Hammonia, Intermarine Join Forces to Cut Fuel Costs

Hamburg-based shipowner Hammonia Reederei and Intermarine, a charterer from New Orleans, have launched a retrofit project on 3 vessels featuring multiple efficiency technologies. The project is expected to enable 25% fuel savings per each vessel that will be shared among the two partners. 

Carbon War Room (CWR), a non-profit organization from the UK, awarded Hammonia a USD 120,000 grant to retrofit the three vessels Industrial Ruby, Industrial Royal, and Industrial Revolution due to the project’s use of multiple technologies and revenue-sharing collaboration between the charterer and the owner.

The retrofit bundle installation includes optimized bulbous bow, rudder optimization, high-performance hull coating as well as trim and ballast optimization at standard drydock. The 10,536 dwt Industrial Ruby is the last ship to leave the drydock after undergoing the retrofit and was launched on 1 March.

A continuous monitoring software was installed on the vessels in order to measure, verify, and publicize the fuel and carbon savings. The independent third-party University College London (UCL) will analyze the data, with initial results being released to the industry 6 months post-drydock.

“This deal showcases how to overcome the split incentive between owners and charterers, and delivers hard proof of the fuel savings from deep retrofits. Hammonia and Intermarine should be congratulated for employing best practices to measure and monitor savings, and for sharing their data—which will increase industry confidence in the profitability of retrofits. These first movers will inspire more owners and charterers to follow in their footsteps,” Galen Hun, CWB’s Shipping Operations Manager, pointed out

Only 1 in 10 companies aims for greater than 10% savings from its retrofit projects, as DNV GL claims. This deal creates a win-win option and can serve as a future model for charterers and owners, according to CWR.