Complex Ship Operation Laboratory

Subject: Optimizing Performance of Ship and Machinery

Task: Fuel Monitoring

Preparation

What opportunities do we have to optimize the fuel consumption of a ship in service?

What is your understanding of “Marine Fuel Management”?

Why should Fuel Monitoring be done continuously?

What are the IMO requirements for SEEMP and EEOI?

Scenario

A shipping company is operating a fleet of 30 ships. The management has decided to improve the

company’s Fleet Monitoring System. Following goals shall be achived by this decision:

Get a more transparent and more instant overview over the status of the total fleet and

every ship by vessel tracking (position, speed, ETA, fuel consumption, performance

problems);

More accurately estimate and control arrival time (ETA), ship speed and fuel consumption in

order to meet the conditions of the charter party;

Support a more accurate and economic bunker and voyage planning as well as voyage

optimization (weather routing, speed-draft-trim optimization);

Reduce the fuel oil consumption of the fleet (It has been found that ships of the same type

have very different fuel consumption, even when they operate in the same voyages.

Introduce the Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP) as required by the IMO.

Get earlier indications on performance problems of individual ships, by trend analysis and by

fleet comparison.

The company follows a step program for introducing the new Fleet Monitoring System. It has been

decided to start with the introduction of a daily Fuel Monitoring & Reporting Procedure. In a first

step, this procedure shall be applied and tested with 3 ships of the same type and machinery. See

Annex 1 for some particulars of the ship, the machinery plant and the fuel system.

Tasks

I. Develop a Fuel Monitoring System for the ship, comprising

a. The Form in MS-Excel for monitoring and reporting of fuel oil usage on board.

b. The fuel oil monitoring and reporting procedure to be followed by the ship engineers on

board and by the technical ship managers ashore

Your solution shall meet following requirements:

(1) Maintain accurate daily records of the contents of and consumption from each fuel tank

during consecutive periods of engine operation

(2) Provide data on the fuel consumption of each engine (main engine, power generators, steam

generator) during consecutive periods of engine operation

(3) Readings of all fuel tanks levels and fuel counters at following operation events:

Departure from Port DFP

Begin of Sea Passage BOSP

End of Sea Passage EOSP

Arrival at Port AAP

Start of Main Engine MESTART

Stop of Main Engine MESTOP

Begin of ME fuel switching: MEFS: HFO => MDO or MEFS: MDO =>HFO

Before Bunkering BB

After Bunkering AB

Before Fuel Transfer BFT : Tk-No => Tk-No

After Fuel Transfer AFT: Tk-No => Tk-No

(4) Every reading shall also note:

Date and time of the measurement (shipboard time)

Operating hours (counter readings) of every engine

The ship position (GPS or bridge information) at reading time

The ship speed, over ground (GPS) and through water (log) at reading time

What further data would you propose for every reading? (Which data is required to

make various fuel consumption measurements comparable with each other? Also

take the company’s plan for an overall fleet monitoring system into account.)

(5) The Excel form shall support the automatically or manual calculation of:

the fuel mass [t] in every fuel tank at each reading

the total volume [m³] and mass of fuel [kg] for every type of fuel (HFO, MDO) at each

reading

the volume [m³] and the mass of fuel [kg] consumed out of each tank since the last

reading

the volume [m³] and the mass of fuel [kg] consumed by each engine since the last

reading

Port Consumption: the volume [m³] and the mass of fuel [kg] consumed during Port

Operation (between AAP and DFP)

Manoeuver Consumption: the volume [m³] and the mass of fuel [kg] consumed

during Manoeuver Operation (between DFP and BOSP)

Sea Passage Consumption: : the volume [m³] and the mass of fuel [kg] consumed

during Manoeuver Operation (between BOSP and EOSP)

The average Port Consumption [kg/h] and [t/day] of each engine since the last

reading

The average Sea Consumption [kg/h] and [t/day] of each engine since the last

reading

The average consumption [kg/nm] of the Main Engine and of the Diesel Generators

per nautical mile during the Sea Passage

Remarks:

Assumption: Every fuel tank has a level indicator (tank content in m3) and a thermometer

(fuel temperature in the tank in °C). Every engine has a fuel counter (liters of fuel consumed

by the engine) with an integrated thermometer (temperature of the passing fuel in °C)

IMPORTANT: Counters and Levels at the end of one period = Counters and Levels at begin

of the following period!

The Main engine can be operated with 2 different types of fuel (HFO or MDO). Accordingly,

it must be noted at every reading which type of fuel has been used since the last reading.

Read the fuel counters [liters consumed] and the levels of the fuel tanks [m³ stock] daily at

the same time (e.g. at 11:45am)

Always also read and record the fuel temperature at the fuel counter and in the tank

(density).

It shall be possible to extend the monitoring & reporting form later on for further important

information on the operating conditions at every reading (e.g. draft and trim of the ship,

water depth, weather and sea conditions etc.)

It shall be possible to easily adapt the monitoring and reporting form to other ships with

different machinery and fuel system.

Annex 1: Ship & Machinery Data

Container Ship 2.127 TEU

Main Engine: Sulzer RTA84C

Power Generation

Two diesel generators Wärtsila 8L20 2x1600 kW

One shaft generator 2000 kW

One steam turbo generator 1000 kW

One emergency diesel generator 600 kW

Steam Generation

Auxiliary boiler, operation with MDO or HFO

Exhaust gas boiler

Sulzer RTA84C