Energy Efficiency Improvements News

A new report by maritime advisory service UMAS has put figures on the energy efficiency improvements that are needed for international shipping if it is to meet the IPCC-derived 1.5ºC decarbonization pathway.This magnitude of GHG reduction, 37% in 2030 and 96% in 2040 on a 2008 baseline, has also been championed by some states as the targets that IMO should use in its revised GHG reduction strategy – due for adoption at MEPC 80 in July this year.UMAS states that, irrespective of how new fuels enter the global fleet…

The Liberian Registry has awarded an Approval in Principle (AIP) to Anemoi Marine Technologies for their Rotor Sail systems.Anemoi’s Rotor Sails are available with three deployment options - fixed to the deck, a folding type, and on rails that can be moved along or across the deck.According to a press statement released Tuesday, the folding and rail systems were validated on a Newcastlemax bulk carrier design from SDARI and issued an AIP by Lloyd’s Register.The Liberian Registry conducted a technical review of the documentation…

As the ship owners globally experiment with technologies to help incrementally cut emissions to meet stringent new IMO mandates, news out of south Florida indicates that Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise company, has made plans to expand the installation and use of Air Lubrication Systems (ALS) to a majority of the cruise line brands in its fleet through 2027; a move the cruise major expects witll generate "significant savings in fuel consumption and carbon emissions" by reducing hull drag by approximately 5% per ship.The pick for air lubrication is the Silverstream System ALS…

German cruise operator AIDA Cruises, a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation, has for the first time started to use biofuels in regular ship operations as part of its CO2 emissions reduction efforts.On July 21, 2022, during its layover in Rotterdam, AIDAprima became the first larger scale cruise ship to be bunkered with a blend of marine biofuel from Dutch supplier GoodFuels made from 100% sustainable raw materials such as waste cooking oil, and marine gas oil (MGO).

A coin ceremony for MSC Cruises’ second Seaside EVO class ship was held on Thursday at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy where the keel was laid. The name of the new ship was revealed – MSC Seascape.The newbuild, like her sister ship MSC Seashore, is further evolution of the Seaside class – the Seaside EVO ships are enhanced and extended with a variety of brand-new features, spaces and experiences for guests. Scheduled to enter service in November 2022 the 169,400 GT ship will be able to accommodate 5…

Australian oil and gas company Santos has signed a contract with FPSO supplier BW Offshore for the delivery of an FPSO for the Barossa gas field, located 300 kilometers offshore Darwin in Australia. The contract is subject to Final Investment Decision (FID) by Santos and its partners, with the FID expected in the coming weeks.The Lease and Operate contract has a firm period of 15 years, with 10 years of options. The firm period contract value is USD 4.6 billion. BW Offshore will be responsible for the engineering…

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri announced Thursday it has floated out the new cruise ship MSC Seashore at its shipyard in Monfalcone. The vessel has been moved to a wet dock where interior outfitting work will continue until delivery to MSC Cruises in July 2021.MSC Seashore, which will be MSC Cruises’ longest ship at 339 metres and the largest and most innovative ever built in Italy, is the third of four vessels in MSC Cruises’ Seaside class, following MSC Seaside and MSC Seaview launched in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

A traditional maritime coin ceremony  took place at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy, when the keel was laid for MSC Seashore. At the milestone event, MSC Cruises revealed details of the significantly transformed overall design and new features of the ship.MSC Seashore will be the Company’s longest ship – 339 meters – when she enters service in June 2021, the first of two enriched “Seaside Evo” Class ships with the latest available environmental technology, extended public spaces, more cabins and the highest ratio of outdoor space per guest of any ship in the company’s fleet.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority is calling on the European Parliament to put pressure on the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to produce an ambitious worldwide CO2 reduction plan for sea shipping. Given the recent plans, measures could only be expected by 2023 at the earliest. “Far too late. The plans are not challenging enough,” believes Allard Castelein. The CEO of the Port of Rotterdam Authority issued his call on the eve of the vote on revising the EU ETS directive, in the European Parliament’s Environmental Commission. This directive, aimed at reducing CO2 emissions by pricing them and enabling the number of permits to reduce each year, embraces many European sectors, but not shipping.

Wärtsilä EnergoProFin is a state-of-the-art energy saving solution that increases propeller efficiency and creates fuel savings of up to five percent. The solution is now available for both controllable pitch propellers (CPP) as well as fixed pitch propellers (FPP), yielding the same results in both propeller options. Offering the solution for technologically more challenging CPPs was previously considered impossible in the industry, but is now made possible due to development work by the Wärtsilä hydrodynamics team. The Wärtsilä EnergoProFin is a specially designed propeller cap with hydrofoil section fins on the downstream side of the propeller. It is an innovative energy saving device that can significantly reduce a vessel's fuel consumption as well as its emission levels.

An important milestone on the road to controlling greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping has been achieved with the adoption of new mandatory requirements by the industry’s regulatory authority, the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Under the new requirements, ships of 5,000 gross tonnage and above will have to collect consumption data for each type of fuel oil they use, as well as other, additional, specified data including proxies for transport work. These ships account for approximately 85% of CO2 emissions from international shipping. The data collected will provide a firm basis on which future decisions on additional measures, over and above those already adopted by IMO, can be made.

Lloyd’s Register (LR) and Shipping in Changing Climates, a $4m multi-university and cross industry research project funded by EPRSC, have today released Low Carbon Pathways 2050 – a new study that details a number of potential pathways for the shipping industry’s transition to a low carbon future. The report underlines the need for shipping to start its decarbonization imminently – as stringency increases over time, increasingly high-cost mitigation steps are required. The later we leave decarbonization, the more rapid and potentially disruptive it will be for shipping.

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. Cruise shipping is currently one of the fastest growing sectors in tourism, with China offering big opportunities for growth. At the same time, the merchant shipping market is declining due to the economic downturn, despite the fluctuating crude oil prices.

As the interconnector of global trade shipping facilitates every other part of the economy, and decision making around low-carbon pathways in other transport modes and industries will both influence and constrain decarbonisation in shipping. Whatever the outcomes at UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris the shipping sector faces a huge challenge of rapid decarbonisation. Clear emission reduction goals and unequivicol leadership is essential. The shipping sector’s energy efficiency improvements are to be commended but to meet the scale and speed of decarbonisation necessary to reach the globally agreed 2 degree target step change technologies need to be rapidly developed.

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.

In a review of Finnish energy policies launched, the International Energy Agency praised Finland for its commitment to a sustainable energy future. With its energy-intensive industries and its cold climate, Finland’s energy consumption per capita is the highest in the IEA. Yet the IEA noted that Finland’s energy policy framework was broad and coherent, covering all sectors and paving the way for a more sustainable energy system in the longer term. “Finland is highly dependent on imported fossil fuels, making security of supply a priority,” IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said as she presented the report in Helsinki. The report…

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.