GL’s FutureShip Cooperates with Iceland-based Marorka

A cooperation between two leading energy efficiency improvers yields new potential to reduce emissions for shipowners around the world.

At a press conference in Singapore, FutureShip announced its cooperation with Iceland-based Marorka. Together, the two companies will integrate each other’s product portfolios in the field of fuel efficiency, energy management and related consulting. The announcement was made on the occasion of FutureShip’s opening of an office in Singapore.

“Energy efficiency gains ever-more importance in the maritime industry”, said Khorshed Alam, Vice President FutureShip South Asia/Oceania. The company specializes in energy efficiency consulting. “This cooperation will give us the opportunity to even better serve the need to monitor ship performance, raise energy efficiency awareness onboard and onshore, and enable shipowners to seamlessly manage the energy performance of their entire fleets.” Khorshed Alam heads the FutureShip operations in Singapore. By the end of the year the team will be four consultants.

“We are very excited that via this cooperation with FutureShip we will be able to serve the shipping industry with our long experience and advanced energy management products on a significantly broader scale”, said Dr. Jón Ágúst Thorsteinsson, Managing Director of Marorka. The company was founded in Reykjavik and offers onboard and onshore Energy Management solutions equipped with real time monitoring and decision support, an essential part of operational optimization.

Increasing fuel efficiency

Trim is one of the central drivers of energy efficiency in ship operation. FutureShip’s “ECO-Assistant”, a stand-alone software application delivers the optimum trim angle for a specific ship when provided with a few simple operational parameters. Sold to more than 200 ships already, the tool regularly achieves efficiency improvements of up to 5 %. FutureShip, a GL company, also offers technical and management support from conceptual design to ship operations with special focus on energy efficiency.

Alongside its own solutions, FutureShip will now offer selected Marorka hardware and software products. The stand-alone “Ship Performance Monitoring System” calculates fuel efficiency based on fuel consumption, GPS and log speed, propeller power and main engine RPM. It displays performance values and trends on a touch panel computer, which collects measurement data, creates real time performance analyses, and records historical performance data that can also be sent to shore for further analysis with “Marorka Online”.

Combining FutureShip and Marorka Products

As an advanced alternative to basic performance monitoring, the Marorka Maren Operating Platform (OP3) will be offered. This product can be connected to all of the relevant onboard systems for extensive data collection from propulsion, navigation, machinery, and cargo systems as well as weather and oceanic forecasts. Modular expansions based on and connected to Marorka Maren OP3, such as propulsion performance optimisation, simulation of voyage schedules and costs, monitoring of power and steam production efficiency, are also available. Additionally, an automated interface to FutureShip’s renowned trim optimisation tool, ECO-Assistant, can now be ordered.

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World Maritime News Staff, February 8, 2012; Image: Marorka