The International Maritime Organization(IMO) has made the presence of the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) mandatory on all vessels of more than 400 gross tonnages (GT) with effect from January 1st, 2013.
All ship staffs have roles to play on implementing ship energy efficiency measures. However, the role they could play would be different, and its effectiveness will vary. For example:
- The Master, being overall in command of the ship, has a significant impact on all aspects of ship operation, including planning, execution, controls, and evaluations. The Master, in particular, could significantly influence all ship operational issues. Without a Master's full awareness and drive, ship energy management is unlikely to succeed on board ships. Areas that Master could significantly impact are those related to ship's operational aspects such as voyage management, weather routing, just-in-time arrival, and more, all of which have significant implications for ship energy efficiency. So, a ship's Master could have the greatest influence on an energy-efficient ship operation than any other shipboard staff.
- The Chief Officer (2nd in command) plays significant roles in the cargo and loading/unloading operations, ballast management operations, trim optimization, and aspects of hull and propeller condition and maintenance, etc. In this regard, all specific operational issues are handled by the chief officer. In this way, he/she exerts much influence on various ship activities, including energy and environmental management. Good communications between Chief Officer and Chief Engineer would provide a more optimized operation between deck department requirements and engine department efficiency and maintenance requirements. Based on this, the Chief Officer is the second most important person on board ship that could influence the overall ship energy efficiency or inefficiency.
- The Chief Engineer being in overall charge of technical aspects of ship engineering systems and machinery operations, could play a major role on technical issues including the condition and performance of engines and various machinery and the way they are utilized. The Chief Engineer normally carries out most of the machinery condition assessment activities, engine record logs, and reporting and communications with Master and Chief Officer. The chief engineer is the third most important person on board with the full picture of all engineering systems in terms of energy efficiency after the Master and Chief Officer.
- The Second Engineer, being the most engaged person in the engine department on a day to day operation and maintenance of various systems, has the second most important role in engine department in ensuring that all machinery is in optimal working condition and performance as well as their usage is limited to requirements.
The above list does not negate the importance of all shipboard personnel in impacting the shipboard energy efficiency activities. It only highlights those that could have more influence. All personnel could play their role, and without their buy-in, the task of shipboard energy management will not be successful. Building a culture of care for the environment and fuel-saving between staff is a prerequisite for any successful shipboard energy management.
Importance of communications between departments
One of the issues observed most of the time is the lack of optimal organizational communications between various departments that lead to a waste of energy. For example, communication between deck and engine departments is essential for machinery use optimization. In an effective shipboard energy efficiency program, the collaboration and communications between all departments need to be enhanced. It may be achieved via consideration of energy efficiency at daily meetings and relevant shipboard work planning for the reduction of electricity, compressed air, fresh water, etc. use.
Shipboard Energy Efficiency Measures
It was widely argued and shown that these kinds of measures are not fully under the control of ship staff, thus the issue of communication and coordination between ship, shore office, charterer, shipper, etc. were highlighted.
In this module, energy efficiency measures are covered to a large extent under the control shipboard staff (although not all of them by 100%). They could be the subject of ship's in-passage activities for energy efficiency. An overview of major aspects of shipboard activities that impacts the ship's fuel consumption coming under this category is briefly introduced first and then fully described in other sections of this module.
Optimized ship handling
Optimum trim: Most ships are designed to carry a designated amount of cargo at a certain speed for certain fuel consumption. The same applies to ballast operations. Whether loaded and unloaded, for such conditions, normally, there exists a ship trim that minimizes the propulsion power, thus main engines' fuel consumption. In fact, for any given draft, there is one optimum trim that gives minimum ship resistances. In some ships, it is possible to assess optimum trim conditions for fuel-efficiency continuously throughout the voyage. Setting the ship trim is, to a large extent, in the hand of shipboard staff. However, loading, operational and navigational constraints may limit the full extent of proper use of this energy efficiency measure.
Read more on Energy efficiency measures -Trim optimization.....
Optimum ballast: Ships normally carry ballast water to ensure ship's stability and safety. Normally, ballast levels should be adjusted, taking into account the requirements to meet ship stability, steering aspects of the ship, and optimum trim. It does not necessarily mean carrying lots of ballast water all the time. Excessive ballast increases ship displacement, which directly increases fuel consumption. Thus there is an optimum ballast condition that needs to be achieved through good cargo planning and voyage planning. Therefore optimizing the ballast levels for energy efficiency within the framework of ship stability, safety, steer-ability, and optimum trim can be regarded as an energy efficiency measure.
Read more on Energy efficiency measures- Ballast water management ...
Optimum use of rudder and autopilot: There have been large improvements in automated heading and steering control systems technologies. While originally developed to make the bridge team more effective, modern autopilots can achieve much more. An integrated navigation system can achieve significant fuel savings by simply reducing the distance sailed "off track." The principle is simple; better course control through less frequent and smaller corrections will minimize losses due to rudder resistance. In some cases, retrofitting of a more efficient autopilot to existing ships could be considered.Read more on
Optimised propulsion condition
Hull maintenance: Hull fouling always happens in ships. The rate of hull fouling will depend on several factors such as quality of paint, ship service speed, periods of idle /waiting, and ship geographical area of operation. Hull resistance can be optimized by new advanced coating systems, possibly in combination with hull cleaning at certain intervals. Regular in-water inspection of the condition of the hull is recommended. Consideration may be given to the possibility of timely full
removal and replacement of underwater paint systems to avoid the increased hull roughness caused by repeated spot blasting and repairs over multiple dry dockings.
Propeller cleaning: Propeller cleaning and polishing or even appropriate coating may significantly increase fuel efficiency. The need for ships to maintain efficiency through in-water hull and propeller cleaning should be recognized and facilitated by port States.
Read more on Energy efficiency measures- Causes of Hull roughness and preventive measures
Main engine maintenance: Marine diesel engines have a very high thermal efficiency (~50%). It is the best currently available on the market and is the main reason why diesel engines are unrivaled in shipping. The high efficiency is due to the systematic minimization of heat and mechanical loss of such engines and improved performance parameters that has taken place over many decades.
In particular, the new breed of electronic controlled engines can provide efficiency gains with wider flexibility, for example, for slow steaming. To keep these engines optimal, they need to undergo onboard conditions and performance monitoring continuously. Maintenance following manufacturers' instructions in the company's planned maintenance schedule will also maintain efficiency. The use of the engine's condition monitoring can be a useful tool to maintain high efficiency.Read more on Engine load management ....
Optimised auxiliary machinery
There is a significant number of auxiliary machinery onboard ships that use electrical power to function. Such machinery has some redundancies for safety and operational purposes so that if one fails, the redundant one could take over and ensure continuous safety and operation of the ship. There aspects to the choice of such machinery as well as their operation that impact a ship's energy efficiency. For example, the way such machinery is used could lead to poor maintenance as well as high energy use. Read more on
Fuel management
Shipping normally uses Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO), which is of the lowest quality among marine fuels and could be of poor quality, if care is not exercised during procurement and use. Control of quality and quantity of fuels purchased and also onboard fuel treatment can provide significant benefits for safeguarding the machinery from damage but also in terms of energy efficiency.
Read more on Fuel oil management ....
Maintenance and energy efficiency
Ship maintenance operations and management are fundamental for the energy-efficient operation of its machinery and systems. Deterioration of ship systems' condition takes place due to normal wear and tear, fouling, mis-adjustments, long periods of operation outside design envelopes, etc. As a consequence, equipment downtime, quality problems, energy losses, safety hazards, or environmental pollution may result. The end outcome is a negative impact on operating cost, profitability, customer satisfaction, and probable negative environmental impacts. Thus good maintenance is in line with good performance and energy efficiency.
Technical upgrades and retrofits
There are a whole host of technologies that may be used to improve the energy efficiency of an existing ship. Although a decision to choose and install such technology upgrades is outside the hand
of shipboard staff, nevertheless, this topic will be covered in this module. Typical technologies could include the following.
- Optimum propeller and propeller inflow considerations:
The selection of the propeller is normally determined at the design and construction stage of a ship. However, new developments in propeller design have made it possible for retrofitting of later designs to deliver greater fuel efficiency. It is important to know that such changes should be decided by looking at the ship as a whole from hydrodynamic points of view, taking into consideration all elements of a ship's duty cycle. Additionally, improvements to the water inflow to the propeller using arrangements such as fins and nozzles could increase propulsive efficiency power and hence reduce fuel consumption.
Read more on Ships propeller maintenance requirement
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Efficient auxiliary machinery and electrical motors: Technology could help in this area via a host of initiatives such as energy-saving lamps, energy-efficient electric motors, energy efficiency pumps, etc.
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Waste heat recovery: Waste heat recovery is now a commercially available technology for some ships. Waste heat recovery systems use thermal heat losses from the exhaust gas for either electricity generation or additional propulsion with a shaft motor. It may not be possible to retrofit such systems into existing ships. However, they may be a beneficial option for new ships. Waste heat recovery technologies to reduce the need for hot water or steam may be considered for existing ships where such requirement dictates the longer operation of the auxiliary boilers.
- Boilers and steam system :
In some ship types, boilers and steam use a significant amount of energy for either propulsion turbines or other auxiliary services such as cargo and ballast pumps, cargo heating, fuel oil treatment, and conditions and more.
Technical Upgrade and Retrofit
One effective way of improving the energy efficiency of a ship is to upgrade shipboard technologies to more energy-efficient ones. Upgrading of technologies is not a shipboard activity. Nevertheless, the shipboard staff could always engage in proposing such technologies. For this reason, this topic is covered under this module.
Several technology upgrades can be considered for energy efficiency. It should be noted that the applicability of such technologies will depend on ship type, ship size, operation profile, and other factors. Thus the decision making for each technology will need to go through the normal process of technical feasibility aspects and economic cost-effectiveness analysis for the specific ship that is under consideration. The technologies described here only shows a good sample, but the list is not comprehensive as other potential technologies may be included.
- Devices forward of propeller
- Devices aft of propeller
- Wake-equalizing duct
- Integrated propeller and rudder units
- Ducted propeller
- Waste heat recovery
- Auxiliary machinery and systems
- Fuel oil homogenisers
- Fore-body optimisation and bulbous bow
There are other technologies that may be used for upgrade and retrofit that includes:
- Energy saving lamps.
- Card controlled or occupancy sensors lighting system for accommodation.
- Variable speed drives for pumps, fans and compressors.
- HVAC system control upgrade and also pre-cooling of incoming air using outgoing cold air.
- Engine de-rating: This is a significant area and only applies for extreme slow steaming.
Read more on
Energy efficiency measures -Trim optimization
Energy efficiency measures- Ballast water management
Energy efficiency measures- Causes of Hull roughness and preventive measures
Energy efficiency measures- hull roughness reduction
Energy efficiency measures- propeller maintenance
Energy efficiency measures- engine load management
Energy efficiency measures- fuel management
Energy efficiency measures - ship maintenance requirement
Other info pages !
Ships Charterparties Related terms & guideline
Stevedores injury How to prevent injury onboard
Environmental issues How to prevent marine pollution
Cargo & Ballast Handling Safety Guideline
Reefer cargo handling Troubleshoot and countermeasures
DG cargo handling Procedures & Guidelines
Safety in engine room Standard procedures
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