“That is why we have seen a number of tanker owners seeking BV’s CLEANSHIP notation. This voluntary notation covers reduced emissions and has been awarded recently to a number of tankers and there are a lot more to come,” said Carlos Guerrero, business development manager for oil tankers and gas carriers, Bureau Veritas’ (BV) Marine & Offshore Division.
Specifically with regard to ship efficiency, BV has developed a software simulation tool called SEECAT to optimise the ship's energy efficiency. SEECAT is able to assist in the selection of energy efficient solutions during concept design and will also help to reduce operating costs for the ship in service.
This tool is used to predict the effect of energy saving devices, air emissions prevention equipment and best operational practices under real scenarios.
It is also the software behind BV’s voluntary SEEMP notations. It is a modelling tool which helps owners and yards make real world decisions about the most cost effective design enhancements and retrofit possibilities – of which there are a confusing number with many conflicting claims, the class society said.
BV’s Greek office has recently developed a specialised software tool for operational fuel saving. The Cargo Heat Scheduler allows the ship to minimise the amount of fuel needed to deliver cargo at the correct temperature. It produces significant savings in fuel consumed over a given voyage.
With regards to the SEEMP (Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan), BV has already assessed the plans of 103 product and chemical tankers against the IMO Guidelines MEPC.213(63) followed by relevant attestation that the SEEMP is on board of the vessel by the first intermediate, or renewal IAPP survey, or in the first survey for newbuildings.
Guerrero said that BV had recently classed nine Suezmaxes built at Samsung’s Geoje shipyard. Three of them were delivered recently:
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158,000 dwt Bordeira delivered 31st January 2013 to Cardiff Marine.
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159,000 dwt Stena Sunrise delivered 30th January 2013 to Stena Ocean.
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159,000 dwt Ast Sunshine delivered 10th January 2013 to Asahi Tanker.
All these vessels have the environmental friendly notations: CLEANSHIP, GREEN PASSPORT.
The rest of the vessels of a similar size (Stena Superior, Stena Supreme, Stena Suede, Lipari, Montestena and Montesperanza) were delivered during the past three years.
Around 30 oil tankers are presently under construction, or under discussion between the shipyards and the shipowners to be built with green notations in the BV-class oil tanker fleet.
Conversion project
New designs are one thing, but many owners will want to convert existing ships to clean gas fuel. So BV is working with a group of shipowners and others in an EU project called LNG-CONV to convert the main and auxiliary engines on an existing BV-class chemical tanker – Fure West.
The project involves converting the vessel to LNG propulsion and to learn lessons, which can be applied more widely. The conversion isa scheduled for completion by the end of 2014. It will show if conversion is an option, or whether it would be better to build new gasfuelled vessels from scratch.
In addition, BV is currently supporting other tanker owners and shipyards for the development of new gas-fuelled oil/chemical tanker designs and conversions.