DNV GL: Eco-Ships Have "Become the Norm"

Adjustments to ships' bow shapes are in high demand

Eco-ship designs are now standard for newbuilds, and owners with older ships are working to improve their fuel efficiency, Tor Svensen, CEO of maritime for DNV GL, told Seatrade Global.

"Today I see energy efficient ships have become the norm, nobody goes and buys anything other than an energy efficient ship today," he said. "It has become difficult to compete and offer the charterer a non-energy efficient vessel."

Svensen said changes to hull shapes and the installation of Mewis ducts are popular modifications to help older ships operate more efficiently.

"Our advisory group is working flat out on projects both on new designs, but also evaluating and retrofitting existing ships," he said.

"This has become really a hot topic."

Demand for efficiency improvement is particularly strong in the container ship market, where older ships tend to have the wrong hull design for slow steaming and can be smaller than the high-efficiency 14,000 to 18,000 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) vessels owners are ordering today.

Older ships often have hulls that were optimised for a speed of 24.5 knots fully laden, while current market conditions have them running at only 16 knots.

DVN GL estimates that retrofits offer fuel savings of 3 to 7 percent, while new designs can be as much as 20 percent more efficient.

Svensen said any improvement in efficiency is often crucial for container ships, which can see 70 percent of their operating costs devoted to fuel.

"Better fuel performance can be the difference between profitability and a loss for your whole operation," he said.

The world's largest container carrier, Maersk Line, which has already adjusted the hulls of some older ships to save fuel, is participating in a research project seeking containership retrofits that will reduce energy use by 10 to 20 percent.