Whether the price of marine fuel is up or down, fuel costs will always be the biggest expense in operating a ship – as much as 50-60% of operating costs. No matter the cost, ever-tightening regulations demanding emissions reduction will continue to drive owners and operators to seek measures for reductions in fuel consumption and the resulting emissions.
Now Miros launches Miros Speed Through Water, a dry-mounted, radar-based system used to optimise hull speed with far greater accuracy than is possible with underwater measurement devices.

“Access to accurate speed through water data will enable improvements in the application of ship performance optimisation protocols. This, in turn, will lead to significant cost efficiencies for ship owners. This is a breakthrough in efficient and data-driven ship performance management and an important contribution to ambitious goals for lowering emissions in the industry,” says Miros CEO, Andreas Brekke.

As a part of a 6-month pilot-project, BW Dry Cargo is testing the new technology on their BW Rye newbuild. The initial results of the pilot are promising, and BW Dry Cargo’s Managing Director, Christian Bonfils, believes Miros’ technology can contribute to significant fuel savings for the company. “I estimate up to 10% fuel savings using Miros Speed Through Water, which is a lot,” he says.

Accurate Data for Optimal Vessel Performance

Accurate speed through water measurements are essential for optimising performance, as well as avoiding operation at suboptimal speeds, with the resulting additional costs. “Using underwater instrumentation on moving vessels involves many uncertainty factors, everything from incorrect calibration to fouling, that can lead to unreliable measurements,” says Senior Sensor Development Manager Rune Gangeskar of Miros, adding that underwater equipment also requires expensive and time-consuming installation and maintenance procedures.

Using Miros’ X-band radar-based sensors mounted above the waterline eliminates these issues whilst providing more accurate and more reliable measurement of a ship’s speed through water.

Fuel Savings by the Ton

The accuracy of Miros Speed Through Water measurements for a vessel in transit is typically 5cm/s, whilst noise and disturbance from vessel motion and propellers can give speed logs variances of between 10cm/s and several m/s. “Just a couple of knots on the speed vs. consumption curve can easily increase the daily fuel consumption of a ship by several tons,” says Gangeskar.

He sums up the new offering: “In recent years Miros has made significant advances in the accuracy of wave and current measurements. Now these advantages can be applied to vessel fuel optimisation. For both cost savings and environmental compliance, the improved accuracy can have a significant impact.”