Shipowners, operators and managers should consider weather and ocean conditions which accounts for 80% of impact on vessel performance, according to voyage intelligence specialist StratumFive’s chief executive Stuart Nicholls.
He adds that optimising ship voyages is the most effective way to improve vessel performance.
Ignorance in vessel services
Nicholls highlighted that fuel consumption is a function of the resistance that the vessel has to overcome during a voyage. That resistance is a function of several other factors, such as vessel block coefficient, loading and trim, water density, currents, waves, wind and biofouling.
Of these functions, shipowners and managers have little control over weather and ocean conditions except when planning voyages to avoid the worst conditions.
Also, he feels that shipping companies would miss out on significant efficiency gains by ignoring weather and ocean conditions. Besides this, it also benefits shippers by minimising cargo damage, ensuring the safety of passengers and crew on board and get more precise arrival times.
What makes this 80%?
Mr Nicholls explained that the resistance when navigating in unfavourable conditions generally increases by 50-100% of the total ship resistance in calm weather. He pointed to research conducted by MAN Energy Solutions, which demonstrated that resistance on a 140,000 dwt bulk carrier can increase by up to 220% in extreme conditions and weather.
“While the 20% remains important and can create important marginal gains, the impact of weather significantly outweighs them, but is often sidelined or ignored,” said Mr Nicholls.
IT for the rescue
StratumFive provides voyage intelligence to more than 11,000 vessels operating worldwide. They use its online tracking and information software, Otis, for monitoring vessels and delivering information to avoid adverse weather conditions.
To enhance Otis, StratumFive is using existing and new datasets with machine learning techniques to build predictive models based on analytics and data from past voyages.
Other providers of shipping intelligence and voyage planning services have also highlighted the benefits of weather routeing in Riviera Maritime Media’s Complete Guide to ECDIS. This includes MeteoGroup, Weather Routing Inc and StormGeo, while Tidetech managing director Penny Haire has presented the voyage gains from analysing current and tidal conditions.
The shipping industry risks by investing billions of dollars on vessel optimisation services, but still fails to deliver overall operational efficiency and performance.
Nicholls says that, “No matter how well optimised a vessel’s engine or trim might be, if the vessel is experiencing adverse weather conditions, this ceases to be relevant.” This would be because owners’ and managers’ lack of appreciation of weather and ocean effects on voyages.
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Source: Marine Electronics & Communications
