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The International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO) has announced that it is working together with the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) to develop a project which is aimed at reducing emissions.

Named the 'Virtual Arrival' concept, the primary aim of the project is to reduce actual CO2 emissions by taking advantage of 'inefficiencies in the market'.

"Often ships steam from port to port at full speed, only to wait for days to load or discharge. This causes unnecessary fuel consumption and thus CO2 emissions," says INTERTANKO.

With the Virtaul Arrival concept, operators and charterers can both gain from agreeing to reduce speed to a reasonable level in order to arrive at the next port in time to load or discharge. Besides reducing fuel consumption, and thus CO2 emissions, this can also have additional benefits such as reducing congestion in port areas and reducing wear and tear on the ship.

However, INTERTANKO makes clear that this is not a slow-steaming project, since the loading/discharging will take place at the time originally set.

"Sometimes the operator may need to use waiting time in port for regular maintenance, and it should therefore be in the operator's option to make such an agreement.

"To make such an agreement work there need to be incentives for both parties. The operator should not lose the demurrage he otherwise would have received. It may also be reasonable for an agreement to be drawn up between operator and charterer to share bunkers saved and maybe share potential CO2 credits," INTERTANKO said.

INTERTANKO added that the agreement needs to be robust so as not to cause disputes after the voyage has been completed. The voyage calculations would therefore be done by a quality-controlled weather routing company with a balanced charter party clause covering each voyage, with the charterer indemnifying the operator for possible Bill of Lading claims due to any reduced speed required by the charterer.

Three working groups have been set up to take the Virtual Arrival project further. One working group is establishing a model Virtual Arrival clause; another is setting up criteria against which the weather routing companies can be quality controlled; the third is arranging pilot projects which will be actual voyages.

"The success of the project will depend on whether it can be made into a win-win situation for all parties, operating under terms and conditions which ensure that there are no unnecessary post voyage disputes," INTERTANKO said.

One INTERTANKO member has calculated that it spends 40% of its fleet time in port, so there is a therefore considerable potential for saving.

The OCIMF/INTERTANKO project group intends to be ready to make a submission to the IMO in March next year.