DNV GL and Jotun Cooperate on Hull Performance Project

DNV GL has signed a cooperation agreement with Jotun to collect and analyse data on hull degradation.

DNV GL Wednesday said that it has signed a cooperation agreement with The Jotun Group (Jotun), a Norwegian paint manufacturer, to improve hull performance in an effort to reduce customers' emissions and fuel costs.

The agreement sets in motion a project that will bring together Jotun's Hull Performance Solution and DNV GL's ECO Insight solution to collect and analyse data on hull degradation, a problem said to account for up to 17 percent of the world fleet's fuel costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

"Our Hull Performance Solution (HPS) combines state-of-the-art hull coatings and application technologies with ISO-CD-19030-2 compliant performance measurements and high performance guarantees – helping customers reduce fuel costs and emissions by up to 16 per cent," said Stein Kjølberg, Global Sales Director, Hull Performance Solutions at Jotun.

Under the agreement, DNV GL says it will provide Jotun with hull and propeller performance computations based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models that include the complete operational range of a vessel.

"This approach generates a much greater amount of baseline data than a conventional model tank test could deliver and provides customers with the information they need to prove that they reduced both fuel consumption and emissions to charterers for example," said Dr. Torsten Büssow, Head of Fleet Performance Management at DNV GL.

The firm's ECO Insight computations are said to also show how much resistance results over time due to hull fouling, providing customers with the opportunity to benchmark their measured hull and propeller degradation with other ships in their fleet and peer group averages.

DNV GL says that while advanced hull coatings solutions and more regular hull and propeller cleaning are already widely accepted preventive measures, there is no conclusive evidence showing which coating solution is the most effective or when and how often propellers need to be cleaned.

In March, DNV GL announced the launch of the ECO Insight solution, its fuel saving hull and propeller performance monitor.