potential benefit.

A recent case study conducted by Accelleron shows the impact that a focus on efficiency can have in a scenario of growing compliance costs. With a 10% efficiency advantage, a 37,000 DWT chemical tanker on purely intra-EU voyages would save €72,000 in EU emissions costs (on top of the cost of fuel) in 2025. By 2030, that number rises to €183,000 a year.

Optimizing engine performance

Accelleron’s understanding of marine engines is based a century of experience building and servicing market-leading turbochargers – operation-critical components deployed across all types of marine engine. That experience is combined with extensive digital capabilities to deliver unique engine insight.

In early 2024, Korea Marine Transport Company Ship Management (KMTC) reported that it had saved US$540,000 in fuel costs in a single year after using Accelleron’s state-of-the-art digital engine optimization module on twelve Panamax vessels.

Accelleron’s engine optimization solution delivers recommendations based on thermodynamic insights that aim to bring engines back to operating performance achieved at “new” condition. The solution can be applied to any engine and turbocharger make. KMTC operators used Accelleron’s digital advisory to save fuel, and they were also able to benchmark engines and vessels through Accelleron’s web portal, giving them a fleetwide efficiency overview.

The argument for efficiency is clear. In an era of carbon pricing, fuel savings does not just mean money saved on fuel. It also means avoiding exposure to compliance costs. And those savings can be used to invest in additional efficiency enhancements or clean fuels that further reduce emissions and the cost of compliance.

Reducing compliance burden

A good digital solution should not only track your fleet performance and emissions; it should also simplify compliance. The emissions function in Accelleron’s engine optimization module, for example, now allows for calculation and reporting of well-to-wake (WtW) emissions. Combined with the platform’s existing capabilities for tank-to-wake emissions reporting—which is used to report on emissions for the EU ETS as well as the IMO’s Data Collection System—the complete WtW function enables ship operators to fully account for different types and sources of fuels. This is an essential part of any reporting solution for FuelEU Maritime, which came into effect at the start of this year, and for the forthcoming IMO mid-term measures, which will likely include both a fuel standard and a levy on fuels.

With full insight of a vessel’s baseline efficiency and actual performance—particularly fuel use and emissions—operators can benefit from several other cost reduction measures that digital solutions afford. For example, they can monitor hull and propeller fouling, and get recommendations for the best time to schedule hull cleaning. Digital tools also support voyage report validation, CII forecasts, and emissions reporting for a variety of regulators.

Enhancing commercial operations

Accelleron’s 2024 acquisition of True North Marine means we can take those benefits even further, adding AI-assisted route optimization that allows operators to plan the entire voyage with fuel consumption, efficiency and emissions in mind. In addition, combining a data-informed, end-to-end chartering consultancy with Accelleron’s deep technical expertise, we offer a complete solution to leveraging data not only in operations but across commercial processes.

As an example, Accelleron’s Emissions Desk can provide operators with an annual forecast for the next year, providing the tools they need to plan and budget for fuel, emissions, and operating costs. With these reports, operators can calculate compliance balances and penalties in advance, to make informed decisions on EU allowance purchasing, or the pooling, borrowing, or banking of FuelEU Maritime surpluses.

When you layer mid-term forecasting of compliance costs on top of deep technical insights into vessel performance, you have the basis for long-term business and investment planning. But to translate this into the most effective decisions, human expertise is still essential.

Accelleron’s team of maritime experts, former sea captains, naval architects, seafarers, leverage the data to provide actionable insights tailored to maximize efficiency, enhance performance, reduce emissions and increase profitability, across fleet operations.

This is data-enabled decision-making for a new phase of accelerated maritime decarbonization.

This article is sponsored by Accelleron. To learn more, click here.