Swedish shipowner Styrsöbolaget has achieved fuel savings of up to 25 per cent using the Blueflow Energy Management solution for nearly a decade.
According to the shipowner, the Blueflow solution was installed on four of its 18 ships in 2010 but not all staff were convinced the system would make a huge difference to the vessels’ operations. However, after using Blueflow for a while, the perception of manoeuvring ships changed, with some captains saving as much as 50 per cent of fuel by making small adjustments to the way they manoeuvred their ships. Ellinor Svensson, traffic manager at Styrsöbolaget said that some things they changed they did not expect to have a huge impact on fuel consumption, but actually made an enormous difference.
Following the achieved fuel savings, Styrsöbolaget decided to install Blueflow on its complete fleet. The company has 18 ships and manages all boat traffic to the car-free islands in the southern part of Gothenburg archipelago.
The company has reduced its fuel consumption between 20-25 per cent over the last nine years. According to Svensson, the investment per vessel has been paid back in less than a year.
“Blueflow’s analytic tools enable the staff actually to see the impact of their changed behaviour immediately. It helps them to improve their manoeuvring methods continuously. Using Blueflow is like buying a gym membership – you don’t get fit without exercising,” said Svensson.
According to Svensson, getting management to adapt to using Blueflow took a little time. It required mutual trust between the head office and the crew onboard. “We told the captains, that we were not going to teach them how to navigate their ship more efficiently, and that it was a project that we were in together”, Ellinor explained.
All Styrsöbolagets’ captains have access to the system and can see how they are performing. However, the shipowner stresses that they do not not focus on who is at the top of the list. It is more about helping the captains to use the analytic tools within Blueflow to improve his or her performance.
Blueflow is also used to foresee maintenance. According to Styrsöbolagets, using Blueflow has increased the captains’ awareness of fuel optimisation and they are now quicker to contact the head office in the case of irregularities.
This case study was originally published by DEIF. Read the full story here.
