Mon 17 May 2010, 13:02 GMT

Hamburg Süd to install fuel-saving technology


Ship operator aims to achieve fuel savings of up to 5 percent with new decision support system.



Eniram Ltd., the provider of dynamic decision support systems for the shipping industry, and Hamburg Süd Group, operator of 148 cargo vessels have today announced the agreement to deploy Eniram’s Dynamic Trimming Assistant (DTA) on a total of 26 Hamburg Süd vessels owned and maintained by Columbus Shipmanagement GmbH in an effort to cut fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

At the core of DTA is a multidimensional analysis model, which continuously calculates the key forces affecting the vessel attitude. DTA dynamically retrieves and analyses data of the prevailing trim, propulsion power and tank operations.

The system combines the data with current conditions - such as waves, wind and speed - and determines the optimal trim for each situation. In fleet-wide use, the system can be extended to provide shipping companies with aggregated vessel performance data for efficient fleet management.

“DTA gives us a relatively simple way to reduce fuel consumption across Hamburg Süd’s fleet of vessels and reduce the impact on the environment,” said Fred Deichmann, Managing Director, Columbus Shipmanagement.

“When the solution is installed on the first batch of twelve vessels, we expect to make savings of over US $4 million in the first year.”

The decision was preceded by an intensive trial period during which real savings of 3-5% on fuel were demonstrated on the Aliança Maua, a midsized container ship measuring 272 meters by 40 meters. Based on the trial, Eniram said an annual cost reduction of US $375,000 per vessel can be achieved by actively using its Dynamic Trimming Assistant.

“We expect to deliver substantial savings in fuel and environment based on the Aliança Maua,” said Philip Padfield, CEO, Eniram Group. “Hamburg Süd is one of the longest established providers of ocean-going transportation and has shown real commitment to our future-driven technologies. We are delighted to extend the savings fleet-wide with further installations of DTA.”

Eniram’s decision support systems are designed by a team of marine system experts, software architects, programmers, naval architects and captains creating a unique combination of expertise. Finland-based Eniram has subsidiaries in Fort Lauderdale, US and London, UK.

A more detailed case study can be found at Eniram’s new web site www.eniram.fi.


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