With new IMO regulations on Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index  and Carbon Intensity Indicator taking effect in 2023, BSM’s extended Fleet Performance Centre is supporting ship owners’ efforts in reducing their vessels’ carbon impact.

To meet ambitious decarbonisation targets set out for the shipping industry, the International Maritime Organization passed two regulations aimed at minimising the sector’s carbon emissions and environmental impact last year – the Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index and the Carbon Intensity Indicator.

Accordingly, shipowners worldwide must take urgent action to comply with the new regulations or face operational restrictions or financial consequences. As a ship manager, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) is committed to play a part in global carbon reduction efforts. Through a holistic process of vessel performance monitoring, decarbonisation management, data collection and data analytics managed out of its own Fleet Performance Centre (FPC), BSM is helping owners navigate the complexities of these requirements that will come into force in 2023.

Preparing for EEXI and CII Requirements

Anil Jacob, BSM’s Head of Fleet Performance says: “These new regulations call for a more proactive approach towards managing carbon intensity while encouraging data transparency. Our aim is to enable our crews onboard, shipowners and charterers to make data driven decisions for most efficient vessel operations that reduces their environmental impact and comply with or even go beyond the requirements of international regulations.”

To meet these aims, BSM is rolling out a series of new technical consultancy services and solutions to help owners in complying with EEXI and CII requirements. In addition, BSM has strengthened vessel performance capabilities at its FPC to include a state-of-the-art, central Fleet Monitoring Centre (FMC). At this 24/7 real-time performance monitoring facility, major fuel consumption contributors such as the hull, machinery, route, and weather are tracked to ensure voyage optimisation, CII compliance and increase vessel energy efficiency. The FPC is engaging with key vessel charterers to establish communication protocols leading to optimisation of voyage planning and execution, which is critical for the CII ratings.

Supporting Ship Owners in EEXI Implementation

The EEXI is a measure introduced by the IMO to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of in-service vessels over 400 gross tonnage and is related to the technical design of the ship. To attain EEXI compliance, many shipowners and operators are now assessing their vessels’ energy consumption and carbon emissions and generating preliminary technical files in preparation of surveys for its International Energy Efficiency Certificate (IEEC) after 1 January 2023.

To help clients determine their EEXI compliance status, BSM developed an in-house EEXI calculator to compute the required and attained EEXI values of the managed fleet and generate the corresponding EEXI Technical Files. BSM also offers consultancy services to improve the EEXI status by working on compliance gaps and identifying suitable solutions specific to the vessel. The data-backed recommendations centre around technical and operational improvement methods for the ships.

Improving CII Ratings

The CII ratings scheme, on the other hand, determines ships’ operational carbon intensity on a performance scale from A to E. In future, for low rated ships a corrective action plan will need to be submitted how the required index rating of C or above will be obtained. CII compliance improvement options could include voyage optimisation, just in time arrival management, continuous hull performance monitoring, speed optimization, switching to low-carbon fuels and retrofitting vessels with energy-efficient technology.

With this in mind, BSM developed a CII calculator addressing the CII ratings of its entire fleet. This year, the FPC will release additional tools for CII performance monitoring services, including predictive algorithms, to assist owners with vessel CII improvement investigations.

Jacob adds: “Ultimately, the EEXI and CII measures seek to develop a mindset of continuous benchmarking and improvement, such that it provides a case for vessel or operational modifications to bring down onboard carbon emissions. These capabilities at the Fleet Performance Centre will be of value to any ship owner, regardless of their fleet size.”