Ship performance monitoring and reporting Introduction

In shipping industry, there has been a continuous demand and interest in ship performance monitoring (SPM) overall and also the monitoring of ship’s major operations or machinery systems. When high fuel prices and air emissions control take centre stage in the marine industry, the urge to increase a ship’s energy efficiency using SPM is normally higher. Additionally, the more sophisticated engines with their recent developments in the combustion process (with thermal efficiencies reaching up to 52%), waste heat recovery systems (with reported benefits of 10% extra energy efficiency), use of emission reduction technologies such as SOX scrubbers and the persistent issues of variable quality fuel; all dictate a closer monitoring on the fuel engine itself, and exhaust system as a matter of best practice. Keeping the hull and propeller smooth and free from fouling is therefore essential for optimal ship energy efficiency

The intention is to show that performance monitoring is a key technology for ensuring an effective ship energy management campaign that aims for a reduction in ships’ fuel consumption and environmental pollutions (MariEMS 2017).