VPS: Using data to improve fuel procurement and fuel efficiency

John Oosthoek, VP Digital, and Ruben Hofsli, Maritime Decarbonisation Manager, of marine fuels testing company VPS, explore the pivotal role of data-driven decision-making in decarbonising the shipping industry, with a specific focus on how customers are harnessing its data analytics solutions such as PortStats and Maress: 

Maritime shipping, which already is the most carbon efficient way of transporting goods, accounts for over 80% of world trade transports and for only 2.1% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions (World Shipping Council, 2023). In this global industry, where ships navigate a myriad of issues in a ceaseless dance of commerce and transport, our customers are facing a critical challenge – decarbonising their fleet operations.

Illustrated by initiatives such as the carbon intensity indicator (CII), a regulation introduced by the IMO in 2022, as well as the European Union’s FuelEU maritime initiative entering into force in 2025, there are growing societal and regulatory pressures on the shipping sector to reduce their environmental footprint. Clear targets have been recently revised by the IMO: 20% emissions reduction by 2030 and 70% by 2040 to reach net zero by 2050.

A key aspect in the pathway towards decarbonisation of the shipping sector is the efficient use of marine fuels. The quality and composition of marine fuels directly impact vessel performance, environmental sustainability, and operational costs. As the global leader in testing the quality of marine fuels, VPS assists its customers to navigate the complexities of marine fuel procurement, -treatment and -management. In this article, we delve into the growing role of data-driven decision-making in the shipping industry, with a specific focus on how our customers are harnessing our data analytics solutions such as PortStats and Maress to optimise fuel procurement decision-making, prevent off-spec fuels from causing vessel downtime and reduce the environmental footprint of their fleet.

Using PortStats to anticipate fuel off-specs and optimise calorific value

Let us consider the case of a fuel procurement Director at a large ship owner-operator. As this company both owns the vessels and operates them, any fuel costs, as well as costs due to unplanned maintenance events directly impact the company’s bottom-line. The fleet typically bunkers in hubs such as Singapore, Rotterdam and Houston, but also has some fuel deliveries planned in other ports such as Cartagena, Port Klang and Lome.

This user experienced two clear benefits from using our PortStats solution:

1. By using PortStats to benchmark their existing fuel deliveries in Singapore, Rotterdam and Houston, the company was able to cherry-pick the most reliable suppliers in these ports, whilst also getting higher calorific value fuels in the process. This saved the company ca. 80,000 MT of marine fuel per year purely on energy.

2. The company was also able to prevent off-specs from negatively affecting their vessels. The user noticed a relatively high number of cat fines and TSP off-specs with one of their short-listed suppliers.

Whilst this may have been the top choice based on price, the company used the quality scorecards feature in PortStats to evaluate the market situation, and ended up going with the slightly more expensive alternative, which had much lower AlSi and no TSP off-specs, thus mitigating any consequent risks for engine damage.

Poor fuel management is one of the top three immediate causes for main engine damage, with an average cost of ca. $344,000 per incident (The Swedish Club, 2018). PortStats helps users to prevent off-specs and to be aware of potential operational considerations based on the quality of the fuels before bunkering. Furthermore, as the calorific value of marine fuels is an important decision-making factor, PortStats makes this variable transparent, giving bunker buyers and traders and important lever in determining the true value of a bunker stem.

Using Maress to optimise fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions

Now let us consider the case of connecting data from ship-to-shore. Nowadays, the majority of shipowners have operational data flowing from their vessels to their shore facilities in one way or another. Some of them have advanced systems in place, with high frequency data being available, whilst others rely on noon-reports. Typically, the equipment and technology that is available differs from vessel to vessel. The challenge then becomes to assess whether the available data is good enough and how to utilise this data to gain valuable insights.

Maress is the VPS solution focused on helping shipowners to systemise the data they already have at their disposal. Through visualising and reporting this data, Maress creates data transparency for our customers when it comes to fuel consumption. As a result, these companies are able to increase their focus on fuel efficiency across the board – from the crew onboard of the vessels to the onshore operational staff supporting them.

Note: The full version of this article which includes how shipowner Tidewater used VPS’ Maress to improve fuel efficiency of its fleet, can be found here. 

Photo credit: VPS
Published: 22 November, 2023