---

Norwegian classification society Det Norske Veritas (DNV) has said improved operational practices can reduce emissions to air from today's ships by some 15 percent and that the improvements can be achieved now using present technology.

DNV says its new tool, the DNV Triple-E (Environmental & Energy Efficiency Rating Scheme), has been developed to obtain measurable improvements for individual ships and aims to give an objective assessment of a vessel's performance.

"Ships from all market segments can reduce their air emissions. On average, optimising the engine performance, the trim for all drafts and speeds and the propulsion system efficiency and, among other measures, improving voyage management can reduce emissions by 15% for all type of ships - all to be achieved without additional costs. Even greater reductions might be possible," the company said.

DNV has developed a set of abatement curves to plot the achievable emission reductions against the estimated cost effectiveness. These curves are a result of research activity within DNV but are based on factual and measurable improvements achieved by owners, operators and individual ships in operation.

Tor Svensen, COO of DNV Maritime, said "DNV has worked with clients on energy management projects for years, and gained lots of experience and factual knowledge when it comes to both emission reduction potential and cost reduction potential. This excellent cooperation with mainly owners and operators has been essential to ensure the quality and accuracy of our research results."

The DNV Triple-E rating scheme, aims to give an objective assessment of an individual ship's performance irrespective of age or type. For the owners and operators this is a tool to set targets, monitor improvements and document their success across a range of performance benchmarks.

"Triple-E is more than a rating system, although it does provide an auditable ranking of green performance. Our intention is to provide this as a tool to bring tangible benefits to ships and the environment," said Svensen.

"The pressure to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions is growing all the time and we intend to be at the frontline of this endeavour," he said. "The 15% emission reductions can be managed now by the existing fleet. When looking into the future and taking into account that further reductions can be achieved by new technologies, I am convinced that the shipping industry will be able to attain carbon neutral growth."