Fuel management for Asian offshore ships

The system was sold by Royston’s Singapore agent, Can Traders, to the Swiber Carina. It is being used to provide real-time fuel consumption details on board and simultaneously in the head office. In separate trials an enginei system has enabled users to achieve fuel savings of up to 20% and Swiber management is now hoping that similar savings will prove possible with its new support vessel.

The Swiber Carina was launched last year as the first in a building plan for 11-vessels that will provide oilfield support services around the Malaysian Peninsula. It is powered by two Cummins KT38 engines and the company management is hoping that the enginei system will enable its crew to operate them more fuel efficiently by maintaining a closer control of speed and power. It should also help the operations management deploy the ship in a way that avoids imposing instructions that adversely influence fuel demand.

The Royston enginei system can be applied to any diesel-powered vessel and works by accurately measuring fuel flow and matching the data with its GPS location. This makes it possible for the operator to continuously calculate a vessel’s ‘miles per gallon’ and to correlate the information with its activity and speed. Enginei is basically a measurement system that does not impose itself upon the vessel’s control systems in any way. However, by providing a simple bridge display it enables masters to be continuously aware of their fuel consumption. They are then able and to use their own judgment in setting their priorities and achieve an optimum balance between their speed and fuel consumed.

Data from the enginei system are made available to operations managers ashore who are provided with a more sophisticated display that makes it easier to deploy vessels in a timely and cost effective way. The data being used on the vessel, along with its GPS location, are relayed ashore where a satellite map display provides the ship’s superintendent with a real-time presentation of each vessel’s location and fuel consumption. Superintendents benefit from a graphic overlay that shows the amount of fuel being consumed at any point along its track. This enables them to deploy their vessels more efficiently and to avoid issuing instructions that might lead to unnecessary fuel consumption. It is also expected to prove attractive to ship operators in the region where fuel theft can be a problem.