Energy Efficiency News

TUI Cruises’ new 315 m flagship was delivered today from Finnish shipbuilder Meyer Turku.The fifth Mein Schiff cruise ship to be built by Meyer Turku for German owner TUI Cruises, the new Mein Schiff 1 is based on a new design created as an evolution from the existing Mein Schiff series.The builder’s architecture and engineering team, working together with TUI Cruises and its architects, used the previously delivered Mein Schiff 3 and Mein Schiff 4 as a starting point when beginning to work on the Mein Schiff 1 design in 2015.

Iranian officials responsible for implementing IMO standards on air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from shipping are undergoing IMO training at a national workshop in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran (18 April). Around 30 participants from the country’s Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO), Department of Environment and numerous ports are taking part. They are being trained on the IMO treaty restricting air pollution from ships as well as ship energy-efficiency measures – MARPOL Annex VI.

Bureau Veritas has introduced the first phase of My Fuel Consumption, a cloud-based and secure web application for desktop, mobile and tablet that aims to make compliance easy, with a digitized process throughout the various steps of IMO-DCS (declaration of fuel consumption) and EU MRV regulations (CO2 emissions).All ships of 5,000 GT and above must submit IMO-DCS plan to receive a confirmation of compliance, from their flag states or delegated Recognized Organizations (ROs) before January 1, 2019.

IEA report sees energy efficiency finance becoming established market segment in its own right ... The global energy efficiency market is worth at least $310 billion a year and growing, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency that confirms the position of energy efficiency as the world’s “first fuel”. The report also finds that energy efficiency finance is becoming an established market segment, with innovative new products and standards helping to overcome risks and bringing stability and confidence to the market.

Trials are underway at Southampton as part of a pilot scheme to launch the eco-friendly HullWiper hull cleaning technology at the port. HullWiper is working to test the system on a range of vessels including cruise liners, Ro-Ro ships, container ships and general cargo carriers at the south coast port. Managing Director Simon Doran explains that the trials are to demonstrate the efficiency of the diver-and brush-free ROV to the harbour authority, Associated British Ports (ABP) in Southampton: “HullWiper provides an affordable…

The first national workshop under the Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships GloMEEP), Project, which aims to support increased uptake and implementation of energy-efficiency measures for shipping, has been held in Georgia. Georgia is one of the Lead Pilot Countries for the project, which aims to build understanding and knowledge of technical and operational energy-efficiency measures to lead maritime transport into a low-carbon future. The national workshop in Batumi…

International Maritime Organization (IMO) has launched a website for GloMEEP energy efficiency project. IMO’s continuing efforts to promote environmentally sound shipping received a boost today with the launch of Glomeep.imo.org. The new website provides important information and updates on the Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships (GloMEEP) project – a GEF-UNDP-IMO initiative that supports the uptake and implementation of energy efficiency measures for shipping, thereby reducing the industry’s greenhouse gas emissions.

An energy efficiency workshop for Pacific Island countries and territories has been held in Port Vila, Vanuatu (12-14 December). The event helped participants gain knowledge and tools to develop national strategies and clear policies to improve energy efficiency in maritime and port infrastructures, to use alternative and cleaner fuels and to increase awareness of energy-efficiency measures. International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s Edmund Hughes delivered a presentation (via remote participation) on policy and strategy for energy efficiency in maritime transport.

International Maritime Organization (IMO) is continuing its work to support developing countries to prevent air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from ships with a global training exercise held in Batumi, Georgia (12-14 September). Participants are being trained to use three new draft guides, specifically developed under IMO’s GloMEEP project in collaboration with IMArEST, which cover i) rapid assessment for determining the country maritime energy efficiency and emissions status…

The German KfW IPEX-Bank evaluates energy efficiency of its merchant shipping portfolio, sees EEDI a key indicator of economic advantage. KfW IPEX-Bank, one of the largest ship financing banks in the world, has evaluated together with FutureShip, a subsidiary of Germanischer Lloyd, the energy efficiency of its shipping portfolio based on the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI). The applied valuation approach is based on the standards of the International Maritime Organisation (special organisation of the United Nations) and provides an indicator for the energy efficiency and CO2 emissions of merchant vessels. From 2013 binding EEDI limits will be introduced for newbuildings.

IMO inform that regulations to improve the energy efficiency of international shipping entered into force 1, January 2013. The EEDI is a non-prescriptive, performance-based mechanism that leaves the choice of technologies to use in a specific ship design to the industry. As long as the required energy-efficiency level is attained, ship designers and builders would be free to use the most cost-efficient solutions for the ship to comply with the regulations. The SEEMP establishes a mechanism for operators to improve the energy efficiency of ships. Ships are required to keep on board a ship specific Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP).

Investments in energy efficiency improvements offer cruise and ferry and merchant vessel operators an opportunity to reduce operating costs and emissions while building a more sustainable brand image, says Wärtsilä Corporation. The overall energy efficiency of a vessel is determined by the choices made throughout its lifecycle from new build to scrapping and recycling. In the current market situation, investing in more energy efficient solutions is a good way to improve long-term competitiveness.

With energy efficiency at the forefront of today's environmental agenda, Maran Tankers Management Inc. (MTM), the largest tanker operator in Greece, has collaborated with class society ABS in the development, review and revision of their company and Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (CEEMP/SEEMP). The plan provides a mechanism for identifying measures aimed at maximizing operational efficiency throughout MTM’s fleet and establishes a management tool for the Company and their fleet of vessels. The goal is to continually improve the energy efficiency of all sea born operations.

MARAD released an Energy Efficiency White Paper. The Maritime Administration (MARAD) has announced the availability of the Energy Efficiency White Paper that provides marine vessel owners and operators information on how to evaluate potential investments in efficiency measures and technologies. The white paper outlines the latest energy efficiency measures currently available for marine vessels, including how the technology works, potential fuel savings, applicability to various vessels types, and lifecycle costs.

The IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meets for its 65th session from 13 to 17 May 2013, at IMO HQ in London. Items on a busy agenda include the implementation of energy-efficiency regulations and the ballast water management and ship-recycling treaties. The MEPC is expected to continue its work on further developing technical and operational measures relating to energy-efficiency measures for ships, following the entry into force, on   January 2013, of the new chapter 4 of MARPOL Annex VI, which includes requirements mandating the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), for new ships, and the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP), for all ships.

A global Train-the-Trainer workshop on energy efficiency has been delivered in China (23-27 May), preparing the personnel needed to cascade knowledge on energy efficiency for ships and related efforts for mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping. The five-day intensive course was organized by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), within the framework of the Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnerships (GloMEEP) Project. The workshop was co-hosted by the China Maritime Safety Administration (China MSA) and Dalian Maritime University (DMU).

A complete package of training materials on IMO’s energy efficiency requirements is now available to download free of charge from the IMO website. The package, including presentations, posters, exercises and assignments, will be of interest to anyone wanting to understand how to implement the regulations in Chapter 4 of MARPOL Annex VI and what the technical and operational implications are for ship designers, shipbuilders, companies and seafarers. The course has been designed to train individuals to become trainers themselves.

The first-ever Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) certification for a large container vessel owned and operated by Hapag-Lloyd has been conducted by Germanischer Lloyd (GL). The EEDI certificate is issued in accordance with the voluntary EEDI guidelines, MEPC.1/Circ.681 and 682 of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The attained EEDI value of the Hapag-Lloyd vessel is significantly better than the present average vessel of this size (based on Lloyds database), underlining the high energy efficiency of the vessel's design. This documents that members of the maritime industry are pro-actively pursuing measures to improve the energy efficiency of merchant vessels and, thus, reducing the CO2-emissions considerably.

An International Maritime Organization (IMO) workshop is raising awareness of the organization’s regulatory regime dealing with improving energy efficiency and the control of GHG emissions from ships. Participants from Malaysian governmental departments, academia and other related bodies are in attendance at the three-day “MARPOL Annex VI and Technology Transfer” workshop, taking place in Johor, Malaysia (16-18 May). The event is organized under IMO’s GloMEEP project, which is supporting uptake and implementation of energy efficiency measures for shipping in developing countries.

Design Alaska, a Fairbanks-based architecture, engineering and surveying firm; and Art Anderson Associates, its naval architecture subconsultant, were recently awarded a contract for the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) to investigate potential energy efficiency improvements. The contract, driven by new International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations, requires development of Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plans (SEEMPs) for three AMHS vessels. The new IMO standards require vessels traveling internationally to obtain International Energy Efficiency Certificates (IEECs) demonstrating that vessel owners and operators have developed energy efficiency plans for their travel routes and vessel operating systems.

International Maritime Organization (IMO) the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed an agreement to allocate US$2.0 million to a two-year global maritime energy efficiency partnership project, which aims to support increased uptake and implementation of energy-efficiency measures for shipping. The so-called GloMEEP project, formally designated “Transforming the Global Maritime Transport Industry towards a Low Carbon Future through Improved Energy Efficiency”…

Implementation of energy-efficiency, ballast water management & ship-recycling rules on agenda for IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee. The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) meets for its 64th session from 1 to 5 October 2012, at IMO Headquarters in London. As well as discussing matters relating to the implementation of energy-efficiency, ballast water management and ship-recycling regulations, the MEPC will also consider formally designating the Saba Bank, in the North-eastern Caribbean area of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, as a Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA).

Rickmers becomes the first German company operating in the maritime industry and one of only a handful of shipping companies in the world to achieve certification to the ISO 50001 Energy Management System standard. Rickmers Shipmanagement received the accredited ISO 50001 certification from GL Systems Certification (GL) for its offices in Hamburg and Singapore, as well as for ten ships from its fleet. The handover of the certificates took place at the Rickmers head office in Hamburg on the 10th of January 2013. All audits were completed successfully in 2012 by GL auditors, with plans in place to add nine more ships in early 2013. ISO…