Partnership on cloud-based and onboard efficiency leads to upgraded technological notation for Nissen Kaiun vessels, while ClassNK certifies NAPA Fleet Intelligence and Performance Monitoring solutions.

Helsinki, Finland and Tokyo, Japan – May 19, 2022: NAPA has announced that its data-powered voyage efficiency solutions have obtained a key innovation certification from class society ClassNK, who also issued Japanese shipowner Nissen Kaiun its highest level of Digital Smart Ship (DSS) certification for all Nissen vessels in its fleet that have been using the solutions.

ClassNK has issued NAPA Fleet Intelligence and NAPA Performance Monitoring and Optimization with its Innovation Endorsement certification, which recognizes and supports innovations that further environmental and safety goals in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Nissen Kaiun has been using NAPA Performance Monitoring and Optimization onboard its ships for years to ensure that data from operations can be consistently reflected into voyage planning to facilitate efficient, safe voyages. The company has also provided feedback and ideas for further improvement.

Based on this, ClassNK has re-written the class certificates of all Nissen Kaiun’s ships that use NAPA’s solutions. For the first time in the ClassNK register, those certificates include the society’s Digital Smart Ship notations (DSS(EE2)), indicating the highest level of ship performance evaluation in its current framework.

NAPA Fleet Intelligence is a cloud-based solution that combines actual online data on board and weather data with NAPA’s 3D model database to accurately assess and optimize performance, to advise any vessel, from a browser. NAPA Performance Monitoring and Optimization applies the same big data expertise to analyze vessel performance and optimize routing, and also factors in data from shipboard hardware on vessel operations for a more accurate picture of performance. These solutions draw on NAPA’s thirty years of experience in vessel design software to create the most accurate and powerful analysis and prediction of vessel performance, based on thousands of virtual models and years of real-life voyage data.

Mr. Pekka Pakkanen, Executive Vice President, Shipping Solutions at NAPA commented: “We are delighted that our voyage optimization solution has been thoroughly evaluated at such a high level. At a time when saving fuel is a strategic priority for fleets around the world, owners and operators need to have confidence in the tools they use to plan and assess their voyages. We’re incredibly pleased that the users and crew members have found our solutions effective, and the approval from ClassNK is a significant milestone that opens the door to further deployment on fleets worldwide.”

A spokesperson for Nissen Kaiun said: “Having utilized NAPA’s optimization tools for several years, we have confirmed their effectiveness to achieve fuel savings and on-time operations of our fleet, which is a strategic priority as the industry progresses towards sustainability.

We are glad that ClassNK has made the third-party endorsement on its functions and issued the highest ship performance evaluation, Digital Smart Ship (DSS(EE2)) to our ships equipped with NAPA. We would like to make an effort together to further develop the solution, to achieve optimal operations so that we can contribute to even greater reductions in CO2 emissions.”

Mr. Masaki Matsunaga, Corporate Officer, Director of Plan Approval and Technical Solution Division at ClassNK, said: “The cardinal concept of Innovation Endorsement is to carry out swift certification while developing necessary criteria in partnership with technological front runners. The certification of NAPA’s solutions and subsequent upgrades of notations installing the solutions could be the ideal model to certify innovations and their effectiveness driven by cutting-edge technologies.”