Air Lubrication System Shows "Consistent" 4% Bunker Savings

Data collected was collected from MT Amalienborg.

Following the long-term operation of air lubrication technology, the Silverstream System, on the 40,000 DWT tanker MT Amalienborg, Silverstream Technologies and Shell today confirmed the technology is providing consistent fuel savings of more than 4 percent.

As Ship & Bunker has previously reported, operational tests on WECO Group A/S' (WECO Group's) product tanker MT Amalienborg, demonstrated average fuel savings of 4.3 percent while in ballast, and 3.8 percent on laden voyages.

Shell says the most recent data was taken from the MT Amalienborg under "business as usual" commercial operations across all operating conditions.

"The results align with those obtained from full-scale sea trials completed in 2014 by Shell and Lloyd's Register Ship Performance Team," explained Shell, adding "data gathered during operation demonstrates savings commencing at 10 knots, and also proves that increased speed brings increased savings."

In-service operational data collected over the past two years demonstrating that savings increase alongside speed - showing a net power savings of 4.1 percent at 14 knots - is said to have been verified by Professor Dominic Hudson, Shell Professor of Ship Safety and Efficiency at the University of Southampton's Faculty of Engineering and the Environment.

"Over the past two years, Silverstream Technologies has continued to develop and enhance the system, making engineering improvements which have resulted in negligible drag when the system is switched off, as well as improvements in compressor efficiency, and installation footprint," said Noah Silberschmidt, CEO of Silverstream Technologies.

"These improvements would further increase the savings and net efficiency reported. Based on the rigour of this ground-breaking process, and the continued verification and development of our air lubrication technology, we are confident that the Silverstream System will play a crucial role in supporting the industry in increasing operational and environmental efficiencies and, in turn, reducing emissions

Further calculations are said to indicate that an even greater savings of as much as 8 percent are possible on larger vessels, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and Suezmax tankers.

In July, Silverstream said that the cruise sector will be the first among the shipping industry to adopt clean technologies ahead of a new 0.50 percent global sulfur content cap on bunkers, which is expected for 2020.