Asia/Pacific News
Ocean Model Could Save Thousands in Bunker Costs
Oceanographic data company Tidetech says a new tidal model it's developed for the Malacca and Singapore Straits could save ships thousands of dollars in bunker fuel costs.
By allowing ships to take advantage of favourable tides and currents, the high-resolution tidal model promises to let vessels maintain slow steaming speeds and keep emissions and fuel consumption at a minimum.
"By arriving at the optimal time, a ship can benefit from a favourable tide or current through busy, narrow or restricted shipping channels," said Tidetech managing director Penny Haire.
"This means a vessel can reduce speed (or maintain slow steaming speeds) and save fuel… and also means the vessel can avoid having to increase speed to counter adverse current."
Depending on vessel type, speed and tidal phase, the company said ships can achieve transit time savings of between 3 and 12 percent.
The system combines global bathymetry data, satellite altimetry information, and local observations using computer models of fluid dynamics.
Tidetech said it will be able to provide its model to any of the 60,000 ships that use the straits each year either as raw data or as a layer integrated into ship navigation systems.
Tidetech was founded in 2008 by former UK government research scientists, according to its website.
Earlier this year, it said its models could save $9,400 in bunker costs for a vessel transiting through the English Channel in one journey.
