Rising bunker prices drive owners and operators to manage vessels more efficiently
An ever increasing number of uniquely designed vessels will be built as owners take a more critical look at fuel efficiency.
As rising bunker prices drive owners and operators to manage vessels more efficiently, there is a long-term trend to look at newbuilding designs, according to German classification society Germanischer Lloyd.
GL vice-president of maritime solutions Albrecht Grell believes fewer owners will be opting for off-the-shelf designs from shipyards in the future and looking to optimise designs, in what he calls the mega-trend of the decade.
Whereas ships were traditionally designed for a specific speed, he says the vessels of today and tomorrow will be designed to fit a certain profile “going faster when fully laden and slower when in ballast”, he says.