Norway’s Kongsberg Maritime said it has secured a five-year contract to install its software on board 45 LNG carriers chartered by energy giant Shell.
In a statement on Wednesday, Kongsberg Maritime did not reveal the price tag of the contract.
The LNG carriers in question already utilize Kongsberg Maritime’s K-IMS information management system application suite, Kongsberg said on Wednesday.
Moreover, the contract signing for Kongsberg’s JAWS (Just Add Water System) software follows a successful year-long trial, co-conducted by Kongsberg Shell and LNG shipping firm Gaslog.
They conducted the trial on board the 2010-built, 170,000-cbm LNG carrier Methane Julia Louise.
According to Kongsberg, the firm recorded the vessel’s shaft energy consumption for nine months prior to the JAWS installation, as well as throughout the year-long trial with the JAWS software.
Slashing emissions
Kongsberg said the trial had demonstrated that the system could provide a “significant fuel saving for the vessel.”
The software calculates the “most advantageous operating conditions in real time based on algorithms developed from historic high-frequency vessel data.”
Also, it continually issues recommendations for optimal trim and draft, helping crews to cut fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Kongsberg said.
Over the course of the year-long testing phase, onboard and onshore monitoring confirmed that the JAWS software generated average energy savings of 5 percent, it said.
This benchmark data was contrasted with performance data gathered from the sister vessel Methane Becki Anne, which followed a similar trading pattern.
Following the tests, Nigeria Ship Management Limited or NSML decided to invest in JAWS software for 11 of its LNG carriers, Kongsberg added.
