Miscellaneous Musings from the Technical Director
Stop the press! I was reading a new trade journal at lunch and nearly choked on my chicken kabob… Right in front of me was a story about a new fuel savings strategy that has the potential to revolutionize maritime vessel operation.
Let me read you the headline and the opening sentence. (I left out the company’s name and route location to protect them from the crowd that will surely “beat a path to their door” once everyone hears about this.)
Reducing speed on route saves fuel costs
To counter the effect of rising fuel prices, the line has introduced slower sailing times for its high speed ferries.
Sorry – it is hard not to be sarcastic about a story like this. This is news? Anyone who has taken science class in high-school knows that slowing down reduces drag, and thus power, and thus fuel. And the savings can be dramatic. Fuel consumption on some vessel types is nominally a function of speed cubed – which means a 10% reduction in speed for these vessel types leads to a 25% savings in fuel. (Not all vessels, of course, will have the same savings, but you get the point.)
The real story is that there are not more vessel operators doing the same.
Filed under: Hydrodynamics
the real story is also that no-one is using simple yet effective approaches like the SmartEngine of old !
Adaptive speed control systems (such as our joint SmartEngine project from oh-so-many years ago) can indeed provide some real fuel savings. For those interested in this topic, let me refer you to a paper we wrote about Adaptive Speed Management.