Solstad Offshore’s PSV ‘Normand Leader’ and its Captain Arnt Olav Skarstein have received recognition for their impressive fuel savings – amounting to some 29% – during transit from Australia.
Solstad says it has come a long way in exploring the digital capabilities for cutting fuel consumption and emissions. The MARESS program has been harvesting fuel and emission data for Solstad for six years now, and the company has decided that it is time to make additional use of the data in order to step up the efficiency challenge because it has been shown that, with dedication and proper insight, a vessel’s fuel savings can be surprisingly high during a long transit.
Solstad and partner VPS Decarbonization have been working to use data analytics to save as much fuel and emissions as possible during a vessel’s long transit. The crew onboard Normand Leader was able to save 29% of emissions and fuel consumption compared to a normal transit with only minor vessel speed alternations. The key to success was excellent seamanship plus data analytics. Historical data was used to determine optimal transit speed, and the crew used several measures to reduce fuel consumption, including optimisation of trim and draught, autopilot settings, stopping unnecessary auxiliary equipment, and matching the number of engines adequately to the sea conditions. Prior to commencing the transit, hull optimisation was performed in order to ensure vessel drag was reduced to a minimum. The VPS MARESS software enabled the company, as well as the captain and crew to define the transit goals and continuously follow the performance.
Solstad Sustainability Advisor Svein Erik Isaksen said: “Projects like this will help us to be better and more efficient. It is a win win situation for Solstad, the environment and our clients. Initiatives and findings will ultimately be digitised in the above-mentioned software MARESS, which will benefit all users.”
