Weathernews accelerating digital technology

Japanese class society formally endorses Weathernews Inc (WNI)’s innovative Carbon Intensity Monitoring (CIM) service to monitor and visualize CO2 emissions from ships. CIM was launched in April this year and is now fully operational.

Regulation tightens

In June 2021, the IMO adopted a new fuel performance rating system to help meet greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets from shipping. Starting in 2023, the environmental performance of ships will be evaluated on their annual average fuel consumption (carbon intensity index) on a five-rank scale from A to E. Penalties will be imposed based poor performance and vessels not reaching the required standards run the risk of being banned from international trade.

Instant performance insight

This stricter framework makes fuel-efficiency measures even more urgent for shipowners and operators. Accordingly, WNI has upgraded its CIM service with a new function that provides real-time monitoring of CO2 emissions for each voyage. The service calculates a ship’s Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) based on CO2 emissions, fuel consumption and distance travelled, giving owners and operators an instant snapshot of environmental performance.

Ease of integration

Since CIM was launched, WNI has been collecting emissions and fuel consumption data for each ship entered, sending the accumulated data from the cloud to the owner/operator via APIs following every voyage. Using APIs makes it simple to integrate with client-side management systems.

Accelerating digital technology

Third-party endorsement by ClassNK validates the authenticity of CIM operational data and the sophisticated calculation method. Shipping companies can therefore use the service will full confidence both for internal data management and public announcements/reporting. This is only the fifth such endorsement under ClassNK’s new Innovation Endorsement platform endorsing digital solutions designed to improve safety, environmental protection and sustainable development.

Through-the-line offering

CIM is the first of four new digital solutions comprising WNI’s Environmental Navigation Support Services platform. The second, the Navigation RISK Assessment and Routeing (NAR) service, which contributes to marine environment protection by preventing grounding accidents, is already live to be followed from 2022 with a Voyage Planning Protection (VPP) service providing compensation for economic losses, and a Marine Carbon Blocking (MCB) service design to put a value on CO2 emission reductions. These combined services will help stakeholders throughout the maritime transport value chain improve the safety, economic efficiency and footprint not only of ships and crew but also cargo.

Reinforcing OSR

WNI also plans to upgrade its Optimal Ship Routeing (OSR) service to allow the selection of optimal routes and speeds emphasizing reduced CO2 emissions from the start of each voyage. In addition to real-time monitoring, OSR will also enable visualization of actual emission reductions and eventually provide emissions target management support through both OSR and CIM. WNI is also working on recording both actual emissions and reductions using blockchain technology in preparation for digital ship certification in the future.