Shipping platform ShipNext has developed an emissions index in a bid to address concerns about the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) emissions reduction measures.
The ShipNext Voyage Emission Index (SVEI) is based on the individual technical parameters of the vessel, its speed, consumption and intake, whilst also taking into consideration the actual cargo quantity and the intended voyage.
According to Alexander Varvarenko, the ceo and founder of ShipNext, cargo is at the heart of the emissions index, which has been designed in consultation with shipowners for vessels carrying breakbulk, dry bulk, heavy and oversized shipments.
SVEI considers the ship’s fuel consumption at sea. Fuel consumption in the port is ignored, since such consumption is comparable for most ships and the time of loading and discharging is determined mainly by port technology, not by the technical capabilities of the vessel, said ShipNext.
“The major problem with the existing IMO guidelines is that they do not take into consideration the cargo actually being carried on a voyage,” said Varvarenko. “When you do so, the emissions profile of a given voyage changes completely.”
ShipNext explained that some carriers have complained that the IMO carbon intensity indicator (CII) rating fails to incentivise cargo optimisation, and have instead called for a methodology that rewards more productive vessels. The ShipNext CII (SCII) is proposed as that alternative – based on the individual technical parameters of the vessel, its speed, consumption and intake, whilst also taking into consideration the actual cargo quantity and the intended voyage.
ShipNext modelling, it continued, shows how an older, higher emitting ship, if managed properly and laden to full capacity, can prove to be the ‘greener’ solution, when compared to a more modern ship that’s producing more CO2 because it is on a longer voyage.
Varvarenko added: “Our approach stimulates owners to manage their vessels more efficiently with fewer ballast runs, while also continuing to follow all the other existing emissions indexes that are imposed on them around vessel construction.
“There has to be logic to how shipping lines are taxed for their emissions. What we are proposing is a fair and reasonable approach during the transition to cleaner shipping, which allows both shippers and carriers to share the costs.”
