KONGSBERG is pleased to announce that Shell has just signed a five-year contract for the installation of its JAWS  software on board 45 of the LNG carriers chartered by Shell. These are LNG carriers which already utilize the Kongsberg Maritime K-IMS Information Management System application suite.

The contract signing follows a successful year-long trial, co-conducted by KONGSBERG, Shell and the LNG shipping services provider Gaslog, on board the LNG carrier Methane Julia Louise. The vessel’s shaft energy consumption was recorded for nine months prior to the JAWS installation, as well as throughout the year-long trial with the JAWS software installed, and the trial demonstrated that JAWS could provide a significant fuel saving for the vessel.

JAWS is a user-friendly hydrodynamic optimisation program, with no additional instrumentation required. It calculates the most advantageous operating conditions in real time based on algorithms developed from historic high-frequency vessel data. The system continually issues recommendations for optimal trim and draft, helping crews to cut fuel consumption and GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. JAWS provides live data that allows ship and fleet managers to monitor and report emissions savings.

K-IMS, meanwhile, is a web-based solution which gives both ship crews and shore teams continual access to crucial voyage and vessel data. The provision of JAWS as an application within the K-IMS suite renders it instantly available to all K-IMS users.

Over the course of the year-long testing phase, onboard and onshore monitoring confirmed that the JAWS software generated substantial average energy savings of 5% when its recommendations were followed. This benchmark data was contrasted with performance data gathered from the sister vessel Methane Becki Anne, which followed a similar trading pattern.

One immediate outcome of the tests was a commitment from NSML (Nigeria Ship Management Limited) to invest in JAWS software for 11 of its LNG carriers.

“JAWS has arrived at a pivotal time for shipping operations,” says Karrie Trauth, Senior Vice President of Shell Shipping and Maritime, “when digitalisation is being recognised as a key enabler for an industry determined to cut costs, reduce emissions and enhance efficiency. It was encouraging to see JAWS referenced directly in the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2021 flagship report as a key technology for delivering on emission-reducing targets in the shipping sector.”

The availability of JAWS via the K-IMS solution will prove indispensable in the light of the IMO’s imminent revision of its GHG reduction strategy. In 2023, new strictures will apply to performance measurements including the SEEMP (Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan), wherein ship owners are obliged to monitor and continuously improve their vessels’ fuel efficiency under all operating circumstances, and the CII (Carbon Intensity Indicator), in which cargo ships are required to keep their carbon emissions below a mandated level, measured in grams of CO₂per DWT (Deadweight Tonnage) per nautical mile.

JAWS is not only applicable to LNG shipping: Shell is currently working with KONGSBERG to include JAWS in the Kognifai Marketplace, which will allow the system to become available to ocean-going ships of all types by utilizing the Vessel Insight infrastructure.