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Examining the effect of low oil prices on the engine business, senior representatives from MAN Diesel & Turbo, Wartsila Corp and Caterpillar, speaking at the final debate of the CIMAC Congress in Helsinki, stressed there needed to be an increasing focus on software and system integration as ways to provide value for ship owners.

Christian Poensgen, Senior Vice President Engineering at MAN Diesel & Turbo, noted that while engine design was leading to efficiency improvements of around 0.3 percent each year, the gains through systems, software and engine mapping could reach 6.5 percent over the next decade.

"The payback period our customers [are seeking] is still on average three years and with low fuel prices we need to deliver twice the value for the same price," he said. "Our focus will be to work much more on system integration and big data applications, with efficiency driven more through software solutions than by hardware."

Joel D. Feucht, Director Gas Engines at Caterpillar, pointed out that when energy prices drop, other cost aspects become more important to the customer. "We need to look at the other things our customers have to manage in terms of total cost of ownership," he said, going on to highlight improving service and parts availability through integrated digital information management as a way of helping customer efficiency.

Stephan Wiik, Vice President Engines, at Wartsila Marine Solutions, drew attention to the importance of fuel flexibility. "Flexibility is the future and today we are already testing new fuels and bringing new engines to the market which from the design stage are fuel flexible and can be upgraded or converted for other fuels over the years."

All participants agreed that the mix of marine fuel will be far more diverse in the future. Paolo Tono, head of Maersk Maritime Technology, put the debate discussion in context and noted the impact of pressures on ship owners. "We are navigating in the perfect storm," he said. "We have the lowest historical index rate for containers, and oil prices close to their low point in the 1970s.

"Improving energy efficiency is a less profitable initiative... Saving tonnes of fuel is not as attractive now as it was nine months ago." That said, he pointed out that he will still be looking with interest to find opportunities in energy efficiency and going forward the key question will be how to integrate the entire ship even more into a total efficiency framework and to decide where and how to optimise.