Daniel Rose is CEO of Shipergy. Image Credit: Shipergy

Marine fuel trading firm Shipergy has signed what it believes to be the bunker industry's first procurement contract based on energy delivered rather than tonnes of fuel.

The firm has signed a multi-year agreement with a European shipowner and operator to procure fuel for its fleet, with performance benchmarked in $/GJ rather than $/mt of fuel, it said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

Reference energy values will be taken from Shipergy's Energy Beacon service, a tool the firm developed that gives buyers a ranked view of supplier energy content.

"Each quarter, Shipergy’s achieved cost of energy delivered, calculated from actual invoice values and laboratory-measured Net Calorific Value on every delivery, is compared against the energy-adjusted market benchmark," the company said.

"Where Shipergy delivers a demonstrated saving, the benefit is shared between the parties under a gain-share mechanism, fully aligning the interests of buyer and supplier for the first time in bunker procurement."

The first stem under the contract, a delivery of MGO at a Northwest European hub, was completed earlier this month.

"The market prices fuel in dollars per tonne, but ships do not run on tonnes, they run on energy," Daniel Rose, CEO of Shipergy, said in the statement.

"Two cargoes at the same price can differ by five per cent or more in the energy they actually deliver, and until now no procurement contract has recognised that.

"This agreement changes the basis on which marine fuel is bought.

"We are measured, and rewarded, on the true cost of energy delivered to the ship. We believe every fleet will buy this way within a decade.”