In a shipping industry full of bright ideas on decarbonisation, measuring energy efficiency accurately may yet prove key to changing the investment dynamic between owners and charterers, according to a leading marine technology group.
Environmental Protection Engineering (EPE) Commercial Director, John Korovesis, says that owner preoccupations with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and the IMO Carbon Intensity Index increasingly focus on endgame of how ship efficiency investments will stack up against future charterer behaviours.
Even the most painstaking attention to regulatory targets on decarbonization can be frustrated when the rules themselves are in flux, and the frameworks and reporting criteria owners work within are subject to change, Mr. Korovesis observes.
“EPE has been especially active in the field of decarbonisation for the last three years, and our priority going forward is to establish new partnerships and expand our product portfolio with new additions to help the shipping community meet the challenges of green transition.
“Owners need precision from the solutions they use to enhance ship efficiency, because hard evidence is essential to prove that the value-add to ship performance deserves fair recognition,” explains Mr. Korovesis, who has a 30-year track record at EPE. He has been integral to transforming a company with roots in making equipment for MARPOL compliance into a global supplier of leading-edge sustainable ship technologies.
“Recently we’ve seen the CII drive especially strong demand for shaft power metering, to monitor data from shafts, thrusters and generators on a continuous basis. Owners also tell us that they now factor the accurate fuel consumption figures they get from EPE AMIO Coriolis Flow Meters directly into voyage planning for CII.”
As a company offering a comprehensive new range of decarbonisation solutions, is also an affiliate to Metis, which specialises in ‘telemetry-first’ fleet performance management and is playing a key role in helping it to deliver transparency to owners on vessel performance. Metis Ship Connect enables automated data acquisition as a service to evaluate the impact of energy saving measures, and present outcomes in digestible formats, says Mr. Korovesis.
“When we propose NaviPULSE VFD (variable frequency drive) technology to optimize the performance of the auxiliary motors used in fans or cooling systems, owners want accurate data to show how gains add up to significant energy savings overall, and the way advantages accumulated with less maintenance, fewer spares and longer motor life. An owner investigating options on antifouling and impacts for the propeller or considering the cumulative impact of installing lower energy LED lighting also wants evidence not promises.”
Mr. Korovesis stresses that EPE associated company ERMA First Group ensures precision in measuring the impact of its own diversified portfolio of decarbonisation solutions - to which EPE also offers a gateway. ERMA FIRST’s FLEXCAP propeller upgrade option is “making a strong impression as a value for money option where owners are working through the consequence of the EU ETS,” he said.
The ERMA FIRST FLEXCAP draws on the boss cap fin principle, absorbing rotating water force to weaken the hub vortex and reducing torque so more energy can be channelled back as thrust. Mr. Korovesis, indicated orders have been placed to equip 40 ships with FLEXCAP, based on its proven ability to make fuel savings of 2-5%.
Other solutions include ERMA FIRST FLEXRING and FLEXFINS. The first is a duct that guides flow towards the propeller and improves propulsive efficiency by 3-7%. A further 1-3% efficiency can be recovered by installing FLEXFINS, a set of hull fins which guide flow around the hull and direct better flow to the propeller.
Measuring impact with this kind of accuracy will be vital if charterers are to start considering that their stake holding in maritime decarbonisation extends to investing in ship systems and technologies.
For EPE, it is also integral to its strategy to offer a single source service, with experts helping owners to evaluate available technologies to improve their ships efficiency index (EEXI), reduce fuel consumption and save CO2, and the service network to support installation, maintenance and troubleshooting.
“Ultimately, it is our job to help shipowners consider their options on invest in making ships greener, on improving performance and whether a specific ship is a candidate to meet tightening regulations covering carbon intensity. Where long-term charters are concerned, we are also showing that technology investments offer cumulative gains to improve CII performance, so that charterers are increasingly part of the conversation.”
