Specifically, the survey conducted by NAPA and Blue Insight revealed that many shipping players supported that on average there is a high possibility of a 28% reduction of their fuel consumption.

Additionally, the same respondents noted that validation of data and cost remain the biggest obstacles to adopt digital optimization solutions.

It is stated that although vessel performance improvements vary depending on vessel type, many studies have have supported potential performance improvements.

Also, the study reports that for the shipowners, the consequential reduction in fuel cost would result in approximately 17.8% increase in the average daily financial performance of the fleet.

Yet, economic incentives impact the majority of the benefits that could be delivered by speed optimization.

Pekka Pakkanen, NAPA’s Director of Sales for Shipping Solutions commented that

Digital voyage planning, and performance optimisation solutions have been around for a long time, but as these estimates of improvement show, we’re currently a long way from getting the most out of our vessels. What’s interesting to see is that owners and operators recognise this, and their assessment of what’s possible isn’t too far away from what studies are finding.

He added that the responses showed that the main challenge to using these solutions is trust in the data that they use, and the reliability of voyage predictions.

Adrian Tolson, Director, and BLUE Insight Lead further stated that the potential for voyage savings depends greatly on the optimisation methods used and the nature of the vessel and voyage.

But it’s encouraging to see that owners and operators see such potential in voyage optimisation solutions. At the same time, this also throws down the challenge to suppliers of digital solutions to prove that their systems deliver ROI, and demonstrate to owners how this works. This is likely to be one of the defining themes in the voyage optimisation space this year.

 

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