DNV GL and Hempel to Cooperate on Bunker-Saving Hull and Propellor Monitoring

The cooperative agreement, signed at the Marintec China trade fair, will define "comprehensible and verifiable" analytics for hull and propeller performance.

Global marine coatings supplier Hempel A/S (Hempel) Wednesday announced that it has signed an agreement with DNV GL that will see them work together on defining "clear, comprehensible, and verifiable" analytics to monitor and asses hull and propellor performance in order to optimise customers' fuel savings and reduce environmental impacts.

The agreement, which was signed at the Marintec China trade fair, will use ECO Insight’s analytics to further customise paint specifications and proactively manage vessel performance upon entering service.

Further, ECO Insight is said to offer better performance baselines to demonstrate a "more explicit relationship" between actual fuel consumption and hull and propeller performance, thereby allowing customers to better quantify the value of investment in Hempel’s coatings.

"With the data analysed by DNV GL, we will be able to optimise our customers’ fuel performance, improving hull performance matching specifications precisely to individual needs and trade, dry dock intervals, and technical service in dock," said Christian Ottosen, Group Vice President of Marine Marketing at Hempel.

"This will benefit our customers and support their businesses being more efficient in their operations."

Hempel says that potential for hull and propeller performance improvements, and therefore energy efficiency of vessels, is "significant."

Potential fuel and greenhouse gas emissions savings estimates are said to fall in the range of 10 percent. 

"This data will not only give their customers transparent and verified data with only a few simple measurement inputs, it will also give Hempel access to advanced analytics for the further optimization of their coatings," Torsten Büssow, Head of Fleet Performance Management at DNV GL.

In March, DNV GL announced the launch its new fuel saving analytics module as part of its ECO Insight offering.