Dutch Company Eyes Bunker Savings and 100 Million Tonne CO2 Reduction from Shipping Using Existing Onboard Tech

Dan Veen and Michiel Katgert of We4Sea BV are working to achieve a 100 million tonne CO2 emissions reduction in the shipping sector through the use of existing onboard equipment for fuel efficiency.

The Port of Rotterdam Monday said that Netherlands-based We4Sea BV (We4Sea) is working to achieve a 100 million tonne reduction in the shipping industry's annual CO2 emissions by improving fuel efficiency using existing onboard equipment, including voyage data recorders (VDR) and sensors.

We4Sea is said to pull data from the onboard equipment into simulation software to provide an assessment of what certain adjustments, such as a new propeller or operational speed adjustment, can have on a vessel's fuel consumption and related CO2 emissions.

We4Sea's founders, Dan Veen and Michiel Katgert, are said to have taken part in the Port of Rotterdam's LaunchLab programme to test their idea.

"As LaunchLab participants, we were expected to talk with as many potential clients as possible. These talks proved important when it came to confirming what we already suspected: fuel efficiency is a real problem, and companies have no idea how they can tackle it," said Katgert.

"We learned how we can position our tool within the market and who our clients are. And after going on to win the LaunchLab, we knew for sure we were on to something," added Veen.

We4Sea is said to be planning to monitor 500 vessels by 2019, enabling the company to achieve its annual 100 million tonne target.

In November, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) said that "aggressive" fuel efficiency efforts being implemented by the global shipping industry, coupled with CO2 reduction measures by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), are capable of delivering "far more ambitious" reductions in CO2 emissions than current government targets.