RINA’s intelligent algorithm solution for optimisation of vessel fuel costs

RINA embraces digitisation in the maritime domain and we are proud to have pioneered the use of digital ship notation for ships alongside our digital platform for shipping data analysis back in 2018. In support of this we presented our approach to resolving the optimisation problem of fuel use at sea to the International Naval Engineering Conference (INEC) Oct 20. Mission fuel optimisation is an approach that minimises the expenditure on fuel across a mission / task / transit and we were able to demonstrate 18% savings in fuel costs with no effect on mission / task outputs. In a world where we are often required to do more with less, it was an interesting puzzle to solve. 

Many mariners are familiar with optimisation of engine use in terms of instantaneous power, speed and fuel consumption and, whilst this is valuable in maximising fuel efficiency, there is a lesser understood challenge around mission optimisation. The planning of a transit has many different variables and the use of an optimisation algorithm allows us to find the ideal point for mission fuel expenditure. We developed our model based on variables including ship particulars, cost of fuel at each location, transit distances and maximum transit durations and the findings were extremely interesting: 

• By planning fuel uplifts fuel cognisant of the unit costs at each port, cost savings of up to 25% were evident.
• By increasing transit speeds in ‘cheap’ legs to allow slower (more fuel efficient) transits on ‘expensive’ legs, we observed savings of up to 6%.
• If the transit speed time is reduced by 10% cost savings up to 32% are achievable. 

RINA Senior Director Mark Bairstow commented: “This project shows how bringing together a range of capabilities in the team can create innovative problem-solving approaches. RINA strongly believes that the marine industry can enhance its use of digital solutions, systems and analytics to overcome a number of the challenges facing the industry today”. 

It was great to share our approach, findings and future development intentions and sparked an interesting discussion about how we best use our maritime assets.