It offers an improved and more accurate solution, compared to manual performance reporting with AIS, as the signal can be problematic in certain parts of the world, the company claimed.
Ship’s movement data is collected every five minutes and sent via satellite connection to Eniram’s data centre via L-band, as the amount of data transferred is not that large.
This data, together with the vessel’s noon reports - some 80% of vessels still use this format - is combined and enhanced with meteorological data, sea state and currents, to model the vessel’s speed and fuel performance. The noon reports provide the vessel’s draught and the bunkers remaining on board (ROB).
This makes it possible to calculate very accurate fuel-speed curves without on board integration or costly installations. This forms the basis for all ship and performance optimisation, Eniram claimed. The software keeps records of the ships’ performance, enabling more prompt reporting, planning and cost optimisation.
“Access to fuel and speed performance data increases visibility and supports the optimisation of the vessel’s performance. This way, ship operators can manage their business more effectively,” claimed Jan Wilhelmsson, Vice President Commercial Shipping at Eniram. “Delivering performance monitoring through portable equipment as a service enables operators with shorter business cycles to get the benefits of advanced data analytics. As satellite connectivity is rapidly improving, this type of service is a natural first step in the utilization of real-time data for fuel performance optimisation.”
SkyLight will also make charterparty monitoring transparent and near real-time. It will deliver an enhanced normalised fuel curve that can improve the optimisation of commercial operations, the company said.
A charterparty monitoring report can be delivered in around two minutes with which an operator/charterer will be able to see if the vessel is performing as per the c/p terms. A speed profile report can also be generated. These reports can be accessed via apps.
A subscription-based service, costing only around €460 per month all up, including the hardware - a two-way transponder bolted onto the ship’s rail - this approach makes energy and performance management available to all operators, owners and charterers, regardless of the size of their fleet, Eniram said.
Users have instant access to the collected and analysed performance data via Fleet, Eniram’s cloud-based software interface. Reports are also sent to customers in a PDF format for easy storage.
“With opportunities created by connectivity and the Internet of Things (IoT), we can provide intelligent sensors, integrated satellite communication and web-based analytics tools for optimising ship performance at cost levels never seen before. This, combined with the vast amount of data Eniram has collected over several years, brings cost savings to our customers and helps them to make the right business decisions,” Wilhelmsson concluded.
At a presentation in London, where Eniram has recently opened an office, the company said that thus far oil companies and traders spoken with were happy with the data integrity.
For the future, Eniram is working on propeller and hull fouling calculation software and a route benchmarking tool. The company also has its eye on the monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) initiatives at the IMO and a software solution could be designed at some stage.
Eniram stressed it did not want to become a weather routeing company but said SkyLight could benchmark the companies offering this service.
The system is aimed at eliminating the ‘cat and mouse’ games often played between owner and charterer. The system has been designed for a 2-stroke, single engine, direct drive vessel, such as a large tanker.
The parameters needed are vessel length, breadth, draught and ship type and then Eniram claimed to be able to forecast the result through collecting years of voyage data.