StormGeo launches smart carbon intensity indicator tool for ships

StormGeo has launched a new Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) Dashboard that provides ship operators with the ultimate digital tool for calculating, reporting, and proactively improving the CII rankings of their fleet.

Speaking with Digital Ship ahead of the launch, Dr. Thilo Dückert, vice president fleet performance management at StormGeo explained that CII is an important regulation that shipping companies will have to comply with from January 1, 2023. It is an operational efficiency indicator that measures how efficiently a ship transports goods or passengers in grams of CO2 emitted per cargo-carrying capacity and nautical mile based on its Annual Efficiency Ratio (AER). All vessels above 5000 GT must provide a CII rating from 20203 under international rules adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

Under the new rules, a CII rating on a scale of A to E is calculated, with A representing a very operationally efficient vessel. The operator of any vessels that hold a D or E rating, will be required to submit a plan that outlines how the vessel’s CII rating will be improved to a rating of C, or higher, as part of its Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan (SEEMP).

StormGeo’s tool has been developed in response to the industry's need for reliable data and calculation methods for the accurate assessment of vessel carbon intensity, the new dashboard will play a vital role in helping ship operators to comply and stay ahead of new CII rules.

“The new tool provides a simple overview of the current carbon intensity ratings of any ship, where they are now and where they could be in a few months or a few years,” Dr. Dückert told us.

One of the unique features of the new CII calculator is that it combines CII data with consultancy support from StormGeo. This not only gives shipowners and operators the information they need to ensure regulatory compliance, but provides them with expert advice on how to improve their CII rating on ships that are performing less efficiently. Dr. Dückert explained to us that optimising weather routing and performance management are two key areas where performance can be significantly enhanced to maintain or improve CII ratings.

StormGeo’s new tool calculates attained and required CII ratings, and the deviation between the two, for a selected period using necessary vessel factors. Based on the preliminary CII rating, the tool also predicts the year of CII rating deterioration allowing the user to interpret how a vessel is currently ranked versus how it will be ranked in the future when CII rating limits are tightened. A three-day average trend element is also incorporated into the dashboard.

The new CII Dashboard has been integrated into StormGeo’s s-Insight platform within its software and services suite, s-Suite.

To address the need for critical data accuracy, StormGeo’s s-Insight platform has the reported data in such granularity that even exclusions for distance under defined conditions and corrections for reefer, cargo heating, cooling systems, etc., can be properly calculated and deducted. This makes the tool future-proof and ready for any changes in the calculation methods or exclusions defined by the IMO.

The CII Dashboard is currently available to StormGeo customers subscribed to the full s-Insight platform or users of the IMO DCS module.

“We don’t just offer products, we offer innovative solutions. This tool was developed based on client feedback on what they need to ensure the compliance of their vessels with incoming IMO rules for energy efficiency improvement and carbon intensity reporting and reduction. A simulation feature will be incorporated into the dashboard in the future which ship operators can use to run scenarios that provide insight into how the potential deployment of operational optimisation measures will impact a vessel’s CII rating for that year,” said Dr. Dückert.

“Ultimately, we will integrate a voyage efficiency indicator into the tool that evaluates how efficient a voyage is compared to a benchmark. This will take the idea one step further as a more advanced way of looking at vessel or fleet-level CII ratings,” Dr. Dückert concludes.

This article was first published by Digital Ship on February 23, 2022