Americas News
U.S. Navy Program Promises Millions in Fuel Savings
The U.S. Navy says it could save millions of dollars in fuel costs through a new program optimising shipping routes.
The program, Replenishment at Sea Planner (RASP) was developed by faculty at the Navy Postgraduate School (NSP), and the 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, is already using it.
Rather than taking on fuel and supplies at ports, the U.S. Navy conducts replenishment operations while fleets are underway, increasing their deployment speed and saving money.
"The Replenishment at Sea Planner (RASP) creates a schedule that minimizes the distance that supply ships have to travel, and identifies routes that allow vessels to travel at speeds optimal to fuel conservation," said Anton Rowe, a research associate with NPS and developer of RASP.
Navy Commander Walt DeGrange said RASP, which uses Microsoft Excel software already installed on ship computers, replaces a time-consuming and error-prone process of planning routes by hand.
"The input is all of the customer ship schedules, supplies and ports," said DeGrange.
"The RASP program can evaluate hundreds of thousands of possible routes and give the best option in a matter of minutes.
"You can also do 'what if' schedules that take in factors like schedule changes or port unavailability and solve for these factors."
The Navy has increased its focus on sustainability in recent years, including working toward getting half its energy from non-petroleum sources by 2020.
