Interest in performance monitoring grows as efficiency rules bite

Twenty-five papers were presented during the conference, reflecting the broad range of subjects and the collaborative approach to exchanging knowledge and best practice, including:

• How the shipping industry not only can deliver on ISO 19030, but surpass the requirements, take new steps, and leverage innovative technology and AI
• New test cases and an update on new developments within CDF – including insight on how coatings affect the hydrodynamic of hulls
• The latest use cases and the revolution within AI, highlighting how the shipping community can take advantage of this rapidly growing technology to enhance performance and efficiency to save money and create cleaner operations
• Discussions on the industry wide benefits gained from transparency and data sharing between owners, charterers, and other partnerships

The papers presented can be downloaded here hullpic.info

A year on from the introduction of the IMO’s Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) and less than three months since the first ships were affected by the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), over 80 delegates gathered at HullPIC to focus on arguably the biggest single lever to improve ship energy efficiency: hull management. Jotun’s proactive role and participation at HullPIC is a good example of how the company is moving forward with its Clean shipping commitment.

In the lead up to the conference, DNV’s Volker Bertram said that the shipping community is moving beyond ISO 19030 – itself a Jotun led initiative - and is exploring how the standard could be extended to applications beyond its original scope. This includes considering energy saving devices and also incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into hybrid models that go beyond first principles simulations.

At the conference, the industry recognized a need for better monitoring systems to meet both regulatory and market pressures.

Operators also have to consider new fuels under development that will soon enter the mix and the many technological and operational measures available to support companies. Among these are eco-efficient ship designs, air lubrication, rotor sails, premium paints, optimization software, improved speed management and the like.

At the same time, it is generally accepted that while technological and energy efficiency measures are important, these can only reach so far; fleet performance management, and data-driven tools are necessary to evaluate performance, including hull and propeller performance.

“There are, however, challenges in terms of selecting suitable performance monitoring systems for the ship operator’s purpose and profile, data collection methods, evaluating energy efficiency devices, and the ever-changing regulatory landscape. It’s a complex subject so to address these challenges it is important to share knowledge, expertise and insights and that’s the driver behind the annual HullPIC conferences,” said Petter Korslund, Regulatory Affairs Manager for Jotun Performance Coatings.

Exploring new ways and technology to improve efficiency

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a very valuable tool and shipping continues to gain insight into CFD through dedicated validation data, ultimately increasing accuracy and reliability, also in terms of cost. In addition, CFD can be run at the full scale, so the scale effect which challenges the model tests is not an issue for CFD. The subject was addressed by Dmitriy Ponkratov (JoRes project), and also Zakari Midjiyawa’s (Jotun), who presented Assessing marine coating performance on full-scale ship using an experimental channel-flow setup. This provides valuable insights into hydrodynamic performance and fuel efficiency of different coating types and roughness in a steady-state simulation of a container ship. By comparing the performance parameters of ships with different coating types and roughness, the simulation can identify the optimal combination of coating type and roughness that provides the best hydrodynamic performance and fuel efficiency.

AI was, of course, also a hot topic at the conference, being embraced by the shipping community. Among some, Casimir Morobe (Toqua) and Emir Ejder (DFDS) deep dived into their respective topics like Improving forecasting accuracy of commercial bunker estimates and Applying analytical hierarchy process for data quality analysis in the maritime industry.

More transparency and data could lead to greater efficiencies…

The conference also had a forum panel discussion moderated by Bertram and Korslund. Panellists Gerry Docherty (Ardmore Shipping), Ivana Melillo (MSC Cruise Management), Casimir Morobe (Toqua) and Serena Lim (Ascenz Marorka) shared their views on various topics, including transparency and the willingness to engage in charter parties based on data sharing between owners and charterers.

As Anders Møller (MOL Chemical Tankers) stated during the conference: “Having high frequency measured data analysed and normalized to reference conditions by a third party and shared with all stakeholders would ensure much greater transparency, provide greater decision support and enable real performance improvements.”

Questions like how we really can leverage new technologies, methodologies and monitoring solutions seamlessly, to not only create results, but also a more efficient operation for all personnel involved, were discussed.

Morten Sten Johansen, Global Marketing Director, Hull Performance category at Jotun, summarized the conference:

“HullPIC is recognised as the foremost gathering of experts and practitioners dedicated to advancing hull performance. The in-depth sessions and discussions are of great interest and value, and that is reflected in the high level of attendees from around the globe. Clearly, performance monitoring is a key topic for many industry stakeholders and, as part of Jotun’s Clean Shipping Commitment, we will continue to contribute to the discussions to further advance vessel performance so that the industry can become even better, more sustainable in the future.”